FRAC Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 3062 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal a certain exemption for hydraulic fracturing, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 17, 2019 Mr. CASEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal a certain exemption for hydraulic fracturing, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fracturing Responsi- 4 bility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2019’’ or the 5 ‘‘FRAC Act of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. REGULATION OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURING. 7 (a) UNDERGROUND INJECTION.—Section 1421(d) of 8 the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300h(d)) is 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3062.IS S3062 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 3062 IS amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(1) UNDERGROUND INJECTION.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘under- 4 ground injection’ means the subsurface em- 5 placement of fluids by well injection. 6 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘underground 7 injection’ includes the underground injection of 8 fluids or propping agents pursuant to hydraulic 9 fracturing operations relating to oil or natural 10 gas production activities. 11 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘underground 12 injection’ does not include the underground in- 13 jection of natural gas for the purpose of stor- 14 age.’’. 15 (b) STATE PRIMARY ENFORCEMENT RELATING TO 16 HYDRAULIC FRACTURING OPERATIONS.—Section 1422 of 17 the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300h–1) is 18 amended by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(f) HYDRAULIC FRACTURING OPERATIONS.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with such regu- 21 lations as the Administrator may prescribe, a State 22 may seek primary enforcement responsibility for hy- 23 draulic fracturing operations for oil and natural gas 24 without seeking to assume primary enforcement re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3062.IS S3062 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 3062 IS sponsibility for other types of underground injection 1 control wells, including underground injection con- 2 trol wells that inject brine or other fluids that are 3 brought to the surface in connection with oil and 4 natural gas production or any underground injection 5 for the secondary or tertiary recovery of oil or nat- 6 ural gas. 7 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall 9 not apply until the date that is 1 year after the 10 date on which the Administrator publishes in 11 the Federal Register any regulations promul- 12 gated under that paragraph. 13 ‘‘(B) EFFECT ON ADMINISTRATOR.—Noth- 14 ing in this subsection affects the authority of 15 the Administrator to approve State programs 16 that assume primary enforcement responsibility 17 for only certain types of underground injection 18 control wells.’’. 19 (c) DISCLOSURE.—Section 1421(b) of the Safe 20 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300h(b)) is amended by 21 adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(4) DISCLOSURES OF CHEMICAL CONSTITU- 23 ENTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3062.IS S3062 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 3062 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person conducting 1 hydraulic fracturing operations shall disclose to 2 the State (or to the Administrator, in any case 3 in which the Administrator has primary en- 4 forcement responsibility in a State), by not 5 later than such deadlines as shall be established 6 by the State (or the Administrator)— 7 ‘‘(i) before the commencement of any 8 hydraulic fracturing operations at any 9 lease area or a portion of a lease area, a 10 list of chemicals and proppants intended 11 for use in any underground injection dur- 12 ing the operations (including identification 13 of the chemical constituents of mixtures, 14 Chemical Abstracts Service numbers for 15 each chemical and constituent, material 16 safety data sheets if available, and the an- 17 ticipated amount of each chemical to be 18 used); and 19 ‘‘(ii) after the completion of hydraulic 20 fracturing operations described in clause 21 (i), the list of chemicals and proppants 22 used in each underground injection during 23 the operations (including identification of 24 the chemical constituents of mixtures, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3062.IS S3062 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 3062 IS Chemical Abstracts Service numbers for 1 each chemical and constituent, material 2 safety data sheets if available, and the 3 amount of each chemical used). 4 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The State or 5 the Administrator, as applicable, shall— 6 ‘‘(i) ensure the accuracy and com- 7 pleteness of the information required under 8 subparagraph (A); and 9 ‘‘(ii) make available to the public the 10 information contained in each disclosure 11 required under subparagraph (A), includ- 12 ing by posting the information on a single, 13 searchable internet website such that all 14 the information disclosed to the State or 15 Administrator, as applicable, under that 16 subparagraph is contained on the same 17 internet website. 18 ‘‘(C) IMMEDIATE DISCLOSURE IN CASE OF 19 MEDICAL NEED OR EMERGENCY.— 20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 21 (ii), the regulations promulgated pursuant 22 to subsection (a) shall require that, in any 23 case in which the State or the Adminis- 24 trator, as applicable, a first responder, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3062.IS S3062 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 3062 IS healthcare practitioner determines that the 1 proprietary chemical formula or specific 2 chemical identity of a trade-secret chemical 3 used in hydraulic fracturing is necessary 4 for medical diagnosis, treatment, or emer- 5 gency response, the applicable person using 6 hydraulic fracturing shall, on request, im- 7 mediately disclose to the State, the Admin- 8 istrator, first responder, or healthcare 9 practitioner the proprietary chemical for- 10 mula or specific chemical identity of a 11 trade-secret chemical, regardless of the ex- 12 istence of— 13 ‘‘(I) a written statement of need; 14 or 15 ‘‘(II) a confidentiality agreement. 16 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.—A person using 17 hydraulic fracturing that makes a disclo- 18 sure required under clause (i) may require 19 the execution of a written statement of 20 need and a confidentiality agreement as 21 soon as practicable after the determination 22 by the State, Administrator, first re- 23 sponder, or healthcare practitioner, as ap- 24 plicable, under that clause. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3062.IS S3062 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 3062 IS ‘‘(iii) PROFESSIONAL NECESSITY.— 1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 2 subclause (II), a first responder or 3 healthcare practitioner may share any 4 information disclosed under clause (i) 5 with other persons if the information 6 is medically necessary. 7 ‘‘(II) RESTRICTION.—A first re- 8 sponder or healthcare practitioner de- 9 scribed in subclause (I) shall not 10 make publicly available any informa- 11 tion disclosed under clause (i). 12 ‘‘(D) NO PUBLIC DISCLOSURE RE- 13 QUIRED.—Nothing in subparagraph (A), (B), 14 or (C) authorizes a State or the Administrator 15 to publicly disclose any proprietary chemical 16 formula.’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Dec 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3062.IS S3062 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS