ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed a bill Tuesday to ban the hydraulic fracturing drilling process known as fracking in Maryland, the first state where a legislature has voted to bar the practice that actually has natural gas reserves.

The Republican governor signed the measure into law about a week after the bill was passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature. Fracking for oil and gas isn’t being conducted in Maryland now, but a moratorium was to end in October, which is when the ban takes effect.

Supporters of the ban said it was the first in the nation approved by a legislature in a state that has natural gas underground. Neighboring West Virginia and Pennsylvania allow fracking.

New York has banned fracking by executive order, and Vermont’s legislature has passed a ban in a symbolic gesture, because the state doesn’t have any oil or natural gas reserves to drill for.

Fracking opponents cited health and environmental concerns. The technique forces pressurized water and chemicals underground to break up rock and release the gas. Critics say the process and disposal of tainted wastewater pose risks of air pollution, earthquakes and property devaluation.