Excerpt from larger presentation for 2 day seminar.

1. 1/9/2014
Slides excerpted from my upcoming class in Colombus, Ohio on Fracturing.
(There are some slides left out, so the slides may not "flow" from one to the
next).
FRACTURING REGULATIONS
• Finally, a 51st state has
been admitted to the
union!
• Seriously, regulations
regarding fracturing have
been “evolving.”
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
FRACTURING
FRACTURING REGULATIONS
FRACTURING REGULATIONS
FRACTURING REGULATIONS
• Fracturing has been done since 1940’s, so why
the new regs?
• Regulators have been caught flat-footed.
Scanty existing regulatory framework.
– Reaction to safety and environmental problems
– Reaction to quality of life problems (trucks, viewshead
impact)
– Expansion of fracturing to vastly more area
– In some cases, state oil and gas commissions have
been reluctant and slow to react
– Some of them have been outflanked by other state
agencies, for example, agencies having jurisdiction
over groundwater, or by local, regional and federal
entities
– “Heads have rolled.”
• Right thru the middle of town, instead of the middle of
nowhere
FRACTURING REGULATIONS
FRACTURING REGULATIONS
LAWS VS. REGS
TERMINOLOGY
•
Incorporated by reference
•
– Can give non-regulatory documents the force of regulations
– Reduces the amount of detail to be written and reviewed in the regs
These excerpts from the Code of Federal Regulations applies to federal offshore
wells (but not onshore wells)
This section of 250.198 is eight pages long. Eighty-eight documents are incorporated
by reference
• Laws are passed by a legislative body
– You could have a law instructing the
regulators to write new regs
• Regulations are written by a regulator
•
– There is a review and comment period
– Then the regs are adopted and enforced
• There is not a “comment period” after adoption,
they can just go ahead and enforce the regs
REGULATORY
REGULATION
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2. Slides excerpted from my upcoming class in Colombus, Ohio on Fracturing.
(There are some slides left out, so the slides may not "flow" from one to the
next).
1/9/2014
FRACTURING REGULATIONS
• Complex issues, multiple federal agencies
• Two heavyweights:
• EPA – jurisdiction for environmental issues
US FEDERAL & TRIBAL
FRACTURING REGULATIONS
– But if you are exposed to chemical at work,
OSHA has jurisdiction
• BLM – jurisdiction on federally owned
lands and some tribal lands
– BLM is under the Department of the Interior
US FEDERAL & TRIBAL
US STATES
• Example: Wyoming’s new regs
• Five major issues were addressed:
US STATES
FRACTURING REGULATIONS
1. Groundwater protection
2. More detailed requirements for casing setting depths
and cementing
3. Disclosure of well stimulation fluid chemical
additives,
4. Provide information on pressures, frac height and
length
5. Handling of frac flowback water
FRACTURING REGULATIONS
AGENCIES
• Example:
• The Delaware River Basin
Commission
– Federal/interstate agency
– Created in 1961 by federal
legislation
– Manages the water resources in the
Delaware River Basin.
– Commission:
• Governors of the basin states
(Delaware, New Jersey, New York,
and Pennsylvania)
• Commander of the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers North Atlantic Division
• Developing gas regulations
for their jurisdiction
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