I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4215 

To require regulation of wastes associated with the exploration, development, 

or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy under 

the Solid Waste Disposal Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2015 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Ms. BASS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRADY of 

Pennsylvania, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, 

Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FARR, Mr. GRAYSON, 

Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 

Mr. KEATING, Mr. BEYER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. 

CAPUANO, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Mr. HECK of Washington, Mr. HONDA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. EDDIE

BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LARSEN

of Washington, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, 

Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 

NOLAN, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, 

Mr. KILMER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE, Mr. 

TED LIEU of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SEAN PATRICK

MALONEY of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, 

Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEAL, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POLIS, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 

SERRANO, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. TONKO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. 

SLAUGHTER, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. TAKAI, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. 

TSONGAS, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Mr. WELCH, 

and Mr. YARMUTH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce 


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•HR 4215 IH

A BILL 

To require regulation of wastes associated with the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural 

gas, or geothermal energy under the Solid Waste Disposal Act, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘CLEANER Act of 

5 2015’’ or the ‘‘Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary 

6 and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act of 2015’’. 

7 SEC. 2. REGULATION OF WASTES ASSOCIATED WITH THE 

8 EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT, OR PRODUC9 TION OF CRUDE OIL, NATURAL GAS, OR GEO10 THERMAL ENERGY UNDER THE SOLID WASTE 

11 DISPOSAL ACT. 

12 (a) IDENTIFICATION OR LISTING, AND REGULATION

13 UNDER SUBTITLE C.—Paragraph (2) of section 3001(b) 

14 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921(b)) is 

15 amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(2) Not later than 1 year after the date of enact17 ment of the CLEANER Act of 2015, the Administrator 

18 shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) determine whether drilling fluids, pro20 duced waters, and other wastes associated with the 

21 exploration, development, or production of crude oil, 


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•HR 4215 IH

1 natural gas, or geothermal energy meet the criteria 

2 promulgated under this section for the identification 

3 or listing of hazardous waste; 

4 ‘‘(B) identify or list as hazardous waste any 

5 drilling fluids, produced waters, or other wastes as6 sociated with the exploration, development, or pro7 duction of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal en8 ergy that the Administrator determines, pursuant to 

9 subparagraph (A), meet the criteria promulgated 

10 under this section for the identification or listing of 

11 hazardous waste; and 

12 ‘‘(C) promulgate regulations under sections 

13 3002, 3003, and 3004 for wastes identified or listed 

14 as hazardous waste pursuant to subparagraph (B), 

15 except that the Administrator is authorized to mod16 ify the requirements of such sections to take into ac17 count the special characteristics of such wastes so 

18 long as such modified requirements protect human 

19 health and the environment.’’. 

20 (b) REGULATION UNDER SUBTITLE D.—Section 

21 4010(c) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 6949a(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

23 new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(7) DRILLING FLUIDS, PRODUCED WATERS, 

25 AND OTHER WASTES ASSOCIATED WITH THE EXPLOVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Dec 11, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4215.IH H4215

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•HR 4215 IH

1 RATION, DEVELOPMENT, OR PRODUCTION OF CRUDE

2 OIL, NATURAL GAS, OR GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.—Not 

3 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 

4 CLEANER Act of 2015, the Administrator shall 

5 promulgate revisions of the criteria promulgated 

6 under section 4004(a) and under section 1008(a)(3) 

7 for facilities that may receive drilling fluids, pro8 duced waters, or other wastes associated with the ex9 ploration, development, or production of crude oil, 

10 natural gas, or geothermal energy, that are not iden11 tified or listed as hazardous waste pursuant to sec12 tion 3001(b)(2). The criteria shall be those nec13 essary to protect human health and the environment 

14 and may take into account the practicable capability 

15 of such facilities. At a minimum such revisions for 

16 facilities potentially receiving such wastes should re17 quire ground water monitoring as necessary to de18 tect contamination, establish criteria for the accept19 able location of new or existing facilities, and provide 

20 for corrective action and financial assurance as ap21 propriate.’’. 

Æ 


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