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Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead is telling the Interior Department to back off on proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing, the controversial technique that boosts the productivity of oil and gas wells.

The proposed U.S. Bureau of Land Management rule would require petroleum companies to disclose the chemicals they pump underground during hydraulic fracturing on public lands.

Some states, including Wyoming, already have similar regulations. Mead says in a letter Monday that such rules on the federal level would be duplicative and unnecessary.

He says Interior should allow states to take the lead.

Environmentalists say fracking can contaminate groundwater. Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency theorized that hydraulic fracturing may have contaminated groundwater in a central Wyoming gas field.

Wyoming and EPA now are coordinating on additional testing in the area.

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Governor Tom Corbett announced his plans to implement numerous recommendations of the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, including changes to enhance environmental standards, an impact fee, and a plan to help move Pennsylvania toward energy independence.

“This natural resource will fuel our generating plants, heat our homes and power our state’s economic engine for generations to come,” Corbett said. “This growing industry will also provide new career opportunities that will give our children a reason to stay here in Pennsylvania. We are going to do this safely and we’re going to do it right, because energy equals jobs.”

As a result of the public Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission meetings, we now have a sensible and fair plan to put before the General Assembly, Corbett said.

The plan will make sure that Pennsylvania’s economy benefits from developing this new source of wealth and energy independence, while also ensuring that the environment and natural beauty of this state are protected.

As a part of this proposal, Corbett announced a series of prudent standards related to unconventional drilling, including:

• •Increasing the well setback distance from private water wells from the current 200 feet to 500 feet, and to 1,000 feet from public water systems;Increasing the setback distance for wells near streams, rivers, ponds and other bodies of water from 100 feet to 300 feet;
• •Increasing well bonding from $2,000 up to $10,000;
• •Increasing blanket well bonds from $25,000 up to $250,000;
• •Expanding an unconventional gas operator’s “presumed liability” for impairing water quality from 1,000 feet to 2,500 feet from a gas well, and extending the duration of presumed liability from 6 months after well completion to 12 months;
• •Enabling DEP to take quicker action to revoke or withhold permits for operators who consistently violate rules;
• •Doubling penalties for civil violations from $25,000 to $50,000; and
• •Doubling daily penalties from $1,000 a day to $2,000 a day.

This plan will also allow for an impact fee, which will be adopted by counties for use by local communities experiencing the actual impacts of the drilling. The fee will be used by local governments, counties and state agencies that respond to issues that arise as a result of Marcellus Shale gas drilling.

“Estimates show that this impact fee will bring in about $120 million in the first year, climbing to nearly $200 million within six years,” Corbett said. “As the number of wells grows, so will the revenue. Almost all of the money it brings in will go to benefit the places experiencing the impact.”

Each well will be subject to a fee of up to $40,000 in the first year, $30,000 in the second year, $20,000 in the third year and $10,000 in the fourth through tenth years, adding up to a potential total of $160,000 per well.

Under this proposal, a county may provide for a fee credit of up to 30 percent if the driller makes approved investments in natural gas infrastructure, which include setting up natural gas fueling stations or natural gas public transit vehicles.

The impact fee revenues will be split with 75 percent being retained at the local level, with 36 percent of that number retained by the county, 37 percent distributed to municipalities that host the drilling pads and 27 percent distributed to all the municipalities within a Marcellus drilling impacted county. The distribution formula will be based on population and highway miles.

The remaining 25 percent of the fee would be divided, with 70 percent of that number going to PennDOT for road, bridge, rail and other transportation infrastructure maintenance and repair within counties hosting Marcellus natural gas development, 4.5 percent to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for emergency response planning and training, and 3.75 percent to the Office of State Fire Commissioner for training programs for first responders and for specialized equipment necessary for emergency response.

In addition, 3.75 percent will go to the Department of Health for collecting and disseminating information, and for health care and citizen provider outreach and education, and for investigating health complaints and other activities associated with shale development, 7.5 percent to the Public Utility Commission to enhance pipeline safety and increase inspections, and 10.5 percent to a restricted account at the Department of Environmental Protection to be used for plugging abandoned and unused gas wells, plus other natural gas related regulation and enforcement.

