WASHINGTON (AP) — Companies that drill for oil andnatural gas on federal lands will be
required to disclose publicly thechemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations, the
Obamaadministration said Thursday. The new "fracking" rule replaces a draftproposed last year
that was withdrawn amid industry complaints thatfederal regulation could hinder an ongoing boom in
natural gasproduction.The new draft rule relies on an online database usedby Colorado and 10 other
states to track the chemicals used in frackingoperations. FracFocus.org is a website formed by industry
andintergovernmental groups in 2011 that allows users to gatherwell-specific data on thousands of
drilling sites.The proposed rule also sets standards for proper construction of wells and disposal of
wastewater.Frackinginvolves pumping huge volumes of water, sand and chemicals undergroundto split open
rocks to allow oil and gas to flow. Improved technologyhas allowed energy companies to gain access to
huge stores of naturalgas underneath states from Wyoming to New York but has raised widespreadconcerns
about alleged groundwater contamination and even earthquakes.InteriorSecretary Sally Jewell called the
proposed rule a "common-sense update"that increases safety while also providing flexibility
and improvingcoordination with states and Indian tribes.Current regulations date back to 1982, when the
Sony Walkman was considered cutting-edge, Jewell said."Aswe continue to offer millions of acres of
America’s public lands foroil and gas development, it is important that the public has fullconfidence
that the right safety and environmental protections are inplace," she said.But environmental groups
said the proposal wasweaker than last year’s plan and represents a nearly completecapitulation to
industry, which had lobbied heavily against the earlierrule. Interior’s Bureau of Land Management has
held at least 11 meetingsthis year with industry groups as well as fracking
opponents."Comparingtoday’s rule governing fracking on public lands with the one proposed ayear
earlier, it is clear what happened: the Bureau of Land Managementcaved to the wealthy and powerful oil
and gas industry and left thepublic to fend for itself," said Jessica Ennis, a spokeswoman for
theenvironmental group Earthjustice.The BLM appears to have settled for "shoddy protections peddled
by the oil and gas industry," Ennis said.ErikMilito, director of upstream and industry operations
for the AmericanPetroleum Institute, said the federal rule was unnecessary, since staterules and
state-based tools, such as FracFocus, are already in place toensure responsible drilling.Changes made
since last year "attemptto better acknowledge the state role," Milito said, but the
Obamaadministration "has yet to answer the question why BLM is moving forwardwith these
requirements in the first place."The API and otherindustry groups urged the administration and
Congress to take a closelook at the proposed rule, which is subject to a 30-day comment periodbefore
being made final this summer.Environmental groups said thenew rule relies too heavily on FracFocus, a
voluntary site that criticssay has loose reporting standards and allows companies to avoiddisclosure by
declaring certain chemicals trade secrets. A report byHarvard Law School last month said the site is
plagued by loopholes,adding that government reliance on FracFocus as a regulatory tool
is"misplacedor premature."Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayesdefended the use of FracFocus,
calling it a potentially valuable tool tomake information on fracking operations available to the
public."Letthere be no doubt, what we are interested in is good publicdisclosures" of
information on fracking and chemicals in drillingoperations, Hayes said.If the site does not work as
well asofficials hope, "we will look for another mechanism to make sure thereis information
available" to the public about chemicals used in frackingoperations, Hayes said.Besides Colorado,
FracFocus is used byLouisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma,Pennsylvania, South
Dakota, Texas and Utah. The site and its operatorsdon’t regulate fracking in any way, but rather provide
a repository forrelevant information.Jewell, who took office last month, said sheexpects to be
criticized by both industry and environmental groups. Anindustry claim that federal regulation is
unnecessary "ignores thatfracking is taking place on an estimated 90 percent" of wells drilled
onfederal and Indian lands, Jewell said. Domestic production from morethan 92,000 oil and gas wells on
public lands accounts for about 13percent of the nation’s natural gas production and 5 percent of U.S.
oilproduction, the Interior Department said.Similarly,environmental groups who say "fracking is
dangerous and should becurtailed full-stop" ignore that "fracking has been done safely
fordecades," said Jewell, a former petroleum engineer who has worked onfracked wells.The new rule
will "help ensure that human health and security are protected," she said.Theproposal includes
a provision allowing the BLM to defer to states andtribes that already have standards in place that meet
or exceed thoseproposed by the federal rule.___Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC___Online:http://fracfocus.orgCopyright
2013 The Associated Press.