The Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act

The Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act (H.R. 2728), introduced by Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas), would block the federal government’s attempt to impose new rules on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The bill passed through the Natural Resources Committee along mostly partly lines in July.

Lawmakers in the House will focus on this bill in the coming weeks that would force the Interior Department to cede regulation of the controversial energy development method to states that have already developed their own rules.
 Republicans have worried that the Interior Department rules, which are still in draft form, would impose unnecessary requirements on the oil-and-gas industry and restrict new energy development, which would lead to higher prices. They have maintained that states, not federal officials, are best equipped to regulate the process.

The Obama administration, on the other hand, has said that the federal government needs to be responsible for setting minimum standards to make sure that fracking is safe and does not pollute groundwater.

The proposed rules, released in May, would require that companies disclose the chemicals they use in fracking operations and address wastewater that returns to the surface after the process is completed.  (The Hill, 9/6/2013)