Washington (Platts)--6Mar2012/153 pm EST/1853 GMT
Oil and natural gas drillers complying with existing state- and industry-led efforts to disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing will not have to do much additional work to make those disclosures to the US government under an upcoming rule governing fracking on public lands, a top official said Tuesday. US Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey told a congressional subcommittee that federal regulators have been closely coordinating their efforts with states, industry and other stakeholders to ensure the rules address public concern over fracking's environmental impact without being overly burdensome on industry. In addition to requiring disclosure of fracking chemicals, BLM proposal includes rules to ensure proper well bore integrity and disposal of wastewater, Abbey said. Abbey pointed to the FracFocus website, a voluntary, well-by-well database maintained by state regulators, as a model that BLM hopes to include in its rule. Article continues below... Request a free trial of: Gas Daily Gas Daily offers the most detailed coverage of natural gas prices at interstate and intrastate pipeline and pooling points in major U.S. markets. Gas Daily keeps you informed about complex state and federal regulations that affect competition in the gas industry.
Oil and natural gas drillers complying with existing state- and industry-led efforts to disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing will not have to do much additional work to make those disclosures to the US government under an upcoming rule governing fracking on public lands, a top official said Tuesday. US Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey told a congressional subcommittee that federal regulators have been closely coordinating their efforts with states, industry and other stakeholders to ensure the rules address public concern over fracking's environmental impact without being overly burdensome on industry. In addition to requiring disclosure of fracking chemicals, BLM proposal includes rules to ensure proper well bore integrity and disposal of wastewater, Abbey said. Abbey pointed to the FracFocus website, a voluntary, well-by-well database maintained by state regulators, as a model that BLM hopes to include in its rule.
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Gas Daily offers the most detailed coverage of natural gas prices at interstate and intrastate pipeline and pooling points in major U.S. markets. Gas Daily keeps you informed about complex state and federal regulations that affect competition in the gas industry.
BLM has worked "to come up with something that we believe makes sense, that will augment what's already required by some states and not duplicate what's required by some states," he said. "And we're also very sensitive to the fact that FracFocus has worked well for disclosure of chemicals, and we hope to be able to adopt that as part of our rules." Abbey was testifying to the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee for Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, which sets annual spending levels for the Department of Interior, including BLM, on the bureau's request for $1.1 billion to fund its fiscal 2013 activities. Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Abbey said adopting FracFocus as a reporting tool would allow companies to essentially fill out just one set of disclosure paperwork to report to both states and BLM. "We believe that if we end up adopting FracFocus to actually be part of our process that it would provide greater consistency across the states," he said. "Certainly the industry would be pleased with that, instead of having two different systems that they have to report." BLM's proposed rule is undergoing interagency review by the White House Office of Management and Budget. Abbey said he hopes to release the proposal for public review and comment soon but did not know an exact date when it would be available. --Nick Juliano, nicholas_juliano@platts.com
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