[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 28, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2166-S2168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Vitter, Mr. 
        Sessions, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Risch, Mr. Hoeven, and Mr. Lee):
  S. 2248. A bill to clarify that a State has the sole authority to 
regulate hydraulic fracturing on Federal land within the boundaries of 
the State; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I rise to introduce S. 2248, a bill that 
would clarify the States' sole authority to regulate the process of 
hydraulic fracturing at the State level as opposed to the Federal 
level.

[[Page S2167]]

  I am pleased to be joined by Senators Murkowski, Vitter, Sessions, 
Cornyn, Risch, Hoeven, and Lee as cosponsors.
  The reason for this bill is the State jurisdiction of a process 
called hydraulic fracturing, which has taken place since 1949. In 1949, 
the first hydraulic fracturing well took place in Duncan, OK. It is 
interesting that there has not been one documented case, in over a 
million wells using this process--in 60 years--of groundwater 
contamination.
  As a matter of fact, numerous studies, including reports by the 
Groundwater Protection Council, the EPA, and recently the Energy 
Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, have found no evidence 
of hydraulic fracturing posing a risk to water wells or groundwater. A 
lot of people believe--and I am among them--that the reason to take it 
over at the Federal level is to do away with hydraulic fracturing. It 
is interesting that, recently, with some of the shale deposits and 
discoveries that have been made in the United States, we have been able 
to get in there, using this process, and come up with huge reserves and 
start producing these reserves.
  In every case, without exception--in fact, I will go so far as to say 
you cannot get one cubic foot of natural gas out of a type formation 
without using hydraulic fracturing. The process is and will continue to 
be a safe process. Despite the evidence, in President Obama's recent 
campaign rhetoric, this administration continues to wage an all-out war 
on domestic oil and gas development. During the State of the Union 
Message--it was interesting because, apparently, now because of the 
high price of gas at the pump, the President is feeling political 
pressure, so he is coming out and saying: No, I am not against all 
fossil fuels, even though he has been for 4 years. And he started 
talking about clean, plentiful, cheap natural gas. I agreed with that; 
that is what it is. However, at the same time, if he could have that 
rhetoric and be able to make the case that the Federal Government needs 
to take over the process of hydraulic fracturing to be under his 
control and he can stop that process, he can cut off almost all 
production altogether.
  According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service--and this 
is one that came out this month--since 2007, ``about 96 percent of the 
[oil production] increase took place on nonfederal lands.''
  A recent study also found that 93 percent of shale oil and gas wells 
are on private and State lands. The Department of Interior is in the 
process of issuing rules which will further discourage production on 
Federal lands and federally regulate disclosure of fracking fluids, 
well integrity, and waste water. According to Secretary of Interior Ken 
Salazar, these are rules which they hope will serve as a model for 
future regulation of State lands.
  The Obama EPA alone is looking to regulate hydraulic fracturing 
through its offices of Water, Air, and Toxics.
  What does this legislation do? It is simple. It makes clear that the 
States have the sole authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing on any 
land within their borders. This would include Federal lands within the 
borders of a State.
  It also requires hydraulic fracturing on Federal lands to comply with 
the State laws of which the Federal lands are located.
  Activities related to hydraulic fracturing are already regulated at 
the Federal level under a variety of environmental statutes, including 
portions of the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Clean 
Air Act.
  States better understand their unique geologies and interests. I 
happen to be from Oklahoma, which is an oil State, and it varies from 
State to State. Louisiana deposits are found at a different level than 
ours in Oklahoma. Recently, people think of all these deposits being 
located in the West. However, the Marcellus discoveries that have been 
made are actually in New York State and Pennsylvania, so their local 
regulations are much more applicable than it would be if you did it at 
the Federal level.
  I invite cosponsors. Here we are in the United States with more 
recoverable reserves in oil, gas, and coal than any other country in 
the world. We can be completely self-sufficient from the Mid Eastern 
oil if we get politics out of the way and use our own resources. We are 
the only country in the world that doesn't develop its own resources. 
This is the answer to the problem--the answer to the price of gas at 
the pump. It is one more option. We need to get out of the way of this 
process called hydraulic fracturing.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2248

       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 Regulations are 
     Effective in State Hands Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) hydraulic fracturing is a commercially viable practice 
     that has been used in the United States for more than 60 
     years in more than 1,000,000 wells;
       (2) the Ground Water Protection Council, a national 
     association of State water regulators that is considered to 
     be a leading groundwater protection organization in the 
     United States, released a report entitled ``State Oil and 
     Natural Gas Regulations Designed to Protect Water Resources'' 
     and dated May 2009 finding that the ``current State 
     regulation of oil and gas activities is environmentally 
     proactive and preventive'';
       (3) that report also concluded that ``[a]ll oil and gas 
     producing States have regulations which are designed to 
     provide protection for water resources'';
       (4) a 2004 study by the Environmental Protection Agency, 
     entitled ``Evaluation of Impacts to Underground Sources of 
     Drinking Water by Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane 
     Reservoirs'', found no evidence of drinking water wells 
     contaminated by fracture fluid from the fracked formation;
       (5) a 2009 report by the Ground Water Protection Council, 
     entitled ``State Oil and Natural Gas Regulations Designed to 
     Protect Water Resources'', found a ``lack of evidence'' that 
     hydraulic fracturing conducted in both deep and shallow 
     formations presents a risk of endangerment to ground water;
       (6) a January 2009 resolution by the Interstate Oil and Gas 
     Compact Commission stated ``The states, who regulate 
     production, have comprehensive laws and regulations to ensure 
     operations are safe and to protect drinking water. States 
     have found no verified cases of groundwater contamination 
     associated with hydraulic fracturing.'';
       (7) on May 24, 2011, before the Oversight and Government 
     Reform Committee of the House of Representatives, Lisa 
     Jackson, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
     Agency, testified that she was ``not aware of any proven case 
     where the fracking process itself has affected water'';
       (8) in 2011, Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey 
     stated, ``We have not seen evidence of any adverse effect as 
     a result of the use of the chemicals that are part of that 
     fracking technology.'';
       (9)(A) activities relating to hydraulic fracturing (such as 
     surface discharges, wastewater disposal, and air emissions) 
     are already regulated at the Federal level under a variety of 
     environmental statutes, including portions of--
       (i) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 
     et seq.);
       (ii) the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.); 
     and
       (iii) the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); but
       (B) Congress has continually elected not to include the 
     hydraulic fracturing process in the underground injection 
     control program under the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 
     300f et seq.);
       (10) in 2011, the Secretary of the Interior announced the 
     intention to promulgate new Federal regulations governing 
     hydraulic fracturing on Federal land; and
       (11) a February 2012 study by the Energy Institute at the 
     University of Texas at Austin, entitled ``Fact-Based 
     Regulation for Environmental Protection in Shale Gas 
     Development'', found that ``[n]o evidence of chemicals from 
     hydraulic fracturing fluid has been found in aquifers as a 
     result of fracturing operations''.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF FEDERAL LAND.

       In this Act, the term ``Federal land'' means--
       (1) public lands (as defined in section 103 of the Federal 
     Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702));
       (2) National Forest System land;
       (3) land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of 
     Reclamation; and
       (4) land under the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers.

     SEC. 4. STATE AUTHORITY.

       (a) In General.--A State shall have the sole authority to 
     promulgate or enforce any regulation, guidance, or permit 
     requirement regarding the underground injection of fluids or 
     propping agents pursuant to the hydraulic fracturing process, 
     or any component of that process, relating to oil, gas, or 
     geothermal production activities on or under any land within 
     the boundaries of the State.
       (b) Federal Land.--The underground injection of fluids or 
     propping agents pursuant to the hydraulic fracturing process, 
     or any components of that process, relating to oil, gas, or 
     geothermal production activities on

[[Page S2168]]

     Federal land shall be subject to the law of the State in 
     which the land is located.
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