Corbett said that under this plan, counties and municipalities may use these funds on various expenses related to impacts from natural gas development, including:

• •Construction, repair and maintenance of roads, bridges and other public infrastructure;Water, storm water and sewer system construction and repair;
• •Emergency response preparedness, training, equipment, responder recruitment;
• •Preservation and reclamation of surface and subsurface water supplies;
• •Records management, geographic information systems and information technology;
• •Projects which increase the availability of affordable housing to low-income residents;
• •Delivery of social services, including domestic relations, drug and alcohol treatment, job training and counseling;
• •Offsetting increased judicial system costs, including training;
• •Assistance to county conservation districts for inspection, oversight and enforcement of natural gas development; and
• •County or municipal planning.

Corbett’s proposal also seeks to help secure energy independence and reduce reliance on foreign oil by developing “Green Corridors” for natural gas vehicles with refueling stations at least every 50 miles and within two miles of key highways; by amending the PA Clean Vehicles Program to include “bi-fuel” vehicles (diesel and natural gas); by helping schools and mass transit systems to convert fleets to natural gas vehicles; by stabilizing electric prices by using natural gas for generating electricity; and by encouraging the development of markets for natural gas and natural gas byproducts, such as within the plastics and petrochemical industries.

The Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission issued 96 recommendations. About one third require legislative changes; more than 50 are policy-oriented and can be accomplished within the state agencies.

The legislative priorities outlined today will be submitted to the legislative leadership in the near future. The governor has instructed the relevant Cabinet Secretaries to create implementation plans for the policy-oriented recommendations and to submit them to his office within 30 days.

Corbett made his announcement during a tour of the Carpenter’s Training Center in Pittsburgh with Congressman Tim Murphy and Council of Carpenter’s Executive Director Bill Waterkotte. During his visit the governor spoke with representatives from a number of building trades about their efforts to ensure Pennsylvania workers are trained to fill the new jobs coming to the state from the natural gas industry.

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WASHINGTON —The Obama administration formally wrapped up its nearly two-year overhaul of the way the government oversees offshore drilling Saturday, but federal regulators say they still need more money and staff to boost inspections and step up reviews of coastal energy projects.

“We believe strongly that we need additional resources for these organizations to be able to do their job,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters Friday.

The plea for more money puts the Interior Department on a collision course with fiscal conservatives in Congress who are trying to pare the federal budget.

As of midnight Friday, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement — formerly known as the Minerals Management Service — was disbanded. Salazar called the achievement a “milestone” that caps 17 months of work to widely restructure the way the government polices energy development along the nation’s coasts.

In BOEMRE’s place will be two new agencies: the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), tasked with reviewing individual well proposals, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which will administer offshore lease sales and vet broad coastal exploration plans.

President Barack Obama ordered the overhaul in May 2010, in a bid to separate out the Minerals Management Service’s sometimes conflicting missions, including collecting royalties from offshore drilling while policing those operations. Under a change that went into effect last October, offshore drilling revenue is now collected by a separate office in the Interior Department.

BOEM will have 550 people on staff; another 750 people will be at BSEE, but that includes some workers shared by both agencies, including those in information technology and procurement departments.

The federal government has hired more than 120 people over the past 15 months, as it adds new engineers to go over drilling plans and new inspectors to visit offshore facilities. But the Obama administration has asked Congress for enough money to recruit 200 more.

Michael Bromwich, the BSEE director, has stressed that the government’s hopes of speeding up the permitting of offshore drilling projects — and satisfying some energy-state lawmakers on Capitol Hill — hangs in the balance.

Congress “needs to act quickly and aggressively and give us significantly more resources than we currently have,” Bromwich said at a recent Platts Energy Podium. “We really are doing the best we can with the resources we have,” but it’s frustrating to hear lawmakers urge government to move more quickly when “we don’t have the people to speed up the process permanently.”

“I don’t have enough drilling engineers to process those drilling applications more quickly than we have been doing,” Bromwich added.

