House passes bill to keep feds from regulating fracking

Fuel Fix:

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation to thwart federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing in what was the first major congressional vote on the process that is credited with unlocking new oil and gas supplies nationwide.

The legislation would block the Interior Department from regulating hydraulic fracturing anywhere states already have existing rules governing the process, just as the executive agency moves to finalize new mandates for wells on public lands. The Bureau of Land Management’s proposed new regulations would be the first major update of 30-year-old standards, setting baseline requirements for well design, water management plans and disclosure of chemicals used at the sites.

Although the measure passed on a mostly party line vote of 235-187, it divided oil-patch Democrats, including Houston’s Gene Green and Laredo’s Henry Cuellar.

Cuellar, whose congressional district includes the Eagle Ford formation, where companies are employing hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and natural gas, said a state-based approach to oversight makes sense, given widely differing geology across the United States.

“We need to enable states to regulate their own land because they know it better and not create a federal one-size-fits-all approach,” Cuellar said. “This bill will untangle redundant regulations as states have created their own regulations that address well design, location, water quality, emissions, wildlife protection and health and safety.”

But Green said that while state agencies have done a good job overseeing fracturing so far, the federal government should also play a role on public lands under its control. The Bureau of Land Management’s proposal would apply only to drilling on public lands, not private property.

“I would not support the federal government regulating the development of natural gas or the practice of hydraulic fracturing on state or private lands,” he said. But, Green added, “I cannot support the idea of legislation that would prevent the federal government from regulating federal lands. That is what this bill is asking us to do.”
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Greens's argument seems logically incoherent.  It sounds like an excuse for a dual system of regulation within a state that has federal drilling sites.  This will lead to problems for drillers having to comply with two different regulations.  There just is no need for additional federal regulation in states that are already regulating the practice.  It will increase the cost of drilling and inhibit the process.

The proposed regulations are just another example of the hostility of this administration to energy exploration on federal sites.