I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1951 

To prohibit the use of hydraulic fracturing or acid well stimulation treatment 

in the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Region until the Secretary of 

the Interior prepares an environmental impact statement and conducts 

a study with respect to such practices, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Mrs. CAPPS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To prohibit the use of hydraulic fracturing or acid well 

stimulation treatment in the Pacific Outer Continental 

Shelf Region until the Secretary of the Interior prepares 

an environmental impact statement and conducts a study 

with respect to such practices, 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 ‘‘Offshore Fracking 

5 Transparency and Review Act of 2015’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON OFFSHORE FRACTURING AND 

2 ACID WELL STIMULATION TREATMENT. 

3 Notwithstanding the terms of any lease or permit 

4 issued before the date of the enactment of this Act, no 

5 person may engage in hydraulic fracturing or acid well 

6 stimulation treatment in the Pacific Outer Continental 

7 Shelf Region until the Secretary of the Interior has pub8 lished a report under section 3 and issued a final environ9 mental impact statement under section 4. 

10 SEC. 3. STUDY OF CONDUCT AND IMPACTS OF HYDRAULIC 

11 FRACTURING AND ACID WELL STIMULATION 

12 IN THE PACIFIC OCS REGION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—To ensure the relevant agencies’ 

14 data incorporate the latest science and practices of the oil 

15 and gas industry, the Secretary of the Interior shall con16 duct a study of the conduct and impacts of hydraulic frac17 turing and acid well stimulation treatments in the Pacific 

18 Outer Continental Shelf Region. 

19 (b) INCLUDED TOPICS.—The study shall include, but 

20 shall not be limited to— 

21 (1) preparation of a descriptive inventory of all 

22 chemicals used in offshore oil and gas development 

23 and production activities in the Pacific Outer Conti24 nental Shelf Region, including chemicals used in hy25 draulic fracturing and acid well stimulation treat26 ments; 

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1 (2) the volumes of chemicals used and disposed 

2 of in such activities; 

3 (3) the risks of a spill of such chemicals; 

4 (4) an analysis of the methods by which such 

5 chemicals enter the environment during hydraulic 

6 fracturing and acid well stimulation treatments; 

7 (5) a quantification, to the extent possible, of 

8 the amount of such chemicals that enter the environ9 ment during hydraulic fracturing and acid well stim10 ulation treatments; and 

11 (6) any other related matters the Secretary de12 termines necessary. 

13 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub15 mit to Congress and publish a report on the study con16 ducted under this section. 

17 SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT. 

18 Not later than 18 months after the issuance of the 

19 report under section 3, the Secretary of the Interior shall, 

20 in coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency 

21 and in consultation with appropriate State agencies, issue 

22 an environmental impact statement under section 102 of 

23 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

24 4332) regarding the impacts on the marine environment 

25 and public health of offshore hydraulic fracturing and acid 

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1 well stimulation treatments conducted in the Pacific Outer 

2 Continental Shelf Region. 

3 SEC. 5. PUBLIC NOTICE. 

4 The Secretary shall notify all relevant State and local 

5 regulatory agencies and publish a notice in the Federal 

6 Register— 

7 (1) within 30 days after receiving any applica8 tion for a permit that would allow the conduct of 

9 offshore hydraulic fracturing or an acid well stimula10 tion treatment in the Pacific Outer Continental 

11 Shelf Region; and 

12 (2) within 30 days after the conduct of offshore 

13 hydraulic fracturing or acid well stimulation treat14 ment in such region under a permit or other author15 ization issued by the Secretary. 

16 SEC. 6. COMPILATION AND DISCLOSURE OF ACTIVITIES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

18 compile and maintain a list of all offshore hydraulic frac19 turing and acid well stimulation treatments that have 

20 taken place, or that take place after the enactment of this 

21 Act, in the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Region. 

22 (b) INCLUDED INFORMATION.—For each instance of 

23 offshore hydraulic fracturing or an acid well stimulation 

24 treatment, the Secretary shall include on the list— 

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1 (1) the date the offshore hydraulic fracturing or 

2 acid well stimulation treatment was conducted; 

3 (2) the location where the offshore hydraulic 

4 fracturing or acid well stimulation treatment was 

5 conducted; 

6 (3) the chemicals used, including identification 

7 of the chemical constituents of mixtures, Chemical 

8 Abstracts Service numbers for each chemical and 

9 constituent, material safety data sheets if available, 

10 and the amount of each chemical used; 

11 (4) the total volume of fluid used in the hydrau12 lic fracturing or acid well stimulation treatment; 

13 (5) the volume of wastewater generated during 

14 the hydraulic fracturing or acid well stimulation 

15 treatment and the manner in which it was disposed 

16 of; and 

17 (6) the intended purpose and results of the off18 shore hydraulic fracturing or acid well stimulation 

19 treatments. 

20 (c) UNAVAILABLE INFORMATION.—If any informa21 tion listed in subsection (b) is not available for a given 

22 instance of offshore hydraulic fracturing or acid well stim23 ulation treatment, the Secretary shall note the absence of 

24 the information and provide an explanation of why the in25 formation is not available. 

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1 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall 

2 make the list created under subsection (b) available to the 

3 public, including by publishing it on the Internet site of 

4 the Department of the Interior. 

5 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) HYDRAULIC FRACTURING.—The term ‘‘hy8 draulic fracturing’’ means an operation conducted in 

9 an individual wellbore designed to increase the flow 

10 of hydrocarbons from a rock formation to the 

11 wellbore through modifying the permeability of res12 ervoir rock by fracturing it, except that such term 

13 does not include enhanced secondary recovery, in14 cluding water flooding, tertiary recovery, and other 

15 types of well stimulation operations. 

16 (2) ACID WELL STIMULATION TREATMENT.— 

17 The term ‘‘acid well stimulation treatment’’— 

18 (A) means a well stimulation treatment 

19 that uses, in whole or in part, the application 

20 of one or more acids to the well or underground 

21 geologic formation; and 

22 (B) includes— 

23 (i) such stimulation treatment at any 

24 applied pressure or in combination with 

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1 hydraulic fracturing treatments or other 

2 well stimulation treatments; 

3 (ii) acid treatments conducted at pres4 sures lower than the applied pressure nec5 essary to fracture the underground geo6 logic formation (commonly referred to as 

7 acid matrix stimulation treatments); and 

8 (iii) acid fracturing treatments. 

Æ 

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