State Enforcement of Shale Gas Development Regulations, Including Hydraulic Fracturing
State Enforcement of Shale Gas Development Regulations, Including Hydraulic Fracturing

Author: Hannah Jacobs Wiseman

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 33

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The United States is in the midst of a boom in natural gas and oil production, much of which has occurred in shale formations around the country. As shale development has expanded -- largely as a result of new horizontal drilling and “slickwater” hydraulic fracturing (fracking, fracing, or hydofracking) techniques -- questions have arisen regarding the environmental risks of drilling and fracturing in shales and how laws, policies, and regulations address these risks. To understand whether and how regulation addresses risks, one must know both the content of regulations and how they are applied through inspections of well sites, notations of violations, and/or enforcement. An accompanying paper by this author, entitled “Regulation of Shale Gas Development, Including Hydraulic Fracturing” addresses the content of federal, regional, state, and local regulations that apply to shale gas development; this paper explores, in a preliminary fashion, how these regulations are applied. It briefly surveys complaints about shale gas and tight sands development (both of which typically require fracturing) lodged by citizens with state agencies, states' notation of environmental violations at shale gas and tight sands wells both in response to these complaints and as a result of independently-instigated site visits or self-reported violations, and states' capacity to inspect sites and enforce violations noted. The objective of this “on-the-ground” review of shale gas development regulatory activities is to offer a preliminary picture of the environmental effects of shale gas development and how states address them through citations of violations and/or initiation of enforcement action. Regulations have little effect if they are rarely applied to regulated actors or only sporadically enforced. Looking to both the content of regulations, violations of the regulations, and enforcement therefore provides a more complete regulatory picture. The Energy Institute at the University of Texas funded the research for this paper.

Regulation of Shale Gas Development, Including Hydraulic Fracturing
Regulation of Shale Gas Development, Including Hydraulic Fracturing

Author: Hannah Jacobs Wiseman

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This paper provides one of the first detailed surveys of current oil and gas and hydraulic fracturing (also called fracing, fracking, or hydrofracking) regulation. It identifies and compares the environmental laws and regulations that apply to most stages of the oil or gas development process in shales and tight sands, from conducting seismic testing to constructing a well pad, drilling, withdrawing water, completing a hydraulic fracture treatment, and storing and disposing of waste. It briefly describes municipal ordinances and federal regulations, including recently-announced EPA regulatory efforts, but focuses primarily on the states, comparing regulations in sixteen states. The paper's comparison tables show that state regulations in some areas vary substantially, and the paper attempts to connect the potential risks of oil and gas development from shales and tight sands -- which are addressed in another Energy Institute paper by Professor Ian Duncan -- to the regulation. The paper concludes that states should modify certain regulations to address these risks. Some states do not require specific types of blowout prevention, for example, offering only a narrative standard, yet well blowouts are an important concern at the drilling and fracturing stage. States also should update their casing and cementing regulations to protect well integrity during drilling and fracturing and ensure long-term well integrity, and they should require the testing of water around proposed wells before site construction begins. Ideally, states also would consider implementing a presumption of oil and gas operator liability for water well contamination, as Pennsylvania and West Virginia have done. For risks at the well surface, states should update spill prevention requirements at well sites and consider whether federal Department of Transportation regulations addressing the movement of fracturing chemicals adequately protect against spills. States also must explore better options for disposing of large quantities of new wastes and regulating the withdrawal of large volumes of water for fracturing to prevent adverse impacts to streams and overuse of underground sources of water. Further, states and the federal government must enhance air quality monitoring around sites and consider additional controls. Finally, the collection of more and better data, including information from baseline and post-production water testing, is essential. With states at the regulatory helm, comparison of public law strategies to address development risks can produce fruitful cross-jurisdictional lessons. The Energy Institute at the University of Texas funded the research for this paper.

Permitting Shale Gas Development
Permitting Shale Gas Development

Author: Emily A. Collins

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 23

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

As a matter of historical practice and an exemption from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the regulatory framework for shale gas extraction currently resides within state permitting and enforcement structures. The 11th Circuit decision in Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation v. U.S. EPA prompted federal agency study, which resulted in Congress expressly excluding "the underground injection of fluids or propping agents (other than diesel fuels) pursuant to hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities" from the definition of "underground injection." Thus, in keeping with traditional regulation of on-shore oil and gas development and groundwater, states have been left to their own devices in addressing any potential underground migration of fluids and gas as a result of hydraulic fracturing activities.Left without a federal floor of minimal regulation in permitting shale gas extraction, states have routinely modified their statutes and rules to address increasing public concern and to reflect enhanced understanding of well construction and the hydraulic fracturing process. Yet, most states have not fully utilized their statutory authority to address the environmental risk assessment that would take place if the exemption of hydraulic fracturing activities from the federal definition of "underground injection" were not present. Rather than using their statutory authority to evaluate potential environmental impacts from shale gas extraction proposals, most states permitting of oil and gas development have stuck to a traditional role: require minimum well construction standards, setbacks, and a process for groundwater supply replacement. This approach differs dramatically from the predictive model-based approach of permitting underground injection control wells.

Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States
Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States

Author: U. S. Department of Energy

Publisher:

Published: 2017-08-20

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13: 9781549543173

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This up-to-date primer from the U.S. Department of Energy provides a comprehensive overview of shale gas production in the United States - including the use of hydraulic fracturing - and environmental protection issues, especially water resource management. The primer states, "Water and energy are two of the most basic needs of society. Our use of each vital resource is reliant on and affects the availability of the other. Water is needed to produce energy and energy is necessary to make water available for use. As our population grows, the demands for both resources will only increase. Smart development of energy resources will identify, consider, and minimize potential impacts to water resources. Natural gas, particularly shale gas, is an abundant U.S. energy resource that will be vital to meeting future energy demand and to enabling the nation to transition to greater reliance on renewable energy sources. Shale gas development both requires significant amounts of water and is conducted in proximity to valuable surface and ground water. Hence, it is important to reconcile the concurrent and related demands for local and regional water resources, whether for drinking water, wildlife habitat, recreation, agriculture, industrial or other uses." Contents: The Importance Of Shale Gas * The Role of Natural Gas in the United States' Energy Portfolio * The Advantages of Natural Gas * Natural Gas Basics * Unconventional Gas * The Role of Shale Gas in Unconventional Gas * Looking Forward * Shale Gas Development In The United States * Shale Gas - Geology * Sources of Natural Gas Shale Gas in the United States * The Barnett Shale * The Fayetteville Shale * The Haynesville Shale * The Marcellus Shale * The Woodford Shale * The Antrim Shale * The New Albany Shale * Regulatory Framework * Federal Environmental Laws Governing Shale Gas Development * State Regulation * Local Regulation * Regulation of Impacts on Water Quality * Clean Water Act * Safe Drinking Water Act * Oil Pollution Act of 1990 - Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure * State Regulations and Regional Cooperation * Regulation of Impacts on Air Quality * Clean Air Act * Air Quality Regulations * Air Permits * Regulation of Impacts to Land * Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) * Endangered Species Act * State Endangered Species Protections * Oil and Gas Operations on Public Lands * Federal Lands * State Lands * Other Federal Laws and Requirements that Protect the Environment * Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act * Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act * Occupational Safety and Health Act * Environmental Considerations * Horizontal Wells * Reducing Surface Disturbance * Reducing Wildlife Impacts * Reducing Community Impacts * Protecting Groundwater: Casing and Cementing Programs * Hydraulic Fracturing * Fracture Design * Fracturing Process * Fracturing Fluids and Additives * Water Availability * Water Management * Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) * Air Quality * Sources of Air Emissions * Composition of Air Emissions * Technological Controls and Practices * Summary * Acronyms and Abbreviations * Definitions This is a privately authored news service and educational publication of Progressive Management. Our publications synthesize official government information with original material - they are not produced by the federal government. They are designed to provide a convenient user-friendly reference work to uniformly present authoritative knowledge that can be rapidly read, reviewed or searched. Our e-books put knowledge at your fingertips, and an expert in your pocket!

Risks and Risk Governance in Shale Gas Development
Risks and Risk Governance in Shale Gas Development

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2014-09-30

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 0309312604

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Natural gas in deep shale formations, which can be developed by hydraulic fracturing and associated technologies (often collectively referred to as "fracking") is dramatically increasing production of natural gas in the United States, where significant gas deposits exist in formations that underlie many states. Major deposits of shale gas exist in many other countries as well. Proponents of shale gas development point to several kinds of benefits, for instance, to local economies and to national "energy independence". Shale gas development has also brought increasing expression of concerns about risks, including to human health, environmental quality, non-energy economic activities in shale regions, and community cohesion. Some of these potential risks are beginning to receive careful evaluation; others are not. Although the risks have not yet been fully characterized or all of them carefully analyzed, governments at all levels are making policy decisions, some of them hard to reverse, about shale gas development and/or how to manage the risks. Risks and Risk Governance in Shale Gas Development is the summary of two workshops convened in May and August 2013 by the National Research Council's Board on Environmental Change and Society to consider and assess claims about the levels and types of risk posed by shale gas development and about the adequacy of existing governance procedures. Participants from engineering, natural, and social scientific communities examined the range of risks and of social and decision-making issues in risk characterization and governance related to gas shale development. Central themes included risk governance in the context of (a) risks that emerge as shale gas development expands, and (b) incomplete or declining regulatory capacity in an era of budgetary stringency. This report summarizes the presentations on risk issues raised in the first workshop, the risk management and governance concepts presented at the second workshop, and the discussions at both workshops.

