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I
117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 2164
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to require testing of underground
sources of drinking water in connection with hydraulic fracturing oper-
ations, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 23, 2021
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms.
DEGETTE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. BLUMENAUER,
Mr. KHANNA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. GRI-
JALVA, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. WELCH, Ms.
BARRAGA´N, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. BEYER, Mr. COHEN, Mrs.
HAYES, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. SIRES, Mr.
NEGUSE, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. NADLER, Mr.
JONES, Ms. MENG, and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to require testing
of underground sources of drinking water in connection
with hydraulic fracturing operations, and for other pur-
poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Hydration is an
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American Right in Energy Development Act of 2021’’.
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SEC. 2. TESTING OF UNDERGROUND DRINKING WATER
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SOURCES IN CONNECTION WITH HYDRAULIC
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FRACTURING OPERATIONS.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1421(b)(1) of the Safe
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Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300h(b)(1)) is amended—
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(1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at
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the end;
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(2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period
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at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
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(3) by adding at the end the following:
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‘‘(E) shall prohibit the underground injection of
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fluids or propping agents pursuant to hydraulic frac-
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turing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal
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production activities unless the person proposing to
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conduct the hydraulic fracturing operations agrees
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to conduct testing and report data in accordance
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with section 1421A.’’.
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(b) TESTING
AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—
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Part C of the Safe Drinking Water Act is amended by
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inserting after section 1421 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 300h)
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the following:
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‘‘SEC.
1421A.
TESTING
OF
UNDERGROUND
DRINKING
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WATER SOURCES IN CONNECTION WITH HY-
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DRAULIC FRACTURING OPERATIONS.
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‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.—Regulations under section
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1421(a) for State underground injection control programs
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•HR 2164 IH
shall, in connection with the underground injection of
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fluids or propping agents pursuant to hydraulic fracturing
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operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production ac-
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tivities, require any person conducting such operations—
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‘‘(1) to conduct testing of underground sources
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of drinking water in accordance with subsections (c)
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and (d)—
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‘‘(A) with respect to a site where, as of the
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date of enactment of this section, underground
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injection has not commenced for the first
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time—
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‘‘(i) prior to commencement of under-
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ground injection at the site for the first
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time;
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‘‘(ii) at least once every 6 months dur-
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ing the period beginning at the commence-
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ment of underground injection described in
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clause (i) and ending at the cessation of
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such hydraulic fracturing operations; and
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‘‘(iii) at least once every 12 months
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during the 5-year period following the end
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of the period described in clause (ii);
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‘‘(B) with respect to a site where, as of the
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date of enactment of this section, there is no
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active underground injection, but underground
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injection has previously occurred at the site—
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‘‘(i) prior to renewing underground in-
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jection at the site;
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‘‘(ii) at least once every 6 months dur-
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ing the period beginning at such renewal of
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underground injection and ending at the
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cessation of such hydraulic fracturing oper-
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ations; and
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‘‘(iii) at least once every 12 months
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during the 5-year period following the end
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of the period described in clause (ii); and
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‘‘(C) with respect to a site where, as of the
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date of enactment of this section, such hydrau-
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lic fracturing operations are occurring—
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‘‘(i) at least once every 6 months dur-
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ing the period beginning on the date of en-
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actment of this section ending at the ces-
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sation of such hydraulic fracturing oper-
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ations; and
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‘‘(ii) at least once every 12 months
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during the 5-year period following the end
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of the period described in clause (i); and
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‘‘(2) to submit reports to the Administrator on
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the results of testing under subparagraph (A), (B),
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or (C) of paragraph (1) within 2 weeks of such test-
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ing.
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‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—The testing and reporting re-
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quirements of subsection (a) do not apply with respect to
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hydraulic fracturing operations if there is no accessible un-
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derground source of drinking water within a radius of one
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mile of the site where the operations occur.
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‘‘(c) SAMPLING LOCATIONS.—Testing required pur-
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suant to subsection (a) shall occur—
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‘‘(1) at all accessible underground sources of
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drinking water within a radius of one-half mile of
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the site where the hydraulic fracturing operations
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occur; and
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‘‘(2) if there is no accessible underground
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source of drinking water within such radius, at the
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nearest accessible underground source of drinking
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water within a radius of one mile of such site.
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‘‘(d) TESTING.—Testing required pursuant to sub-
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section (a) shall—
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‘‘(1) be conducted by one or more laboratories
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certified pursuant to the Environmental Protection
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Agency’s program for certifying laboratories for
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analysis of drinking water contaminants; and
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‘‘(2) include testing for any hazardous sub-
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stance, pollutant, contaminant, or other factor that
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the Administrator determines would indicate damage
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associated with hydraulic fracturing operations.
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‘‘(e) DATABASE; PUBLIC ACCESSIBILITY.—
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‘‘(1) DATABASE.—The Administrator shall es-
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tablish and maintain a database of the results re-
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ported pursuant to subsection (a)(2).
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‘‘(2) PUBLIC
ACCESSIBILITY.—The Adminis-
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trator shall make such database publicly accessible
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on the website of the Environmental Protection
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Agency.
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‘‘(3) PUBLIC
SEARCHABILITY.—The Adminis-
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trator shall make such database searchable by ZIP
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Code, allowing members of the public to easily iden-
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tify all sites for which reports are submitted pursu-
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ant to subsection (a)(2).
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‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘acces-
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sible underground source of drinking water’ means an un-
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derground source of drinking water to which the person
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conducting the hydraulic fracturing operations can reason-
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ably gain access.’’.
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(c)
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section
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1421(d)(1)(B)(ii) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42
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U.S.C. 300h(d)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended by inserting ‘‘except
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as provided in subsection (b)(1)(E) of this section and sec-
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tion 1421A,’’ before ‘‘the underground injection of fluids
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or propping agents (other than diesel fuels) pursuant to
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hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geo-
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thermal production activities’’.
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Æ
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