CEO DATELINE - Energy groups hail court decision striking down fracking rule
CEO DATELINE - Energy groups hail court decision striking down fracking rule
- June 23, 2016 |
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Walt Williams
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A federal judge has ruled that the Bureau of Land Management doesn't have the authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands—a decision two energy groups hailed as a necessary check on government overreach.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl of Wyoming made clear he was not basing the decision on whether hydraulic fracturing—better known as "fracking"—was good or bad for the environment, NPR reported. Rather, he found that Congress did not give the U.S. Department of the Interior the authority to regulate the drilling technology. BLM is an agency within the Interior Department.
BLM had required companies using fracking to drill for oil and on federal and Indian lands to disclose chemicals used in the process. The agency also put in place several procedures meant to protect local water sources from contamination by wells. http://n.pr/28PVYDq
The Independent Petroleum Association of America and Western Energy Alliance sued to overturn the rules. The states of Wyoming and Colorado also fought the regulations in a separate lawsuit. In a statement, IPAA CEO Barry Russell said the federal government's attempts to regulate fracking are "unnecessary, duplicative, and would further drive independent producers from federal lands."
"Hydraulic fracturing technology has been around since 1947 and regulation of the practice has been conducted safely and responsibly throughout the United States for over sixty years. Independent producers are good stewards of our lands," he said.
Kathleen Sgamma, vice president of government and public affairs at Western Energy Alliance, said her group was "overjoyed with the ruling."
"The judge determined that the federal government lacks the authority to regulate fracking, period," she said. He decided exclusively on statutory authority, so there's nothing to remand, no do over."
BLM has not publicly commented on the ruling.
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