Can states effectively protect public and private drinking water supplies from contamination as more US oil and gas is produced from previously inaccessible tight shale formations? That's the core question as environmental organizations and other groups and individuals continue to call for a greater federal role.
Robert W. Howarth, director of Cornell University's Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Program, replied "No" to that question as he testified May 31 during the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee subcommittee's hearing on the issue.
"I believe federal agencies should have a central role in regulating oil and gas development, and particularly with the development of unconventional oil and gas by high-volume hydraulic fracturing," he told the Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations, and Procurement Reform subcommittee. "The issues involved are complex, the technologies are new and continually evolving, the scientific issues are difficult," he said.
"From my experience with interacting with both federal and state regulatory agencies over the past 35 years, I believe most states lack the science capacity to adequately develop and enforce regulations for unconventional oil and gas," he maintained.
Regulators from Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, who also testified, quickly disagreed. Lori Wrotenbery, director of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission's Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, said that states recognize water resource protection and other environmental challenges increased tight shale resource production holds.
"To address these challenges, states across the nation are actively reviewing and updating their regulatory standards and procedures to ensure that oil and gas drilling and production operations are conducted safely," she said. "States are also continually testing, evaluating, and strengthening the mechanisms they have in place to develop, implement, and enforce strong regulations."
'Light-years ahead'
"There is no question that states can do and are doing a better job regulating the oil and gas extraction technique of hydraulic fracturing within their borders than the federal government could do," added Michael L. Krancer, secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Regulation. States where fracing has been going on for decades are "light-years" ahead of the federal government and better acquainted with their unique characteristics, he said.
Krancer went further and said that subsequent studies have largely discredited Howarth's initial findings. Howarth responded that such criticism is part of normal scientific peer review, and his work basically made people start to ask the necessary questions.
The state-vs.-federal fracing regulation debate won't end anytime soon. Those wanting a stronger federal role will continue to dismiss the FracFocus chemical registry, the State Review of Oil & Natural Gas Environmental Regulations, and other established programs.
If they get their wish, however, budget-constrained federal agencies simply might have to delegate enforcement of their rules back to the states.
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