Although Bromwich has agreed to serve as the BSEE director temporarily, the Obama administration is hunting for a permanent replacement. A major challenge is finding someone who can withstand the political pressure and intense scrutiny from Congress. At least one candidate withdrew from consideration because of concerns about the congressional scrutiny.

“There are some people in this Congress who play politics with some very serious issues, and it is very important in this kind of agency to have someone who is very strong, who can call balls and strikes (and) who can tell Congress they’re wrong when they’re wrong,” Salazar said. “We need to have someone who can stand up to that kind of political questioning.”

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Management of offshore oil resources will be split from the enforcement of safety rules for drilling by the end of September, a step in overhauling oversight of the energy industry, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

The department also will set up an advisory board of scientists, engineers and technical experts, led by former Sandia National Laboratory Director Tom Hunter, to review practices and make recommendations to the agency, Salazar said. The U.S. is rewriting regulations after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig leased by BP Plc in the Gulf of Mexico.

“We will work to ensure we never again experience another incident like Deepwater Horizon,” Salazar said today in a speech in Washington. “Now is not the time to retreat from our efforts.”

Salazar said the changes are aimed at restarting oil production in “places where it’s appropriate,” including the Gulf. The agency overseeing the drilling industry is yet to issue the first permit for activities that had been banned under the moratorium following the BP’s blast.

BP’s Macondo well blowout on April 20 killed 11 people, destroyed a $365 million rig and spewed crude for 87 days, the worst U.S. offshore oil spill.

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Directive aimed at renewed drilling

Aiming to clear up confusion for offshore drillers over the agency’s new policies for reviewing oil spill response plans, the U.S. Interior Department on Monday issued guidance that attempts to provide clarity on what information regulators are looking for.

The information, which does not include any new requirements, is intended to assist offshore drillers in the “implementation of the stronger safety and environmental standards we have put in place,” said Michael Bromwich, the head the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, in a statement.

“As we continue to strengthen oversight and safety and environmental protections, we must ensure that the oil and gas industry has clear direction on what is expected,” Bromwich said.

Drilling operators have pointed to the agency’s recently imposed requirements for the delay in permitting, which has been stalled since the Obama administration dropped its moratorium on deepwater drilling Oct. 12.

Holly Hopkins, a policy analyst with the American Petroleum Institute, said in a statement that the industry advocacy group is “taking a close look at the guidance to evaluate whether it provides the clarity operators need to understand and implement the new standards.

“We’ve raised the bar on offshore development safety, and we’re eager to get back to work in the Gulf producing energy, jobs and revenue for the nation,” Hopkins said. “We hope the administration appreciates the urgency of this as much as the people living and working in the Gulf states today.”

Doug MacAfee, drilling manager for shallow-water operator Apache Corp., said the guidance would likely “help somebody that hasn’t been participating in the permitting process.

“For those of us who have been participating in the permitting process, we really didn’t see anything new there,” MacAfee said.

The agency is advocating for operators to meet with its staff to discuss individual operators and the worst-case flow-rate scenarios for an uncontrolled spill, which are required. The 18-page document states that the agency has had “a high level of compliance among operators who have met with BOEMRE staff” to discuss their calculations.

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Railroad Commissioner accuses flip-flopping President of drill policy that kills jobs and disregards economic benefits to America

Austin, TX – Elizabeth Ames Jones, Texas Railroad Commissioner, released the following statement regarding the Obama Administration’s reinstatement of the offshore drilling ban in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast.

“Our President has proven himself to be the ‘Flip-Flopper-in-Chief.’ Last March the President announced it was time to consider drilling in the very areas he has now banned from exploration. This bait-and-switch stops any prospect for exploration in federal waters off the coast of Virginia, which just eight months ago the President and Interior Secretary considered for a lease sale that would have taken place next year.”

“Either the President and Secretary Salazar are simply ignorant about the time, technology and effort it takes to put a drill bit on the ocean floor or this announcement exposes their pandering to eco-political constituencies opposed to using oil and natural gas to fuel America. Clearly, this changed policy is not based on the facts made available to him last March. They are putting politics before jobs and revenue for our country.”

