On March 25, 2014, the U.S. Department Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee concerning the budget for the DOI and responded to questions relating to the proposed regulations concerning hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. Ms. Jewell testified that the DOI is currently reviewing the more than 1.3 million comments received from the public after the introduction of the revised regulations in May 2013. She anticipates that the Bureau of Land Management will finalize the rules before the end of 2014.
Telling the representatives that the proposed regulations will continue to evolve, Ms. Jewell stated that “I’ve fracked wells before and I’ve been in the industry. I know that technology moves on and we have to keep up and apply the best available sciences.” Along with the best available science, the rules will incorporate lessons learned from states that have been regulating fracking for a number of years.
Ms. Jewell mentioned that the U.S. Geological Survey would be continuing studies into induced seismicity and wellbore integrity, both important issues to be considered and incorporated into the regulations being proposed.
For additional information on the proposed hydraulic fracturing regulations, click here.
This post was written by Barclay Nicholson (barclay.nicholson@nortonrosefulbright.com or 713.651.3662) from Norton Rose Fulbright's Energy Practice Group.
