DOI releases revised proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing

News
May 17, 2013
 
Nick Snow
 
The US Department of the Interior released a revised proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing on public and Indian lands that it said would maintain important safety standards, improve integration with existing state and tribal rules, and increase flexibility for oil and gas producers.
 
Oil and gas trade associations immediately said the new proposal unnecessarily duplicates state regulations that are already effective—the same criticism they had of DOI’s initial draft proposal in 2012, which was subsequently withdrawn for revisions. Comments on the new proposal will be accepted for 30 days.
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Karen A. Harbert, president of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, said the new proposal itself points out duplications that would exist, saying “operators with leases on federal lands must comply with both BLM’s regulations and with state operating requirements, including state permitting and notice requirements to the extent they do not conflict with BLM regulations.”
 
Read the full article at Oil & Gas Journal.