Fracking Ban Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3247 To ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 28, 2020 Mr. SANDERS (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources A BILL To ban the practice of 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 ‘‘Fracking Ban Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds that— 6 (1) the chemicals injected into the ground dur- 7 ing the hydraulic fracturing process include acids, 8 detergents, and toxic chemicals that put drinking 9 water at risk; 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3247.IS S3247 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3247 IS (2) hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, extracts 1 natural gas containing methane, a greenhouse gas 2 that traps more than 86 times the heat of carbon di- 3 oxide in the short term; 4 (3) the process of fracking results in further 5 methane leakages that could increase carbon pollu- 6 tion in the United States by 25 percent by 2050; 7 (4) fracked natural gas is not a bridge fuel, as 8 previously understood; 9 (5) even if every coal plant were replaced by 10 fracked gas electricity by 2030, emissions would re- 11 main on track to grow through 2050 due in part to 12 pervasive methane leaks that make fracked gas as 13 dangerous as coal; 14 (6) similarly, even if methane leaks could be to- 15 tally eliminated, the direct emissions from burning 16 the huge volumes of natural gas the United States 17 plans to produce in the next decade do not fit in safe 18 climate scenarios; 19 (7) the American Petroleum Institute reports 20 that ‘‘up to 95% of natural gas wells in the next 21 decade in the United States will be fracked’’; 22 (8) renewable energy and storage eliminate any 23 need for fracked gas; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3247.IS S3247 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3247 IS (9) all the technologies needed to support a 1 transition to 100 percent renewable electricity exist 2 at commercial scale and equal or cheaper costs com- 3 pared to fossil fuels; 4 (10) significant carbon reductions are impos- 5 sible if even 10 percent of electricity comes from 6 natural gas going forward; 7 (11) in some instances, fracking operations vio- 8 late property rights by taking the land of property 9 owners for drilling and transportation of fracked 10 gas; 11 (12) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the 12 Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, or 13 Transco, seized private land and began construction 14 for a fracked gas pipeline before the landowners 15 could appear in court to protest and once the land- 16 owners did file an official protest, the Federal En- 17 ergy Regulatory Commission allowed Transco to 18 continue construction while the case was decided in 19 court; 20 (13) scientists, along with governmental agen- 21 cies in the United States and Canada, report that 22 fracking and fracking wastewater injections can be 23 linked to earthquakes all across North America, in- 24 cluding in the States of Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3247.IS S3247 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3247 IS Texas, Kansas, and Arkansas and in British Colum- 1 bia; 2 (14) fracking contaminates ground and surface 3 water with toxic chemicals though waste discharge, 4 underground migration of fracking gas and chemi- 5 cals into drinking water sources, and spills; 6 (15) numerous scientific studies have shown 7 that the chemicals referred to in paragraph (14) 8 cause serious negative health impacts such as cancer 9 and birth defects; 10 (16) in addition to toxic chemicals injected un- 11 derground, fracking fluid traveling back up to the 12 surface contains additional toxic substances such as 13 heavy metals, arsenic, barium, strontium, uranium, 14 radium, and radon; 15 (17) fracking pollutes the air and substantially 16 contributes to ground-level ozone, which can cause 17 serious negative health impacts such as strokes, 18 heart attacks, and asthma; 19 (18) research shows that expectant mothers liv- 20 ing near heavy fracking in the State of Pennsylvania 21 were significantly more likely to experience a high- 22 risk pregnancy or give birth prematurely; 23 (19) studies have linked drilling and fracking to 24 elevated incidences of infant deaths, high-risk preg- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3247.IS S3247 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3247 IS nancies, and low birth weight in the States of Colo- 1 rado and Texas; 2 (20) the fracking industry regularly disposes of 3 waste that will remain radioactive for thousands of 4 years by spraying it on roads next to homes and 5 farms; 6 (21) the climate crisis represents a national 