Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Tuesday that long-awaited final federal rules governing hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — would be released imminently.
“In the coming days — days,” Jewell said of the timing at a Washington event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The rules are expected to set new requirements for well integrity, disclosing chemicals used in the fracking process and managing so-called “flowback water” that’s disposed of after fracking. The drilling method involves injecting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals into tight-rock formations to access hydrocarbons.
Industry has opposed the rules, calling them duplicative and noting that there’s been no contamination of drinking water from fracking like the practice’s detractors claim. But environmental and public health groups say they’re necessary to prevent improper discharges of wastewater and to guard against the potential for polluting groundwater.
Jewell also said her department would “in the coming months” unveil federal rules for managing “venting” and “flaring” of excess methane that’s produced but can’t be captured on federal land, largely because of inadequate infrastructure. Venting and flaring contribute to climate change, as methane is a greenhouse gas that scientists blame for warming the planet.
Environmental groups are concerned a methane leakage rate of 3 percent during fracking would erase the climate benefits of using cleaner-burning natural gas instead of coal in electricity generation. Natural gas is half as carbon dense as coal, but methane is 25 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide.
“You can’t talk about energy unless you talk about climate change,” Jewell said.