Jones explained, “It will take years before wells would be drilled, even if the decision was made by companies to invest in a lease. Our President needs to understand that just because companies might pay millions of dollars to the federal government in lease bonuses, rentals, and to engineering and service companies for things like mapping and seismic, it does not mean all the areas will be considered economically viable for them to drill. It is a long and expensive process for companies, but that is the up-front financial risk they take to explore and produce American energy.”

“Our nation’s empty coffers could use the billions of dollars that could be raised over the next six years, and we could certainly use the approximately 57,000 new jobs that won’t be created because our President can’t stay the course.”

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced an updated oil and gas leasing strategy for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). It got a very mixed review from NOIA (the National Ocean Industry Association) and was slammed by API as “an extension of the offshore drilling ban that would halt job creation and economic growth.

Effectively, the new policy takes a number of areas that had once been under consideration for offshore drilling, such as offshore Virginia, out of the picture for years to come.

“Based on lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Department has raised the bar in the drilling and production stages for equipment, safety, environmental safeguards, and oversight. In order to focus on implementing these reforms efficiently and effectively, critical agency resources will be focused on planning areas that currently have leases for potential future development,” said a statement from the Department of the Interior. “As a result, the area in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico that remains under a congressional moratorium, and the Mid and South Atlantic planning areas are no longer under consideration for potential development through 2017.”

The Western Gulf of Mexico, Central Gulf of Mexico, the Cook Inlet, and the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the Arctic will continue to be considered for potential leasing before 2017.

“As a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill we learned a number of lessons, most importantly that we need to proceed with caution and focus on creating a more stringent regulatory regime,” said Secretary Salazar. “As that regime continues to be developed and implemented, we have revised our initial March leasing strategy to focus and expend our critical resources on areas with leases that are currently active. Our revised strategy lays out a careful, responsible path for meeting our nation’s energy needs while protecting our oceans and coastal communities.”

The plan announced today also confirms many policies announced in March, including environmental analysis to determine whether seismic studies should be conducted in the Mid and South Atlantic, and “rigorous scientific analysis” of the Arctic to determine if future oil and gas development could be conducted safely.

Lease sales in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico under the 2007-2012 program are currently scheduled to begin in approximately 12 months, after the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) completes appropriate environmental analyses that take into account effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Analyses and public meetings will also take place to help determine if additional lease sales in these areas should proceed as part of the 2012-2017 program.

In connection with today’s announcement, BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich stated that he is in the process of completing an agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through which NOAA will collaborate with BOEMRE in the environmental analyses for OCS planning.

GULF OF MEXICO

Lease sales in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico under the 2007-2012 program are currently scheduled to proceed in late 2011 or early 2012, after the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) completes appropriate environmental analyses.

Interior will also soon begin public meetings and environmental analysis to inform decisions about when and where lease sales in portions of the Gulf of Mexico currently not under congressional moratorium will be held during 2012-2017.

Most of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico planning remains under a Congressionally-mandated drilling moratorium and is not proposed for leasing in either the 2007-2012 program or the 2012-2017 program.

ALASKA

Offshore drilling in Alaska is under careful review and consideration by the Department of the Interior and BOEMRE. These efforts include scientific and environmental studies, public meetings, and additional analysis of oil spill response capabilities in the Arctic.

BOEMRE will soon begin to hold public meetings in Alaska to gather important public input and information for an environmental impact statement that will help inform Secretary Salazar’s decision on whether and where to schedule Alaska lease sales under the 2012-2017 program. The public meetings will cover the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Cook Inlet planning areas.

Decisions about the 2012-2017 program will be informed by an ongoing United States Geological Survey (USGS) assessment of resources, risks, and environmental sensitivities in Arctic areas, and input from other federal agencies, including the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Though no further lease sales in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas will be held under the 2007-2012 program, BOEMRE will continue to honor existing leases in the Arctic. Currently, one application to drill (APD) in the Arctic is pending before BOEMRE. The APD, submitted by Shell, proposes to drill one exploratory well in the Beaufort Sea in the summer of 2011. BOEMRE is processing that permit request. The Bureau is preparing additional environmental analysis of the area in light of Shell’s permit application. BOEMRE is working closely with other federal agencies that also must approve aspects of the proposed drilling activity, including NOAA and the Environmental Protection Agency.

