In Rochester earlier today to tour the Eastman Business Park, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state Department of Environmental Conservation will apply for a new 90-day extension on the reviewing of possible regulations for high-volume fracking.

The deadline to complete the regulatory review of the controversial natural gas extraction process is Thursday, but Cuomo says that state won’t complete its study as a panel of experts assess the health of fracking.

“They will have to,” Cuomo said when asked if the state will seek an extension of the regulation-writing process.

The state could let the entire review process expire rather than throw it open to another public comment period, which would likely push any decision on hydrofracking well in to 2013.

Cuomo’s attention is also focused on a $40 billion aid request to the federal government in order to help the state recover and rebuild from Hurricane Sandy.

However, Cuomo did reiterate that New York could not cover the costs of Sandy’s devastation.

“Forty billion is a lot of money. It’s even a lot of money for the state of New York. We have a billion dollar deficit, imagine a $40 billion deficit.

The governor, who said yesterday that the storm was worse than Katrina given the extensive damage to businesses and homes, did not make the same comparison today with reporters.

“What this country says is when one region suffers a catastrophic loss the nation is there to help because it would be adding insult to injury for a region that was hit with a catastrophe, now you have finance your own reconstruction,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo, who hundled with county elected officials and members of the state’s Congressional delegation says he would lobby House Speaker John Boehner personally in order to get the supplemental aid package. He also plans to work with Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Chrisite, whose federal aid would likely be bundled with whatever New York receives.

“We said we’re going to work together,” Cuomo said of Christie.