The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s 60-day comment period extension for hydraulic fracturing rules proposed in May for federal and Indian lands will be needed to allow industry to effectively review and comment on various state and federal agency regulatory activities that overlap with much of what BLM is proposing, an American Petroleum Institute, API, official said June 6. (See full story on page 7 of this issue.)
“Many questions remain as this new rule has potential to significantly slow domestic energy production, as well as damage national, state and local economics,” said Erik Milito, API director of upstream and industry operations, in a statement. “An additional layer of regulation must be carefully scrutinized, and the last thing we need are rules that create confusion in the regulatory process.”
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee June 6 that a 60-day comment period will be allowed for the latest version of proposed hydraulic fracturing regulations for federal and Indian lands.
“These are common sense updates to 30-year old regulations that will increase safety in oil and gas production on public lands while, at the same time, provide flexibility and foster coordination with states and tribes,” Jewell told the committee in a written statement.
In May, BLM made available a revised hydraulic fracturing rule to take into account the more than 177,000 comments received during the 120-day comment period last year for the initially proposed rule.
Industry associations had criticized the initial rule, saying that hydraulic fracturing regulations by BLM would overlap with existing state regulations and potentially hinder new oil and natural gas production and economic growth.
“States have led the way in regulating hydraulic fracturing operations while protecting communities and the environment for decades,” Milito noted.
—Ray Tyson