If Shell’s proposed drilling operation is approved, BOEMRE would have safety personnel on site throughout the drilling operation to monitor the operation and hold them accountable for compliance with BOEMRE’s drilling safety and environmental regulations.

MID AND SOUTH ATLANTIC

Because the potential oil and gas resources in the Mid and South Atlantic are currently not well-known, Interior will move forward with an environmental analysis for potential seismic studies in the Mid and South Atlantic OCS to support conventional and renewable energy planning. No lease sales will be scheduled in the Atlantic in the 2007-2012 program or in the 2012-2017 program.

National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Randall Luthi today issued the following statement in response to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s announcement on offshore leasing:

“We are both relieved and disappointed by today’s announcement.

“On one hand, we’ve been pressing Secretary Salazar to move on the 2012-2017 offshore leasing plan. Time is simply running out to get the necessary planning work accomplished. The announcement is a relief in that it shows forward movement toward future offshore lease sales. This is important, since energy production from the OCS accounts for about 27 percent of the oil and about 14 percent of the natural gas produced in this country.

“Without question, we are disappointed that scheduled 2011 lease sales will be delayed or possibly cancelled and that new areas will not be considered, particularly offshore Virginia, where bi-partisan interest and support exists among the Governor, both U.S. Senators, and a majority of the Congressional delegation and in the Eastern Gulf where there is great promise for deepwater resources. Safety measures currently being finalized by industry will be in place in the next weeks and months, and to essentially put in place a moratorium for 7 more years in the eastern GOM and other offshore areas, goes too far.

“The delay of at least two years of scheduled lease sales shows a lack of understanding of oil and gas production. A lease sale is only one step in the process and doesn’t necessarily mean production will occur. Likewise the argument that there are 29 million acres available for development shows a lack of understanding that oil and gas reserves are not located everywhere nor uniformly located under all 29 million acres.

“Limiting the areas for the EIS scoping process automatically removes them from potential development until after 2017. Today’s decision, coupled with the slow permit approval in the Gulf of Mexico, will cripple our Nation’s ability to produce home grown energy and high quality jobs for the next generation. It is estimated that energy exploration and production offshore Virginia alone, for example, would create thousands of new, well-paying jobs and generate millions of dollars in revenue.

“Getting the time-tested planning process moving again is a good step in the right direction because lease sales are as important to future energy security for the nation as restarting permitting on shallow-water and deepwater wells.

“What would be more valuable to the nation’s economic and energy future would be the recognition that valuable energy resources lie in those areas that have been kept off-limits to even exploration for decades, and will now apparently continue to be locked away.”

American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Jack Gerard warned that the administration’s decision today could result in the loss of tens of thousands of American jobs, billions less in government revenues and an increasing dependence on foreign energy sources:

“As our country looks for ways out of the hole of lackluster economic growth and job creation, today’s decision shows that this administration would rather keep digging than take the ladder to increased economic prosperity offered by developing our nation’s domestic energy resources.

“The oil and natural gas industry is a reliable vehicle for growing the economy and creating good-paying jobs. This decision shuts the door on new development off our nation’s coasts and effectively ensures that new American jobs will not be realized. It will stifle investment, deny billions in revenue for critical government services and increase our dependence on foreign energy sources.

“The oil and natural gas industry is committed to safe and environmentally responsible operations, and both the industry and regulators have added new safeguards to ensure such operations.This reversal on new lease sales off America’s coasts comes on top of a de facto moratorium, which has all but stopped new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.”

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Earlier this week, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar held a public forum to discuss the best practices for hydraulic fracturing in oil and natural gas production. The forum included discussion by federal and state officials as well as representatives from industry and from environmental and sportsmen’s organizations. It was a good conversation, and the transcript is available on line. Federal officials, led by Secretary Salazar and White House Director of Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner, stated that natural gas should be developed on public land in a way that is protective of the environment, landscapes, and cultural resources, and made the point that we do not have to choose between a healthy economy and a healthy environment—we can have both.

