CLEANER Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2132 To require regulation of wastes associated with the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy under the Solid Waste Disposal Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2021 Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLU- MENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. JONES, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MENG, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To require regulation of wastes associated with the explo- ration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy under the Solid Waste Dis- posal Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2132.IH H2132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2132 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘CLEANER Act of 2 2021’’ or the ‘‘Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary 3 and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act of 2021’’. 4 SEC. 2. REGULATION OF WASTES ASSOCIATED WITH THE 5 EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT, OR PRODUC- 6 TION OF CRUDE OIL, NATURAL GAS, OR GEO- 7 THERMAL ENERGY UNDER THE SOLID WASTE 8 DISPOSAL ACT. 9 (a) IDENTIFICATION OR LISTING, AND REGULATION 10 UNDER SUBTITLE C.—Paragraph (2) of section 3001(b) 11 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921(b)) is 12 amended to read as follows: 13 ‘‘(2) Not later than 1 year after the date of enact- 14 ment of the CLEANER Act of 2021, the Administrator 15 shall— 16 ‘‘(A) determine whether drilling fluids, pro- 17 duced waters, and other wastes associated with the 18 exploration, development, or production of crude oil, 19 natural gas, or geothermal energy meet the criteria 20 promulgated under this section for the identification 21 or listing of hazardous waste; 22 ‘‘(B) identify or list as hazardous waste any 23 drilling fluids, produced waters, or other wastes as- 24 sociated with the exploration, development, or pro- 25 duction of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal en- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2132.IH H2132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2132 IH ergy that the Administrator determines, pursuant to 1 subparagraph (A), meet the criteria promulgated 2 under this section for the identification or listing of 3 hazardous waste; and 4 ‘‘(C) promulgate regulations under sections 5 3002, 3003, and 3004 for wastes identified or listed 6 as hazardous waste pursuant to subparagraph (B), 7 except that the Administrator is authorized to mod- 8 ify the requirements of such sections to take into ac- 9 count the special characteristics of such wastes so 10 long as such modified requirements protect human 11 health and the environment.’’. 12 (b) REGULATION UNDER SUBTITLE D.—Section 13 4010(c) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 14 6949a(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following 15 new paragraph: 16 ‘‘(7) DRILLING FLUIDS, PRODUCED WATERS, 17 AND OTHER WASTES ASSOCIATED WITH THE EXPLO- 18 RATION, DEVELOPMENT, OR PRODUCTION OF CRUDE 19 OIL, NATURAL GAS, OR GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.—Not 20 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 21 CLEANER Act of 2021, the Administrator shall 22 promulgate revisions of the criteria promulgated 23 under section 4004(a) and under section 1008(a)(3) 24 for facilities that may receive drilling fluids, pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2132.IH H2132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2132 IH duced waters, or other wastes associated with the ex- 1 ploration, development, or production of crude oil, 2 natural gas, or geothermal energy, that are not iden- 3 tified or listed as hazardous waste pursuant to sec- 4 tion 3001(b)(2). The criteria shall be those nec- 5 essary to protect human health and the environment 6 and may take into account the practicable capability 7 of such facilities. At a minimum such revisions for 8 facilities potentially receiving such wastes should re- 9 quire ground water monitoring as necessary to de- 10 tect contamination, establish criteria for the accept- 11 able location of new or existing facilities, and provide 12 for corrective action and financial assurance as ap- 13 propriate.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2132.IH H2132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS