Federal Draft Hydraulic Fracturing Regulations Released
Monday Morning Report, May 7, 2012
The U.S. Department of the Interior released draft regulations for hydraulic fracturing activity on BLM and Indian lands.
The draft plan requires drillers to disclose chemicals used when employing hydraulic fracturing, the method that’s enabling an oil-and-gas production boom in a number of states. The plan also contains requirements on oil-and-gas well integrity to verify that fluids from the hydraulic fracturing process are not escaping into nearby water supplies, and requirements for management of large volumes of flowback water. The plan does not require disclosure ahead of the hydraulic fracturing process. Interior officials say they plan to finalize the rules by the end of the year.
Hydraulic fracturing involves high-pressure injections of water, chemicals and sand into shale formations to open seams that enable hydrocarbons to flow. Industry groups say state oversight is sufficient. The Independent Petroleum Association of America said the rules “will undoubtedly insert an unnecessary layer of rigidity into the permitting and development process.”
Capitol Hill Republicans and Mitt Romney, the likely GOP White House nominee, have attacked White House efforts to boost regulation of fracking. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA), who will be attending CIPA’s annual meeting in June, called the plan “duplicative” of state-level requirements and “unnecessary,” and said through an aide that he’s likely to hold a hearing on the proposal.
Much of the boom in oil and natural gas has been occurring on state and private lands in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, although The Department of Interior owns huge tracts of lands in many states where energy production is common, such as Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico.