NRDC’s Executive Director, Peter Lehner, participated on a panel and highlighted critical issues: some locations that are too sensitive, and where the environmental risks are too high, should be off limits; wherever there is drilling, comprehensive best management practices should be required; and renewable energy and energy efficiency must be a critical part of our energy plan.

Peter, a former state official, also pointed out why federal regulations are so important. Most federal environmental programs are actually administered by the states, take into account local conditions, and rely on local regulators to know the local industry. Having state-tailored regulations is not inconsistent with having a federal standard, and having that federal standard assures citizens of different states that they are treated the same way, with the same standards, as elsewhere.

Secretary Salazar announced at this forum that the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management will be considering a policy regarding disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. This would be a great step and provide the public with crucial information about chemicals used on public land and in split estate circumstances (where private landowners live above federally-managed oil and gas resources). This is important because hydraulic fracturing chemicals are implicated in drinking water contamination and other environmental harms.

Some Members of Congress jumped on this announcement. Congressman Doc Hastings of Washington state sent a letter to Secretary Salazar stating that disclosure of hydraulic fracturing chemicals would “threaten thousands of jobs, deepen the federal deficit through reduced revenues, and harm natural gas development and our nation’s energy security.” He also stated that “the concept of transparency” is in place and that “significant” efforts have already been made at the state level.

Congressman Rob Bishop of Utah was quoted in a news article as saying that “State regulatory agencies are more than capable of carefully monitoring and managing energy development and water quality within their boundaries,” and that requiring disclosure of fracking chemicals would “inhibit domestic energy production.”

Let’s get beyond the rhetoric and look at the facts:

* There is no basis for the claims that disclosure of hydraulic fracturing fluids would threaten jobs, hinder natural gas production, jeopardize energy security, or deepen the federal deficit. Earlier this year, the State of Wyoming issued a new rule that requires full disclosure of hydraulic fracturing chemicals. No companies opposed this rule, and companies are complying with it. There is no evidence that anyone has lost his or her job because of the new Wyoming rule. And the Congressmen seem to assume there are only costs associated with new rules, and no benefits–for example to human health, the environment, or worker safety. Of course any sound cost-benefit analysis must look at both.

* A long list of oil and gas producers, as well as their trade associations, are on the record as supporting disclosure. On this topic, therefore, it is unclear whose views Congressmen Hastings and Bishop are representing.

* Congressman Bishop is correct that states have the authority to monitor energy development and water quality. Most states, however, are not doing enough to protect the environment and health of their citizens. As I mentioned, Wyoming just issued new rules this year. As Tom Doll, Wyoming’s Oil and Gas Supervisor, said at the DOI forum: Wyoming’s rules needed to be brought into “modern times.” That is the case with most states where oil and gas production occurs—regulations have not been updated in years. Wyoming is the only state in the nation that requires public disclosure of all hydraulic fracturing chemicals used at each location. So Congressman Hasting’s comment that significant efforts have been made by states on this front is, unfortunately, just not accurate. While states have the authority to establish rules to increase the safety of hydraulic fracturing, state regulations vary quite widely, and federal regulations are essential to ensure citizens in every state can count on the same basic protections.

NRDC’s Peter Lehner made an excellent point at the DOI forum—those who claim that Americans must choose between their jobs and clean drinking water are people who for some reason don’t want industry and environmentalists to talk and come up with win-win solutions. But we know the win-win solutions are out there. This is America – if we can put a man on the moon, we can protect our drinking water while keeping our jobs.

The Department of the Interior is on the right track. It can lead the way by ensuring that the best available technologies are used by oil and gas producers on public lands, as well as offshore. And the agency can demonstrate that we can ensure clean air and clean water while serving the country’s economic and energy needs. We hope that the Department of the Interior requires public disclosure of hydraulic fracturing chemicals, and we also hope it goes further to require the full range of the best available technologies to protect the air, water, wildlife habitat, and stunning landscapes that it manages on behalf of the American people.

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