FRAC Act
Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act
H.R. 1084 and S.587  

• The FRAC Act, introduced in the House and the Senate, close bring oil and gas drilling exemptions in  the  Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
• The Act will require energy companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing, but not the specific formula for fracking fluids.
• In the event of a medical emergency involving fracking chmicals, energy companies will have to give the specific formula to a doctor, the state, or Environmental Protection Agency if treatment becomes necessary.

BREATHE Act
The Bringing Reductions to Energy’s Airborne Toxic Health Effects Act
H.R. 1240   

• The BREATHE Act is the sister legislation to the FRAC Act and would close oil and gas drilling loopholes in the Clean Air Act.
• The Act would close the NESHAP (National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants) exemption for energy companies, encouraging them to use the best and most cost efficient technologies to reduce emissions.
•  Hydrogen Sulfide (H₂S), a toxic gas released during oil and gas production, will be relisted as a hazardous air pollutant under the Clean Air Act’s (CAA). H₂S was removed from the CAA list at the insistence of oil and gas companies.  Increased exposure to this chemical damages  nervous and respiratory systems and can lead to death.

These key pieces of legislation come at a time when rising oil prices and dwindling supply are making natural gas a very attractive alternative for energy companies and local economies. However, the risks to human health, wildlife and the environment are causing some lawmakers to take a second look at the impacts of oil and gas drilling. Click here to find out how you can take action to protect wildlife  and water from toxic fracking fluids.

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is the process of releasing natural gas from the ground. But, to get the gas out, water, sand and other chemicals have to go in. Lawmakers from big gas drilling states want everyone to know what those chemicals are and how it may affect your drinking water.

Members of the U.S. House and Senate recently reintroduced the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act. The FRAC Act places hydraulic fracturing under the framework of the Safe Drinking Water Act and requires energy companies to disclose the chemicals used in the fracking process.

Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO), Jared Polis (D-CO), and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) sponsored the House version of the bill (H.R. 1084)with thirty-one cosponsors. Senator Bob Casey (D-PN) sponsored the Senate version (S.587) with seven co-sponsors.

“The FRAC Act provides an incredible opportunity to protect wildlife habitat and human health from toxic chemicals,” says Todd Keller, Senior Manager of Public Lands Campaigns for NWF. “Hunters, anglers, conservationists, and local communities are concerned about the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on water quality, wildlife, critical habitat. This legislation moves us toward responsible natural gas development. Exploration should not be done in a way that puts public health and wildlife habitat at risk from exposure to toxic chemicals.”

“This key piece of legislation follows on the heels of statements from Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey that mischaracterizes the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on water resources and downplays the public’s right to know about what may be contaminating their drinking water. It is unfortunate a senior Department of the Interior official would be so cavalier with his words about such an important issue affecting communities all over the country.”

Click here to find out how you can take action to protect our nation’s waters from hydraulic fracturing.

In fact, since 2005, the process of hydraulic fracturing—used to extract natural gas–has been free from SDWA protections.

Hydraulic what?

Hydraulic fracturing is a means of extracting natural gas by blasting a solution of water, sand and chemicals into underground rock formations at high pressure.

By disturbing these rock formations, underground aquifers are subject to pollutants as well as the surface water to which they are connected.

Hydraulic fracturing provides the opportunity to tap difficult wells or to ramp up production of aging wells. However, the concern is that this disruption will also release previously undisturbed chemicals into the watershed such as mercury and arsenic.

A recent U.S. House resolution, the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2009 (FRAC Act), calls for companies to disclose what chemicals they are using in their processes–noting that the disposal of this drilling water mixture must be disposed of afterward.

With SWDA supervision, natural gas companies would be held accountable for the chemicals they are drilling into communities’ water supplies.

Click here to tell Congress to pass the FRAC Act today.

– By Kolleen Kawa, National Wildlife Federation