Proposed legislation in the US seeks to authorize the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate hydraulic fracturing to protect water resources.
The FRAC Act is among five legislative proposals brought before the lower house last week to address the environmental and health risks of fracking, which typically involves injecting chemicals underground to release oil or gas.
“The legislation, known as the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2023, or FRAC Act, would close a loophole in the Safe Drinking Water Act that prevents the EPA from regulating the notorious drilling process that involves injecting large volumes of toxic chemicals deep into the ground to recover oil and natural gas, potentially putting public health at risk and contaminating the perpetrators’ water.” Diana DeGette said in a press release.
The proposal would also require drillers to disclose the chemicals they use in the fracturing process.
“The American people have a right to know exactly which chemicals these companies are pumping into our nation’s water supply and which, if any, are harming people’s health,” the statement said.
DeGette, a legislator from Colorado’s first district, pointed to a study that said states with disclosure mandates had better water quality. The research, published in the journal SSRN on January 19, said transparently that there was a decline in the use of hazardous chemicals and fewer spills and accidents related to the handling of wastewater.”
“Water quality improvements following disclosure mandates are greatest in areas where public pressure is highest,” notes the paper by researchers from the University of Bristol, the University of Chicago and the University of Navarre.
Democrat Degette recalled, “named after the company that invented the fracking process, the so-called ‘Halliburton exemptions’ – which exempted the chemicals used in the fracking process from EPA regulation – were included in the Safe Water Act, which President George W. Bush signed into law in 2005, at the behest of President Dick Cheney, who had been Ceo.
The planned law points to a process credited to the oil and gas boom in the US, now the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas.
A similar Democratic bill introduced in 2017 has been pending in the Senate.
Four other related laws have been introduced in the past week to minimize environmental risks. It also wants to allow the EPA to regulate the emission of pollutants by oil and gas companies. Another wants companies to be responsible for the hazardous waste created by their activities.
To contact the author, please email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
