Proposed Amendments
Controversy surrounds the practice of hydraulic fracturing as a threat to drinking water supplies. The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act (H.R. 2766, S. 1215), dubbed the "FRAC Act," was introduced to both houses of the 111th Congress on June 9, 2009. The bill would have repealed the exemption for hydraulic fracturing in the SDWA and regulated the oil and natural gas recovery process under the UIC program. It would have required the energy industry to disclose the chemicals it mixes with the water and sand it pumps underground in the process (also known as "fracking"), information that has largely been protected as proprietary or trade secrets. Without knowing the identity of the proprietary components, regulators cannot test for their presence. This prevents government regulators from establishing baseline levels of the substances prior to hydraulic fracturing and documenting changes in these levels, thereby making it impossible to determine whether hydraulic fracturing is contaminating the environment with these substances. The natural gas industry opposed the legislation. The House bill was introduced by representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and Jared Polis (D-CO). The Senate version was introduced by senators Bob Casey (D-PA), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY). After a delay, the FRAC Act was re-introduced in both houses of the 112th United States Congress. In the Senate, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced S. 587 on March 15, 2011. In the House, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) introduced H.R. 1084 on March 24, 2011.
As of May 2012, Congress had not yet passed either of The FRAC Act bills
Read more about this topic: Safe Drinking Water Act
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