H.R. 436 · 116th Congress
Fracking Disclosure and Safety Act
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 116th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
D
SotoSponsor6 cosponsors · 6 D
5 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill establishes requirements governing oil or gas operations, such as hydraulic fracturing operations.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Jan 10, 2019
Fracking Disclosure and Safety Act
This bill establishes requirements governing oil or gas operations, such as hydraulic fracturing operations. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the geological formation.
Specifically, the bill eliminates certain exemptions for oil or gas operations from environmental requirements, including requirements concerning stormwater runoff, hazardous air pollutants, solid waste disposal, and drinking water sources. The bill also revises drinking water requirements to require hydraulic fracturing operations to disclose the chemicals they use in underground injections.
In addition, the bill requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to issue regulations governing the use of hydraulic fracturing under oil and gas leases for federal lands. Until the BLM issues those regulations, the bill reestablishes the requirements of the repealed rule titled “Oil and Gas; Hydraulic Fracturing on Federal and Indian Land."
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must issue a rule that adds hydrogen sulfide to the list of hazardous air pollutants. The EPA must also publish a list of categories and subcategories of major sources and area sources of hydrogen sulfide, including oil and gas wells.
Finally, the bill requires the EPA to issue regulations for solid waste associated with the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy if the EPA determines that the wastes are hazardous.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Fracking Disclosure and Safety Act
Latest action (Feb 7, 2019): Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Policy area: Environmental Protection · Origin: House · Introduced: Jan 10, 2019
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.