A
draft rule being considered by the U.S. Department of the Interior
would require drillers for natural gas on U.S. land to disclose what chemicals are used after drilling is completed. A proposed rule version in February would have required drillers to file a complete list of chemical formulations at least 30 days before work began.
The Environmental Working Group, a public interest lobby based in
Washington, said in February that some of the chemicals already
disclosed by the companies are implicated in cancer and reproductive
damage. The February version of the regulation has been protested by
energy trade groups and Republican lawmakers.
Follow up:
Bloomberg cites the problem specified by the Washington-based American Exploration and Production Council, other industry groups and GOP legislators:
They said it could slow energy production on federal lands.
Considering
the glut of natural gas production that has recently driven prices down
by more than 85% over the past six years (see Dee Gill article, GEI Investing),
perhaps a slowing of production would not be a bad thing. The price of
natural gas has been cut in half in just the last year alone. These
dramatic price declines do not indicate a production shortage.
Republicans in the Senate have taken action to try to halt the imposition of more federal regulation. From Progress Ohio:
Senior
Senate Republicans are floating legislation that would slam the brakes
on Obama administration efforts to expand regulation of the
controversial oil-and-gas drilling method called "hydraulic fracturing"
on federal lands.
Sen.
James Inhofe (Okla.), the ranking Republican on the Environment and
Public Works Committee, is the lead sponsor, and the seven other backers
include Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), the top GOP member on the Energy
and Natural Resources Committee.
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