Proposed federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rules on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) violate the spirit of an earlier order by President Obama that called for the “least burdensome” regulations to be applied to allow for predictability and certainty, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead told U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in a letter last Thursday.
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Industry Brief
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has outlined an initiative for wrestling with the growing mix of economic, political and environmental issues cropping up on public lands. BLM’s “Landscape Approach for Managing the Public Lands” initiative is to examine ecological conditions, patterns and management opportunities that may not be evident when managing smaller land areas, a BLM spokesperson said. This approach is designed to help the federal agency better manage the increasing demand for the use of public lands for recreation and energy development. BLM said its “landscape” approach will be a national program built on, connected to and supported by efforts in its field offices. The program was put together by a 12-member team consisting of managers from the Washington, DC, office, National Operations Center and state field offices in Alaska, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. The program will focus on two components: rapid ecoregional assessments and ecoregional direction.
Interior, Coast Guard Investigate ‘Light Sheen’ in GOM Deepwater
The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement was “taking steps” Thursday to identify the source of a “light sheen” sighted in the central Gulf of Mexico (GOM) said to be about 10 square-miles-long. The sheen was reportedly spotted near the Mars and Ursa deepwater production units, both operated by Royal Dutch Shell plc.
Jury Still Out on USGS Earthquake Data
Environmental groups and supporters of the oil and gas industry have different opinions over claims by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that an increase in earthquakes in the Midcontinent region are more than likely caused by wastewater injection well activities.
EPA Backs Off Investigations, Delays Frack Rules
Capping off a string of regulatory actions that have been favorable to the oil and natural gas industry — and somewhat embarrassing to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — the regulator last week delayed the release of final air pollution standards for hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
EPA Asked to Consider New Public Health Study in Fracking Review
Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider the results of a recent study that concludes that hydraulic fracturing contributes to acute and chronic health problems when examining the potential risks of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on water quality and public health.
Volunteers? California Regulators Request Fracking Information
The California Department of Conservation (DOC) is requesting that oil and natural gas operators voluntarily disclose where they are using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for their drilling operations and what chemicals are being used in the process. Meanwhile, the state legislature has reintroduced a proposal to require the drilling information, which already has been enacted by several states across the country and is being voluntarily disclosed by many of the biggest operators in the shale business (see Shale Daily, March 30).
Interior’s Atlantic Plan Called ‘Empty Gesture’
The Interior Department last Wednesday released a draft programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for seismic exploration in the Mid- and South Atlantic Planning Areas, the first step toward a survey of the oil and natural gas potential off the East Coast. However, the offshore industry was far from hopeful that the seismic survey would lead to a lease sale in the Atlantic in the near term.
Industry Calls Interior’s Atlantic Plan an ‘Empty Gesture’
The Interior Department Wednesday released a draft programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for seismic exploration in the Mid- and South Atlantic Planning Areas, the first step toward a survey of the oil and natural gas potential off the East Coast. However, the offshore industry was far from hopeful that the seismic survey would lead to a lease sale in the Atlantic in the near term.
Industry Brief
The Town Council of Chapel Hill, NC, has approved a resolution voicing its opposition “absent guaranteed public health and environmental protections” to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) because of potential threats to local water supplies. Creedmoor, NC, and the Town of Cary, NC, have also taken steps to regulate fracking locally (see Shale Daily, Jan. 9). In separate statements, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue and the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources have said they believe fracking can be done safely if it is properly regulated (see Shale Daily, March 26; March 19). The North Carolina Geological Survey believes that technically recoverable gas exists in the state’s Sanford sub-basin (including Lee, Chatham and Moore counties in central North Carolina) and possibly the Dan River sub-basin (including Stokes and Rockingham counties in northern North Carolina).