7 emergency to the future stability, prosperity, and 8 general welfare of the United States and a growing 9 body of scientific research has demonstrated that 10 leakage, venting, and flaring of methane and other 11 greenhouse gases in the course of oil and gas pro- 12 duction and transmission significantly contributes to 13 increased climate change; 14 (22) a global rise in temperatures of more than 15 1.5 degrees Celsius would result in irreversible and 16 catastrophic changes to public health, livelihoods, 17 quality of life, food security, water supplies, human 18 security, and economic growth; 19 (23) limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius re- 20 quires global carbon pollution emissions to be cut in 21 half by 2030, and completely eliminated by 2050; 22 (24) the United States is on track to account 23 for 60 percent of world growth in oil and gas pro- 24 duction by 2030 and extract enough new oil and gas 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3247.IS S3247 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3247 IS by 2050 to make it impossible to avoid a rise in tem- 1 peratures of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius; 2 (25) fracking can expose workers to toxic sub- 3 stances like radon, the second-leading cause of lung 4 cancer in the United States, in concentrations hun- 5 dreds of times more radioactive than the legal limit 6 for nuclear power plant discharges, as well as other 7 dangerous substances like silica dust; 8 (26) low-income communities, communities of 9 color, indigenous communities, and other environ- 10 mental justice communities in the United States are 11 disproportionately exposed to pollution from hydrau- 12 lic fracturing; 13 (27) more than 17,000,000 individuals in the 14 United States, including 1,400,000 young children 15 and 1,100,000 elderly people, live within a mile of 16 an oil or natural gas well or an oil or natural gas 17 processing, transmission, and storage facility; 18 (28) the air in many African-American commu- 19 nities violates air quality standards for ozone smog, 20 and more than 1,000,000 African Americans live 21 within a half mile of oil and natural gas wells or 22 processing, transmission, and storage facilities; 23 (29) children in African-American communities 24 experience 138,000 additional asthma attacks and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3247.IS S3247 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3247 IS 101,000 lost school days each year due to ozone in- 1 creases from natural gas emissions; 2 (30) frontline and vulnerable communities that 3 are currently being exposed to fracking will also be 4 hit hardest by the impacts of climate change; 5 (31) several States, including the States of 6 Vermont, New York, Washington, and Maryland, 7 and cities, counties, and towns across the United 8 States, have banned hydraulic fracturing; 9 (32) the Federal Government should follow the 10 lead of the States, cities, counties, and towns that 11 have banned hydraulic fracturing by banning hy- 12 draulic fracturing on all onshore and offshore land 13 in the United States; 14 (33) the Federal Government should commit to 15 transitioning toward energy efficiency and 100-per- 16 cent-sustainable energy sources, such as wind and 17 solar; 18 (34) exporting liquefied natural gas requires 19 supercooling fracked natural gas, an energy inten- 20 sive process that makes the climate impacts even 21 worse; 22 (35) the process described in paragraph (34) 23 requires major investments in expensive new dirty 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3247.IS S3247 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3247 IS energy infrastructure that poses risk of disastrous 1 explosions; 2 (36) the Interstate Commerce Clause of section 3 8 of article I of the Constitution of the United 4 States provides Congress the power to regulate or 5 ban fracking due to the substantial role of oil and 6 gas in the stream of interstate commerce and the 7 fact that produced waters generated from the prac- 8 tice of hydraulic fracturing are transported across 9 State lines; 10 (37) under the Foreign Commerce Clause of 11 section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the 12 United States, Congress has the power to regulate 13 commerce with foreign nations, and the practice of 14 hydraulic fracturing has a substantial and growing 15 effect on national and international oil and gas mar- 16 kets; 17 (38) the Federal Government must provide fos- 18 sil fuel workers, and the communities in which they 19 live, with a just and fair transition away from the 20 fossil fuel industry, including by guaranteeing the 21 incomes, training, healthcare, and pensions of af- 22 fected workers, creating new, high-wage, unionized, 