Unconventional Oil and Gas Development
Unconventional Oil and Gas Development

Author: U. s. Government Accountability Office

Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub

Published: 2013-03-14

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9781482771534

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

As with conventional oil and gas development, requirements from eight federal environmental and public health laws apply to unconventional oil and gas development. For example, the Clean Water Act (CWA) regulates discharges of pollutants into surface waters. Among other things, CWA requires oil and gas well site operators to obtain permits for discharges of produced water—which includes fluids used for hydraulic fracturing, as well as water that occurs naturally in oil- or gas-bearing formations—to surface waters. In addition, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) governs the management and disposal of hazardous wastes, among other things. However, key exemptions or limitations in regulatory coverage affect the applicability of six of these environmental and public health laws. For example, CWA also generally regulates stormwater discharges by requiring that facilities associated with industrial and construction activities get permits, but the law and its regulations largely exempt oil and gas well sites. In addition, oil and gas exploration and production wastes are exempt from RCRA hazardous waste requirements based on a regulatory determination made by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1988. EPA generally retains its authorities under federal environmental and public health laws to respond to environmental contamination. All six states in GAO's review implement additional requirements governing activities associated with oil and gas development and have updated some aspects of their requirements in recent years. For example, all six states have requirements related to how wells are to be drilled and how casing—steel pipe within the well—is to be installed and cemented in place, though the specifics of their requirements vary. The states also have requirements related to well site selection and preparation, which may include baseline testing of water wells before drilling or stormwater management. Oil and gas development on federal lands must comply with applicable federal environmental and state laws, as well as additional requirements. These requirements are the same for conventional and unconventional oil and gas development. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees oil and gas development on approximately 700 million subsurface acres. BLM regulations for leases and permits govern similar types of activities as state requirements, such as requirements for how operators drill the well and install casing. BLM recently proposed new regulations for hydraulic fracturing of wells on public lands. Federal and state agencies reported several challenges in regulating oil and gas development from unconventional reservoirs. EPA officials reported that conducting inspection and enforcement activities and having limited legal authorities are challenges. For example, conducting inspection and enforcement activities is challenging due to limited information, such as data on groundwater quality prior to drilling. EPA officials also said that the exclusion of exploration and production waste from hazardous waste regulations under RCRA significantly limits EPA's role in regulating these wastes. In addition, BLM and state officials reported that hiring and retaining staff and educating the public are challenges. For example, officials from several states and BLM said that retaining employees is difficult because qualified staff are frequently offered more money for private sector positions within the oil and gas industry.

Shale Gas and Water Impacts
Shale Gas and Water Impacts

Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Subcommittee on Water and Power

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 88

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Governing Shale Gas
Governing Shale Gas

Author: John Whitton

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-07-27

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 1317267567

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Shale energy development is an issue of global importance. The number of reserves globally, and their potential economic return, have increased dramatically in the past decade. Questions abound, however, about the appropriate governance systems to manage the risks of unconventional oil and gas development and the ability for citizens to engage and participate in decisions regarding these systems. Stakeholder participation is essential for the social and political legitimacy of energy extraction and production, what the industry calls a 'social license' to operate. This book attempts to bring together critical themes inherent in the energy governance literature and illustrate them through cases in multiple countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, South Africa, Germany and Poland. These themes include how multiple actors and institutions – industry, governments and regulatory bodies at all scales, communities, opposition movements, and individual landowners – have roles in developing, contesting, monitoring, and enforcing practices and regulations within unconventional oil and gas development. Overall, the book proposes a systemic, participatory, community-led approach required to achieve a form of legitimacy that allows communities to derive social priorities by a process of community visioning. This book will be of great relevance to scholars and policy-makers with an interest in shale gas development, and energy policy and governance.

Marcellus Shale Gas
Marcellus Shale Gas

Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 104

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK