Oil Industry Fights New Fracking Regs

The gas and oil industry claims a new Bureau of Land Management rule regulating fracking on federal land places "arbitrary and unnecessary burdens" on it. The Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Western Energy Alliance sued Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and the Bureau of Land Management on March 20 in Federal Court. The new regulation - No. 1004-AE26 - has provisions requiring validation of well integrity, disclosure of chemicals used in the process, higher standards for interim fluid waste storage and measures to lower the risk of cross-well contamination. But the energy groups seek court review of the regulation, claiming it is based on unproven environmental claims and that it duplicates laws. "BLM's rulemaking represents a reaction to unsubstantiated concerns and the administrative record lacks the factual, scientific or engineering evidence necessary to sustain the agency's final rule," the complaint states. "The rulemaking has been procedurally deficient and the final rule as issued is contrary to law. Because the regulatory conditions the final rule imposes constitute arbitrary and unnecessary burdens that either duplicate state law requirements or improperly curtail the primary jurisdiction of state governments, and because the regulations are not properly tailored to achieve a legitimate government purpose, the court should find the rule invalid and set aside the challenged agency action." They sued under the Administrative Procedures Act...more