II
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2248
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 28, 2012
Mr. Inhofe (for himself, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Risch, Mr. Hoeven, and Mr. Lee) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
A BILL
To clarify that a State has the sole authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing on Federal land within the boundaries of the State.
Short title
This Act may be cited as
the Fracturing Regulations are
Effective in State Hands Act
.
Findings
Congress finds that—
hydraulic fracturing is a commercially viable practice that has been used in the United States for more than 60 years in more than 1,000,000 wells;
the Ground Water
Protection Council, a national association of State water regulators that is
considered to be a leading groundwater protection organization in the United
States, released a report entitled State Oil and Natural Gas Regulations
Designed to Protect Water Resources
and dated May 2009 finding that the
current State regulation of oil and gas activities is environmentally
proactive and preventive
;
that report also
concluded that [a]ll oil and gas producing States have regulations which
are designed to provide protection for water resources
;
a 2004 study by
the Environmental Protection Agency, entitled Evaluation of Impacts to
Underground Sources of Drinking Water by Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed
Methane Reservoirs
, found no evidence of drinking water wells
contaminated by fracture fluid from the fracked formation;
a 2009 report by
the Ground Water Protection Council, entitled State Oil and Natural Gas
Regulations Designed to Protect Water Resources
, found a lack of
evidence
that hydraulic fracturing conducted in both deep and shallow
formations presents a risk of endangerment to ground water;
a January 2009
resolution by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission stated The
states, who regulate production, have comprehensive laws and regulations to
ensure operations are safe and to protect drinking water. States have found no
verified cases of groundwater contamination associated with hydraulic
fracturing.
;
on May 24, 2011,
before the Oversight and Government Reform Committee of the House of
Representatives, Lisa Jackson, the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, testified that she was not aware of any proven case
where the fracking process itself has affected water
;
in 2011, Bureau
of Land Management Director Bob Abbey stated, We have not seen evidence
of any adverse effect as a result of the use of the chemicals that are part of
that fracking technology.
;
activities relating to hydraulic fracturing (such as surface discharges, wastewater disposal, and air emissions) are already regulated at the Federal level under a variety of environmental statutes, including portions of—
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.);
the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.); and
the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); but
Congress has continually elected not to include the hydraulic fracturing process in the underground injection control program under the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.);
in 2011, the Secretary of the Interior announced the intention to promulgate new Federal regulations governing hydraulic fracturing on Federal land; and
a February 2012
study by the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, entitled
Fact-Based Regulation for Environmental Protection in Shale Gas
Development
, found that [n]o evidence of chemicals from
hydraulic fracturing fluid has been found in aquifers as a result of fracturing
operations
.
Definition of Federal land
In this Act, the term Federal land means—
public lands (as defined in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702));
National Forest System land;
land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Reclamation; and
land under the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers.
State authority
In general
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.
Federal land
The underground injection of fluids or propping agents pursuant to the hydraulic fracturing process, or any components of that process, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on Federal land shall be subject to the law of the State in which the land is located.