A long-awaited rule governing hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on federal lands is coming in “weeks,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Monday.
The Obama administration has been working on the fracking rule since May 2012. It would set standards and requirements for the drilling method and has come under fire from both environmentalists and industry groups.
“I’m not going to give you an exact date,” Jewell said in a media call. “But we are very close.”
Jewell also said the Interior Department is working to finish regulations on “blowout preventers” — a last-resort piece of equipment used to cap leaking offshore wells — and for Arctic drilling, though those rules will take longer to complete.
Fracking injects a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals into tight-rock formations to access hydrocarbons buried deep underground. The practice has been credited with driving the U.S. energy boom, propelling the country to the world’s top oil and gas producer.
The fracking rule would set requirements for disclosing chemicals used in the process, managing water that flows back when drilling, and securing wells. Interior also is set to release a separate rule early this year for managing “venting” and “flaring” of excess natural gas on federal land that can’t be stored or pumped into pipelines.
Industry groups say the fracking rule would be duplicative, as oil and gas companies note fracking has been used for decades and that states already manage the practice. Jewell, for her part, has said fracking can be done safely. Still, she has said fracking has evolved with the advent of horizontal drilling, and has said the regulations must keep pace with technological changes.
Environmentalists and public health groups say state standards are too lax. They have raised concerns about the fracking process polluting drinking water, and say that the proposed federal rules are too lenient on chemical disclosure.
