[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2728 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2728

 To recognize States' authority to regulate oil and gas operations and 
    promote American energy security, development, and job creation.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 18, 2013

 Mr. Flores (for himself, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Hastings of Washington, Mr. 
  Lamborn, and Mrs. Lummis) introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To recognize States' authority to regulate oil and gas operations and 
    promote American energy security, development, and job creation.

    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 ``Protecting States' Rights to Promote 
American Energy Security Act''.

SEC. 2. STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING REGULATION.

    The Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended by 
redesignating section 44 as section 45, and by inserting after section 
43 the following:

``SEC. 44. STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING REGULATION.

    ``(a) In General.--The Department of the Interior shall not enforce 
any Federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement regarding 
hydraulic fracturing, or any component of that process, relating to 
oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on or under any land in 
any State that has regulations, guidance, or permit requirements for 
that activity.
    ``(b) State Authority.--The Department of the Interior shall 
recognize and defer to State regulations, permitting, and guidance, for 
all activities related to hydraulic fracturing, or any component of 
that process, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities 
on Federal land regardless of whether those rules are duplicative, more 
or less restrictive, shall have different requirements, or do not meet 
Federal guidelines.
    ``(c) Hydraulic Fracturing Defined.--In this section the term 
`hydraulic fracturing' means the process by which fracturing fluids (or 
a fracturing fluid system) are pumped into an underground geologic 
formation at a calculated, predetermined rate and pressure to generate 
fractures or cracks in the target formation and thereby increase the 
permeability of the rock near the wellbore and improve production of 
natural gas or oil.''.
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