Hydraulic Fracture Drilling-Part 6

Major Federal Fracking Legislation Introduced -- Return of the FRAC

Posted by Maggie Clarke on March 16, 2011

Yesterday, the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act was re-introduced in both the House and Senate.  The House bill (H.R. 1084) was introduced by Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and Jared Polis (D-CO) and has 31 co-sponsors to date.  Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) introduced the companion Senate bill (S. 587), with Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Ben Cardin (D-MD) as original co-sponsors.  Congresswoman DeGette and Senator Casey were the lead sponsors of the FRAC Act in the previous Congress.

The legislation would repeal the current exemption for hydraulic fracturing under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).  The Energy Policy Act of 2005 amended the SDWA to preclude EPA from regulating the underground injection of fluids (other than diesel fuel) for hydraulic fracturing purposes.  In repealing the exemption, the FRAC Act would require disclosure of the chemical constituents used in the fracking process, but not the proprietary chemical formula (an emergency provision is included requiring disclosure of the proprietary chemical formula if the information is needed for the provision of medical treatment).  Under both bills, disclosure would be to the State regulatory agencies (or to EPA, if EPA has primary enforcement responsibility in the State) and the chemical additives would be made publicly-available online.

Senator Casey introduced two other drilling-related bills on Tuesday, commenting, "[n]atural gas drilling offers Pennsylvania tremendous economic opportunities if we do it right."  Senator Casey's S. 589, the Faster Action Safety Team Emergency Response (FASTER) Act authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to draft regulations to strengthen emergency response procedures at oil and gas wells.  S. 588, the Marcellus Shale On-the-Job Training Act, authorizes grants to strengthen on-site training programs for the natural gas drilling and production industry to "ensure the jobs are going to Pennsylvanians."

Overview: H.R.1084 
 

Sponsor:	Rep. DeGette, Diana [D-CO-1] (Introduced 03/15/2011)
Cosponsors:	73
Latest Action:	03/21/2011 Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy.
Major Recorded Votes:	There are no Roll Call votes for this bill

Federal Legislation Aims to Close “Fracking Loopholes”

March 14, 2013 | 6:24 PM

By Susan Phillips

Susan Phillips / StateImpact Pennsylvania
An active drill site in Tioga County.

Pennsylvania Representative Matthew Cartwright (D-17) has introduced legislation to remove oil and gas industry exemptions from the federal Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. Cartwright is from Scranton, and his district stretches over six counties including Schuylkill, Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, and Northampton County.

The “FRESHER” Act would remove federal regulatory exemptions related to storm water run-off at drill sites. And the “BREATHE” Act would require air emissions generated by the oil and gas industry be subject to federal aggregation regulations.

“The lack of oversight and permitting of storm water in the oil and gas industry represents a danger to the nation’s waterways and other key assets. This is especially true in areas where hydraulic fracturing has increased in prevalence,” said Rep. Matt Cartwright in a press release. “Both of these pieces of legislation are common sense and I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to get on board.”

Senate Republicans take aim at Obama gas ‘fracking’ regulations

By Ben Geman - 03/29/12 09:36 AM ET

Senior Senate Republicans are floating legislation that would slam the brakes on Obama administration efforts to expand regulation of the controversial oil-and-gas drilling method called “hydraulic fracturing” on federal lands.

Sen. James Inhofe (Okla.), the ranking Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, is the lead sponsor, and the seven other backers include Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), the top GOP member on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The bill is unlikely to advance but will provide Republicans another rallying point for allegations that President Obama’s Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency have an overzealous agenda that will stymie development.

The bill introduced Wednesday requires that only states may regulate hydraulic fracturing — or “fracking” —– on federal lands within their borders.

“States better understand their unique geologies and interests,” Inhofe said when introducing the measure. 
Fracking involves high-pressure injections of water, chemicals and sand into rock formations to open up seams that enable trapped gas to flow.

The bill arrives ahead of a planned Interior Department proposal that would require disclosure of chemical ingredients used in fracking on public lands, and also create new requirements regarding well integrity and wastewater management.

President Obama touted the upcoming rules in his Jan. 24 State of the Union speech in which he strongly endorsed expanded natural gas development.

“My administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy. Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade,” Obama said. “And I’m requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use, because America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.”

Separately, EPA is working on new air-emissions rules for oil-and-gas drilling, including wells developed through fracking. EPA is also conducting a major study of how fracking might affect drinking water.

A 2005 energy law largely exempts fracking from Safe Drinking Water Act regulation, but environmentalists and some Democrats are seeking to overturn the provision.


Fracking is enabling a natural gas production boom — much of it on state and private lands — in many regions but is bringing fears of water pollution alongside it.

Energy industry officials, Republicans and conservative Democrats say the method is safe and well-regulated at the state level.

The new bill states:

"A State shall have the sole authority to promulgate or enforce any regulation, guidance, or permit requirement regarding the underground injection of fluids or propping agents pursuant to the hydraulic fracturing process, or any component of that process, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on or under any land within the boundaries of the State."
 

Conclusion

 

There has been no legislation to date I can find that prevents the tens of thousands of fracture drilling sites from continuing to pump its toxic slurry into the hydrology of the United States.  It is clear to any thinking individual that the "Corporation," has its fingers in all decisions and policies both foreign and domestic.  They rewrite environmental regulations as best benefits those who paid for them being in office.  We all suffer in the end.  Fracture drilling pumps tens of thousands of water and known deadly chemicals into the ground each time they "frack," a well.  A typical well is fracked numerous times over its service life.  Only half of the fracking chemicals ever are extracted.  Most remain permanently in the now shattered water table for the decades to come.  Those chemicals that are extracted are often disposed of thru "evaporation spraying," which only releases air born poisons into the atmosphere.  Bush/Chaney excluded this process from any federal oversight.  This blatant and flagrant act of environmental terrorism will in decades to come render our ground water unfit for human consumption.  The money trail is obvious and the consequences catastrophic.