[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1215 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1215
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal a certain exemption for
hydraulic fracturing, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 9, 2009
Mr. Casey (for himself and Mr. Schumer) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal a certain exemption for
hydraulic fracturing, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fracturing Responsibility and
Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act''.
SEC. 2. REGULATION OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURING.
(a) Underground Injection.--Section 1421(d) of the Safe Drinking
Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300h(d)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and
inserting the following:
``(1) Underground injection.--
``(A) In general.--The term `underground injection'
means the subsurface emplacement of fluids by well
injection.
``(B) Inclusion.--The term `underground injection'
includes the underground injection of fluids or
propping agents pursuant to hydraulic fracturing
operations relating to oil or gas production
activities.
``(C) Exclusion.--The term `underground injection'
does not include the underground injection of natural
gas for the purpose of storage.''.
(b) Disclosure.--Section 1421(b) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42
U.S.C. 300h(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting before the semicolon
the following: ``, including a requirement that any person
using hydraulic fracturing disclose to the State (or to the
Administrator in any case in which the Administrator has
primary enforcement responsibility in a State) the chemical
constituents (but not the proprietary chemical formulas) used
in the fracturing process''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Disclosures of chemical constituents.--
``(A) In general.--The State (or the Administrator,
as applicable) shall make available to the public the
information contained in each disclosure of chemical
constituents under paragraph (1)(C), including by
posting the information on an appropriate Internet
website.
``(B) Immediate disclosure in case of emergency.--
``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii),
the regulations promulgated pursuant to
subsection (a) shall require that, in any case
in which the State (or the Administrator, as
applicable) or an appropriate treating
physician or nurse determines that a medical
emergency exists and the proprietary chemical
formula or specific chemical identity of a
trade-secret chemical used in hydraulic
fracturing is necessary for emergency or first-
aid treatment, the applicable person using
hydraulic fracturing shall immediately disclose
to the State (or the Administrator) or the
treating physician or nurse the proprietary
chemical formula or specific chemical identity
of a trade-secret chemical, regardless of the
existence of--
``(I) a written statement of need;
or
``(II) a confidentiality agreement.
``(ii) Requirement.--A person using
hydraulic fracturing that makes a disclosure
required under clause (i) may require the
execution of a written statement of need and a
confidentiality agreement as soon as
practicable after the determination by the
State (or the Administrator) or the treating
physician or nurse under that clause.''.
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