New initiative to end oil, gas environmental exemptions

Posted 8/21/12

WASHINGTON, DC — Lawmakers in Washington DC are once again making a push to end exemptions to environmental laws and regulations for gas and oil operations. Two laws are working their way through …

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New initiative to end oil, gas environmental exemptions

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WASHINGTON, DC — Lawmakers in Washington DC are once again making a push to end exemptions to environmental laws and regulations for gas and oil operations. Two laws are working their way through Congress that would address the exemptions, and the laws have support from 67 members of the House of Representatives and over 200 national organizations including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice. The laws are being sponsored by Pennsylvania Congressman Matt Cartwright, whose district includes Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.

The first act, called Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act (CLEANER), if passed, would mean that fracking waste products would be treated as hazardous waste, which they currently are not, even though the wastes are sometimes extremely hazardous.

Cartwright explained in a letter to colleagues that “federal regulations governing the safe disposal of hazardous waste explicitly exempt oil and natural gas producers and geothermal energy. This means that fracking waste materials are not subject to the standards established in 1976 by Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency, under the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), even though these wastes contain dangerous substances including benzene, acids, lead and other heavy metals, petrochemicals such as diesel fuel, and radioactive materials. These specific exemptions are the result of a 1980 amendment passed during an oil crisis amidst fears of harming a fragile oil industry. This amendment is now out of date and unnecessary.”

The second proposed law is called the Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking Environmental Regulation (FRESHER) Act, which would end the exemption of oil and gas operations from the Clean Water Act.

Cartwright wrote, “The Clean Water Act, passed in 1972, sought to limit the emission of harmful materials into rivers, lakes and streams. The bill’s stated goal is hindered by amendments made to the bill in 1987 and 2005, which created exemptions for growing oil and gas exploration projects. These new amendments allow the oil and gas industries to circumvent the laws every other industry follows that protect our waterways despite the fact that the runoff from oil and gas well pads and related infrastructure can be contaminated with dangerous pollutants. Such runoff can and has polluted waterways— degrading water quality, and damaging aquatic habitats. Obtaining a permit is a straightforward process, and this bill would only seek to require oil and gas companies to have a plan to protect streams from runoff and acquire this simple permit.”

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