Fracking Ban Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5857 To ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 12, 2020 Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ (for herself and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addi- tion to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be sub- sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5857.IH H5857 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5857 IH detergents, and toxic chemicals that put drinking 1 water at risk; 2 (2) hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, extracts 3 natural gas containing methane, a greenhouse gas 4 that traps more than 86 times the heat of carbon di- 5 oxide in the short term; 6 (3) the process of fracking results in further 7 methane leakages that could increase carbon pollu- 8 tion in the United States by 25 percent by 2050; 9 (4) fracked natural gas is not a bridge fuel, as 10 previously understood; 11 (5) even if every coal plant were replaced by 12 fracked gas electricity by 2030, emissions would re- 13 main on track to grow through 2050 due in part to 14 pervasive methane leaks that make fracked gas as 15 dangerous as coal; 16 (6) similarly, even if methane leaks could be to- 17 tally eliminated, the direct emissions from burning 18 the huge volumes of natural gas the United States 19 plans to produce in the next decade do not fit in safe 20 climate scenarios; 21 (7) the American Petroleum Institute reports 22 that ‘‘up to 95% of natural gas wells in the next 23 decade in the United States will be fracked’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5857.IH H5857 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5857 IH (8) renewable energy and storage eliminate any 1 need for fracked gas; 2 (9) all the technologies needed to support a 3 transition to 100 percent renewable electricity exist 4 at commercial scale and equal or cheaper costs com- 5 pared to fossil fuels; 6 (10) significant carbon reductions are impos- 7 sible if even 10 percent of electricity comes from 8 natural gas going forward; 9 (11) in some instances, fracking operations vio- 10 late property rights by taking the land of property 11 owners for drilling and transportation of fracked 12 gas; 13 (12) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the 14 Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, or 15 Transco, seized private land and began construction 16 for a fracked gas pipeline before the landowners 17 could appear in court to protest and once the land- 18 owners did file an official protest, the Federal En- 19 ergy Regulatory Commission allowed Transco to 20 continue construction while the case was decided in 21 court; 22 (13) scientists, along with governmental agen- 23 cies in the United States and Canada, report that 24 fracking and fracking wastewater injections can be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5857.IH H5857 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5857 IH linked to earthquakes all across North America, in- 1 cluding in the States of Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, 2 Texas, Kansas, and Arkansas and in British Colum- 3 bia; 4 (14) fracking contaminates ground and surface 5 water with toxic chemicals though waste discharge, 6 underground migration of fracking gas and chemi- 7 cals into drinking water sources, and spills; 8 (15) numerous scientific studies have shown 9 that the chemicals referred to in paragraph (14) 10 cause serious negative health impacts such as cancer 11 and birth defects; 12 (16) in addition to toxic chemicals injected un- 13 derground, fracking fluid traveling back up to the 14 surface contains additional toxic substances such as 15 heavy metals, arsenic, barium, strontium, uranium, 16 radium, and radon; 17 (17) fracking pollutes the air and substantially 18 contributes to ground-level ozone, which can cause 19 serious negative health impacts such as strokes, 20 heart attacks, and asthma; 21 (18) research shows that expectant mothers liv- 22 ing near heavy fracking in the State of Pennsylvania 23 were significantly more likely to experience a high- 24 risk pregnancy or give birth prematurely; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5857.IH H5857 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5857 IH (19) studies have linked drilling and fracking to 1 elevated incidences of infant deaths, high-risk preg- 2 nancies, and low birth weight in the States of Colo- 3 rado and Texas; 4 (20) the fracking industry regularly disposes of 5 waste that will remain radioactive for thousands of 6 years by spraying it on roads next to homes and 7 farms; 8 (21) the climate crisis represents a national 9 emergency to the future stability, prosperity, and 10 general welfare of the United States and a growing 11 body of scientific research has demonstrated that 12 leakage, venting, and flaring of methane and other 13 greenhouse gases in the course of oil and gas pro- 14 duction and transmission significantly contributes to 15 increased climate change; 16 (22) a global rise in temperatures of more than 17 1.5 degrees Celsius would result in irreversible and 18 catastrophic changes to public health, livelihoods, 19 quality of life, food security, water supplies, human 20 security, and economic growth; 21 (23) limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius re- 22 quires global carbon pollution emissions to be cut in 23 half by 2030, and completely eliminated by 2050; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5857.IH H5857 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5857 IH (24) the United States is on track to account 1 for 60 percent of world growth in oil and gas pro- 2 duction by 2030 and extract enough new oil and gas 3 by 2050 to make it impossible to avoid a rise in tem- 4 peratures of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius; 5 (25) fracking can expose workers to toxic sub- 6 stances like radon, the second-leading cause of lung 7 cancer in the United States, in concentrations hun- 8 dreds of times more radioactive than the legal limit 9 for nuclear power plant discharges, as well as other 10 dangerous substances like silica dust; 11 (26) low-income communities, communities of 12 color, indigenous communities, and other environ- 13 mental justice communities in the United States are 14 disproportionately exposed to pollution from hydrau- 15 lic fracturing; 16 (27) more than 17,000,000 individuals in the 17 United States, including 1,400,000 young children 18 and 1,100,000 elderly people, live within a mile of 19 an oil or natural gas well or an oil or natural gas 20 processing, transmission, and storage facility; 21 (28) the air in many African-American commu- 22 nities violates air quality standards for ozone smog, 23 and more than 1,000,000 African Americans live 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Feb 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5857.IH H5857 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5857 IH within a half mile of oil and natural gas wells or 