1.This Act may be cited as the
Fracturing Responsibility and
Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act
.
2.Regulation of
hydraulic fracturing
(a)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)
(A)The term underground injection means the
subsurface emplacement of fluids by well injection.
(B)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)The
term underground injection does not include the underground
injection of natural gas for the purpose of
storage.
.
(b)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)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)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)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.
.