New to the art form? This Wall Street Journal article will get you orientated. Also, for more information on how some of these titles mislead lawmakers and the citizenry, find some academic commentary from Brian Christopher Jones here: https://works.bepress.com/brian_jones/.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Fracturing Federal Rights for Energy Security

Rep. Bill Flores (R., TX) has introduced H.R. 2728, Protecting States' Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act. According to the official summary, the bill: 
Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to prohibit the Department of the Interior from enforcing any federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement regarding hydraulic fracturing (including any component of that process), relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on or under any land in any state that has regulations, guidance, or permit requirements for that activity. 
Requires the Department to recognize and defer to state regulations, permitting, and guidance, for all activities related to hydraulic fracturing relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on federal land regardless of whether those rules are duplicative, more or less restrictive, have different requirements, or do not meet federal guidelines.
The White House has come out against the measure, however, noting that it does not give due consideration to federal lands, including Indian lands, and does not take into consideration the comprehensive (or lack thereof) of state regulations regarding hydraulic fracturing. Their official statement notes that: 
The bill, as reported, would undermine these efforts and instead require BLM [Bureau of Land Management] to defer to existing State regulations on hydraulic fracturing on Federal lands, regardless of the quality or comprehensiveness of the State regulations – thereby preventing consistent environmental protections.


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