23 green jobs, and investing in economic development 24 and infrastructure in fossil fuel communities; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3247.IS S3247 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3247 IS (39) the Federal Government must assist front- 1 line and vulnerable communities that have been most 2 polluted by the fossil fuel industry by cleaning up 3 pollution, remediating negative health impacts, and 4 building resilient infrastructure to prepare for the 5 unavoidable impacts of climate change; 6 (40) the Federal Government must hold the 7 fossil fuel industry accountable by requiring the fos- 8 sil fuel industry to pay for the costs of cleaning up 9 pollution and preparing communities for the un- 10 avoidable impacts of climate change; 11 (41) hydraulic fracturing activities and related 12 infrastructure create public nuisances for local com- 13 munities, impact disproportionally affected commu- 14 nities, and create a public nuisance nationwide by 15 exacerbating negative impacts of climate change, in- 16 cluding worse heat waves, floods, droughts, extreme 17 weather, spread of disease, and sea level rise; and 18 (42) hydraulic fracturing is not in the national 19 interest of the United States. 20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 21 In this Act: 22 (1) ACID.—The term ‘‘acid’’ means any fluid 23 injected into crude oil- or natural gas-bearing geo- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3247.IS S3247 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3247 IS logical formations to create, dissolve, etch, erode, or 1 increase the permeability of fractures or fissures. 2 (2) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 3 means the Just Transition Committee established 4 under section 4(d)(1). 5 (3) FRACKING; HYDRAULIC FRACTURING.—The 6 terms ‘‘fracking’’ and ‘‘hydraulic fracturing’’ include 7 the practice of injecting acids, chemicals, proppants, 8 solvents, and other fluids underground to create 9 fractures or fissures in oil- or natural gas-bearing 10 geological formations to extract oil or natural gas. 11 (4) FRONTLINE AND VULNERABLE COMMU- 12 NITY.—The term ‘‘frontline and vulnerable commu- 13 nity’’ means a community in which climate change, 14 pollution, or environmental destruction have exacer- 15 bated systemic racial, regional, social, environmental, 16 and economic injustices by disproportionately affect- 17 ing indigenous peoples, communities of color, mi- 18 grant communities, deindustrialized communities, 19 depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income 20 workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people 21 with disabilities, or youth. 22 (5) PRODUCED WATERS.—The term ‘‘produced 23 waters’’ means liquids produced as a byproduct dur- 24 ing the fracking process. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3247.IS S3247 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3247 IS (6) PROPPANT.—The term ‘‘proppant’’ means 1 any material intended to keep a hydraulic fracture 2 open during or after the extraction of oil or natural 3 gas. 4 (7) SOLVENT.—The term ‘‘solvent’’ means any 5 fluid, including steam, injected into oil- or natural 6 gas-bearing geological formations for the purpose of 7 liquefying, decreasing the viscosity of, or increasing 8 the flow of any other injected fluid or oil or natural 9 gas. 10 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON HYDRAULIC FRACTURING. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—No Federal agency may approve 12 any Federal permit for the expansion of hydraulic frac- 13 turing or fracked oil and natural gas infrastructure, in- 14 cluding new hydraulic fracturing operations, new pipe- 15 lines, new liquefied natural gas or oil export terminals, 16 new natural gas storage, new ethane cracker plants, new 17 natural gas power generation plants, or other infrastruc- 18 ture intended to extract, transport, or burn natural gas 19 or oil. 20 (b) SURVEY.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 31, 22 2021, the Administrator of the Environmental Pro- 23 tection Agency shall complete a national survey of 24 all oil and natural gas wells in the United States to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3247.IS S3247 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3247 IS identify all wells where hydraulic fracturing has been 1 used or is in the process of being used. 2 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The survey under paragraph 3 (1) shall include, with respect to each well identified 4 under the survey as a well where hydraulic frac- 5 turing has been used or is in the process of being 6 used, data on— 7 (A) [Text truncated for display. 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