113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2728 

AN ACT 

To recognize States’ authority to regulate oil and gas operations and promote American energy security, development, and job creation. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 TITLE I—STATE AUTHORITY FOR 

2 HYDRAULIC FRACTURING 

3 REGULATION 

4 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting States’ 

6 Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act’’. 

7 SEC. 102. STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING 

8 REGULATION. 

9 The Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is 

10 amended by redesignating section 44 as section 45, and 

11 by inserting after section 43 the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 44. STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING 

13 REGULATION. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Department of the Interior 

15 shall not enforce any Federal regulation, guidance, or per16 mit requirement regarding hydraulic fracturing, or any 

17 component of that process, relating to oil, gas, or geo18 thermal production activities on or under any land in any 

19 State that has regulations, guidance, or permit require20 ments for that activity. 

21 ‘‘(b) STATE AUTHORITY.—The Department of the 

22 Interior shall recognize and defer to State regulations, 

23 permitting, and guidance, for all activities related to hy24 draulic fracturing, or any component of that process, re-
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1 lating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on 

2 Federal land. 

3 ‘‘(c) TRANSPARENCY OF STATE REGULATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall submit to 

5 the Bureau of Land Management a copy of its regu6 lations that apply to hydraulic fracturing operations 

7 on Federal land. 

8 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of the In9 terior shall make available to the public State regu10 lations submitted under this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(d) TRANSPARENCY OF STATE DISCLOSURE RE12 QUIREMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall submit to 

14 the Bureau of Land Management a copy of any reg15 ulations of the State that require disclosure of 

16 chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations on 

17 Federal land. 

18 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of the In19 terior shall make available to the public State regu20 lations submitted under this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(e) HYDRAULIC FRACTURING DEFINED.—In this 

22 section the term ‘hydraulic fracturing’ means the process 

23 by which fracturing fluids (or a fracturing fluid system) 

24 are pumped into an underground geologic formation at a 

25 calculated, predetermined rate and pressure to generate 
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1 fractures or cracks in the target formation and thereby 

2 increase the permeability of the rock near the wellbore and 

3 improve production of natural gas or oil.’’. 

4 SEC. 103. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY. 

5 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

6 States shall conduct a study examining the economic bene7 fits of domestic shale oil and gas production resulting from 

8 the process of hydraulic fracturing. This study will include 

9 identification of— 

10 (1) State and Federal revenue generated as a 

11 result of shale gas production; 

12 (2) jobs created both directly and indirectly as 

13 a result of shale oil and gas production; and 

14 (3) an estimate of potential energy prices with15 out domestic shale oil and gas production. 

16 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall submit 

17 a report on the findings of such study to the Committee 

18 on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 

19 within 30 days after completion of the study. 

20 SEC. 104. TRIBAL AUTHORITY ON TRUST LAND. 

21 The Department of the Interior shall not enforce any 

22 Federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement re23 garding the process of hydraulic fracturing (as that term 

24 is defined in section 44 of the Mineral Leasing Act, as 

25 amended by section 102 of this Act), or any component 
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1 of that process, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal produc2 tion activities on any land held in trust or restricted status 

3 for the benefit of Indians except with the express consent 

4 of the beneficiary on whose behalf such land is held in 

5 trust or restricted status. 

6 TITLE II—EPA HYDRAULIC 

7 FRACTURING RESEARCH 

8 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This title may be cited as the ‘‘EPA Hydraulic Frac10 turing Study Improvement Act’’. 

11 SEC. 202. EPA HYDRAULIC FRACTURING RESEARCH. 

12 In conducting its study of the potential impacts of 

13 hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, with re14 spect to which a request for information was issued under 

15 Federal Register Vol. 77, No. 218, the Administrator of 

16 the Environmental Protection Agency shall adhere to the 

17 following requirements: 

18 (1) PEER REVIEW AND INFORMATION QUAL19 ITY.—Prior to issuance and dissemination of any 

20 final report or any interim report summarizing the 

21 Environmental Protection Agency’s research on the 

22 relationship between hydraulic fracturing and drink23 ing water, the Administrator shall— 

24 (A) consider such reports to be Highly In25 fluential Scientific Assessments and require 
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1 peer review of such reports in accordance with 

2 guidelines governing such assessments, as de3 scribed in— 

4 (i) the Environmental Protection 

5 Agency’s Peer Review Handbook 3rd Edi6 tion; 

7 (ii) the Environmental Protection 

8 Agency’s Scientific Integrity Policy, as in 

9 effect on the date of enactment of this Act; 

10 and 

11 (iii) the Office of Management and 

12 Budget’s Peer Review Bulletin, as in effect 

13 on the date of enactment of this Act; and 

14 (B) require such reports to meet the stand15 ards and procedures for the dissemination of in16 fluential scientific, financial, or statistical infor17 mation set forth in the Environmental Protec18 tion Agency’s Guidelines for Ensuring and 

19 Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, 

20 and Integrity of Information Disseminated by 

21 the Environmental Protection Agency, devel22 oped in response to guidelines issued by the Of23 fice of Management and Budget under section 

24 515(a) of the Treasury and General Govern-
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1 ment Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 

2 (Public Law 106–554). 

3 (2) PROBABILITY, UNCERTAINTY, AND CON4 SEQUENCE.—In order to maximize the quality and 

5 utility of information developed through the study, 

6 the Administrator shall ensure that identification of 

7 the possible impacts of hydraulic fracturing on 

8 drinking water resources included in such reports be 

9 accompanied by objective estimates of the prob10 ability, uncertainty, and consequence of each identi11 fied impact, taking into account the risk manage12 ment practices of States and industry. Estimates or 

13 descriptions of probability, uncertainty, and con14 sequence shall be as quantitative as possible given 

15 the validity, accuracy, precision, and other quality 

16 attributes of the underlying data and analyses, but 

17 no more quantitative than the data and analyses can 

18 support. 

19 (3) RELEASE OF FINAL REPORT.—The final re20 port shall be publicly released by September 30, 

21 2016. 
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1 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

2 PROVISIONS 

3 SEC. 301. REVIEW OF STATE ACTIVITIES. 

4 The Secretary of the Interior shall annually review 

5 and report to Congress on all State activities relating to 

6 hydraulic fracturing. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 20, 

2013. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2728 

AN ACT 

To recognize States’ authority to regulate oil and 

curity, development, and job creation. gas operations and promote American energy se-