The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the publication of final hydraulic fracturing regulations on federal public and American Indian lands on March 20. According to the BLM press release, “the commonsense standards will improve safety and help protect groundwater by updating requirements for well-bore integrity, wastewater disposal and public disclosure of chemicals.”
The new regulations, which have been under development for several years and subject to an extensive public outreach process, are slated to take effect in 90 days. However, several lawsuits challenging the rule have been filed in the week since it was published, and more are expected in the weeks to come. The general themes presented in lawsuits filed by the state of Wyoming and the oil and gas industry claim the regulations are burdensome and duplicative of existing regulations and supersede states rights to govern fracking practices. Some environmentalists, on the other hand, claim the regulations don’t go far enough in protecting water and other natural resources.
Some members of Congress have also weighed in on the new rule. Congressional views represent both sides of the issue – too stringent or not stringent enough – ensuring that the coming months will see additional debate of the issue on Capitol Hill.