May 4, 2012 IPAA Responds to Interior’s Well Construction Regulations on Federal Lands
In response to the Department of Interior’s release of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed regulations regarding well construction and hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands, IPAA President and CEO Barry Russell commented:
“America’s independent oil and natural gas producers are already having a tough time obtaining permits to develop federal lands. BLM’s proposed regulations, which would mandate one-size-fits-all regulations on well construction and hydraulic fracturing operations on these lands, are redundant. They will undoubtedly insert an unnecessary layer of rigidity into the permitting and development process.
“IPAA believes that BLM’s decision to utilize FracFocus.org, the chemical registry website that has been crucial to strong state-based regulatory regimes is the appropriate choice, but the administration should recognize state success throughout the regulatory process and rely on it.
“America’s public lands are extraordinarily diverse. State regulators understand the geographic and geologic differences of their states and have had a long and successful history in safely dealing with them. The federal government’s role should be to further empower the states to continue their safe regulation of well construction and hydraulic fracturing.”
