The US Bureau of Land Management proposes to rescind its 2015 rule on hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells on federal and Indian land.
The action responds to a late-March executive order calling for review of the Clean Power Plan adopted in the administration of former President Barack Obama and calling for review of several other environmental initiatives, including the frac rule (OGJ Online, Mar. 29, 2017).
BLM issued the final rule in March 2015 but never fully implemented it.
For wells to be hydraulically fractured, the final rule imposed new layers of permitting and reporting, added requirements for water handling and storage, and mandated new disclosures of chemicals in frac fluids.
In a July 25 Federal Register notice, BLM said the rule “is unnecessarily duplicative of state and some tribal regulations and imposes burdensome reporting requirements and other unjustified costs on the oil and gas industry.”
It opened a 60-day comment period on the proposal.
