Interior Dept. sets new rules for drilling on public land

Staff report

washington

The U.S. Department of the Interior proposed a rule Friday that would require companies to publicly disclose the chemicals being used in fracking operations.

The rule would apply only to operations taking place on federal or Indian land and does allow companies to protect some proprietary information. The rule is designed to be in line with actions that already have been taken by some states.

The rule’s goal is to improve assurances on well-bore integrity to verify that fluids used in wells during fracking operations are not escaping, and confirming that oil and gas operators have a water-management plan in place for handling fracking fluids that flow back to the surface.

Fracking is the process in which water, chemicals and sand are blasted into rocks thousands of feet below the ground to unlock natural gas and oil.

In developing the proposed rule, Interior’s Bureau of Land Management sought feedback from sources in government, industry, members of the public and other interested stakeholders. The proposed rule soon will be part of a 60-day public comment period.

The proposed rule would not have an impact in the Buckeye State. At this time, Ohio does not have a rule requiring companies to disclose what chemicals are being used in the fracking process.