1 processing, transmission, and storage facilities; 2 (29) children in African-American communities 3 experience 138,000 additional asthma attacks and 4 101,000 lost school days each year due to ozone in- 5 creases from natural gas emissions; 6 (30) frontline and vulnerable communities that 7 are currently being exposed to fracking will also be 8 hit hardest by the impacts of climate change; 9 (31) several States, including the States of 10 Vermont, New York, Washington, and Maryland, 11 and cities, counties, and towns across the United 12 States, have banned hydraulic fracturing; 13 (32) the Federal Government should follow the 14 lead of the States, cities, counties, and towns that 15 have banned hydraulic fracturing by banning hy- 16 draulic fracturing on all onshore and offshore land 17 in the United States; 18 (33) the Federal Government should commit to 19 transitioning toward energy efficiency and 100-per- 20 cent-sustainable energy sources, such as wind and 21 solar; 22 (34) exporting liquefied natural gas requires 23 supercooling fracked natural gas, an energy inten- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Feb 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5857.IH H5857 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5857 IH sive process that makes the climate impacts even 1 worse; 2 (35) the process described in paragraph (34) 3 requires major investments in expensive new dirty 4 energy infrastructure that poses risk of disastrous 5 explosions; 6 (36) the Interstate Commerce Clause of section 7 8 of article I of the Constitution of the United 8 States provides Congress the power to regulate or 9 ban fracking due to the substantial role of oil and 10 gas in the stream of interstate commerce and the 11 fact that produced waters generated from the prac- 12 tice of hydraulic fracturing are transported across 13 State lines; 14 (37) under the Foreign Commerce Clause of 15 section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the 16 United States, Congress has the power to regulate 17 commerce with foreign nations, and the practice of 18 hydraulic fracturing has a substantial and growing 19 effect on national and international oil and gas mar- 20 kets; 21 (38) the Federal Government must provide fos- 22 sil fuel workers, and the communities in which they 23 live, with a just and fair transition away from the 24 fossil fuel industry, including by guaranteeing the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5857.IH H5857 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5857 IH incomes, training, healthcare, and pensions of af- 1 fected workers, creating new, high-wage, unionized, 2 green jobs, and investing in economic development 3 and infrastructure in fossil fuel communities; 4 (39) the Federal Government must assist front- 5 line and vulnerable communities that have been most 6 polluted by the fossil fuel industry by cleaning up 7 pollution, remediating negative health impacts, and 8 building resilient infrastructure to prepare for the 9 unavoidable impacts of climate change; 10 (40) the Federal Government must hold the 11 fossil fuel industry accountable by requiring the fos- 12 sil fuel industry to pay for the costs of cleaning up 13 pollution and preparing communities for the un- 14 avoidable impacts of climate change; 15 (41) hydraulic fracturing activities and related 16 infrastructure create public nuisances for local com- 17 munities, impact disproportionally affected commu- 18 nities, and create a public nuisance nationwide by 19 exacerbating negative impacts of climate change, in- 20 cluding worse heat waves, floods, droughts, extreme 21 weather, spread of disease, and sea level rise; and 22 (42) hydraulic fracturing is not in the national 23 interest of the United States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5857.IH H5857 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5857 IH SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) ACID.—The term ‘‘acid’’ means any fluid 3 injected into crude oil- or natural gas-bearing geo- 4 logical formations to create, dissolve, etch, erode, or 5 increase the permeability of fractures or fissures. 6 (2) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 7 means the Just Transition Committee established 8 under section 4(d)(1). 9 (3) FRACKING; HYDRAULIC FRACTURING.—The 10 terms ‘‘fracking’’ and ‘‘hydraulic fracturing’’ include 11 the practice of injecting acids, chemicals, proppants, 12 solvents, and other fluids underground to create 13 fractures or fissures in oil- or natural gas-bearing 14 geological formations to extract oil or natural gas. 15 (4) FRONTLINE AND VULNERABLE COMMU- 16 NITY.—The term ‘‘frontline and vulnerable commu- 17 nity’’ means a community in which climate change, 18 pollution, or environmental destruction have exacer- 19 bated systemic racial, regional, social, environmental, 20 and economic injustices by disproportionately affect- 21 ing indigenous peoples, communities of color, mi- 22 grant communities, deindustrialized communities, 23 depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income 24 workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people 25 with disabilities, or youth. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5857.IH H5857 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5857 IH (5) PRODUCED WATERS.—The term ‘‘produced 1 waters’’ means liquids produced as a byproduct dur- 2 ing the fracking process. 3 (6) PROPPANT.—The term ‘‘proppant’’ means 4 any material intended to keep a hydraulic fracture 5 open during or after the extraction of oil or natural 6 gas. 7 (7) SOLVENT.—The term ‘‘solvent’’ means any 8 fluid, including steam, injected into oil- or natural 9 gas-bearing geological formations for the purpose of 10 liquefying, decreasing the viscosity of, or increasing 11 the flow of any other injected fluid or oil or natural 12 gas. 13 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON HYDRAULIC FRACTURING. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—No Federal agency may approve 15 any Federal permit for the expansion of hydraulic frac- 16 turing or fracked oil and natural gas infrastructure, in- 17 cluding new hydraulic fracturing operations, new pipe- 18 lines, new liquefied natural gas or oil export terminals, 19 new natural gas storage, new ethane cracker plants, new 20 natural gas power generation plants, or other infrastruc- 21 ture intended to extract, transport, or burn natural gas 22 or oil. 23 (b) SURVEY.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Feb 19, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5857.IH H5857 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5857 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 31, 1 2021, the Administrator of the Environmental Pro- 2 tection Agency shall complete a national survey of 3 all oil and natural gas wells in the United States to 4 identify all wells where hydraulic fracturing has been 5 used or is in the process of being used. 6 (2) INCLUSIONS.—T [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]