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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1951 Introduced in House (IH)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Offshore Fracking Transparency and 
Review Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON OFFSHORE FRACTURING AND ACID WELL STIMULATION 
              TREATMENT.

    Notwithstanding the terms of any lease or permit issued before the 
date of the enactment of this Act, no person may engage in hydraulic 
fracturing or acid well stimulation treatment in the Pacific Outer 
Continental Shelf Region until the Secretary of the Interior has 
published a report under section 3 and issued a final environmental 
impact statement under section 4.

SEC. 3. STUDY OF CONDUCT AND IMPACTS OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AND ACID 
              WELL STIMULATION IN THE PACIFIC OCS REGION.

    (a) In General.--To ensure the relevant agencies' data incorporate 
the latest science and practices of the oil and gas industry, the 
Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a study of the conduct and 
impacts of hydraulic fracturing and acid well stimulation treatments in 
the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Region.
    (b) Included Topics.--The study shall include, but shall not be 
limited to--
            (1) preparation of a descriptive inventory of all chemicals 
        used in offshore oil and gas development and production 
        activities in the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Region, 
        including chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing and acid well 
        stimulation treatments;
            (2) the volumes of chemicals used and disposed of in such 
        activities;
            (3) the risks of a spill of such chemicals;
            (4) an analysis of the methods by which such chemicals 
        enter the environment during hydraulic fracturing and acid well 
        stimulation treatments;
            (5) a quantification, to the extent possible, of the amount 
        of such chemicals that enter the environment during hydraulic 
        fracturing and acid well stimulation treatments; and
            (6) any other related matters the Secretary determines 
        necessary.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress and 
publish a report on the study conducted under this section.

SEC. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.

    Not later than 18 months after the issuance of the report under 
section 3, the Secretary of the Interior shall, in coordination with 
the Environmental Protection Agency and in consultation with 
appropriate State agencies, issue an environmental impact statement 
under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4332) regarding the impacts on the marine environment and public 
health of offshore hydraulic fracturing and acid well stimulation 
treatments conducted in the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Region.

SEC. 5. PUBLIC NOTICE.

    The Secretary shall notify all relevant State and local regulatory 
agencies and publish a notice in the Federal Register--
            (1) within 30 days after receiving any application for a 
        permit that would allow the conduct of offshore hydraulic 
        fracturing or an acid well stimulation treatment in the Pacific 
        Outer Continental Shelf Region; and
            (2) within 30 days after the conduct of offshore hydraulic 
        fracturing or acid well stimulation treatment in such region 
        under a permit or other authorization issued by the Secretary.

SEC. 6. COMPILATION AND DISCLOSURE OF ACTIVITIES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior shall compile and 
maintain a list of all offshore hydraulic fracturing and acid well 
stimulation treatments that have taken place, or that take place after 
the enactment of this Act, in the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf 
Region.
    (b) Included Information.--For each instance of offshore hydraulic 
fracturing or an acid well stimulation treatment, the Secretary shall 
include on the list--
            (1) the date the offshore hydraulic fracturing or acid well 
        stimulation treatment was conducted;
            (2) the location where the offshore hydraulic fracturing or 
        acid well stimulation treatment was conducted;
            (3) the chemicals used, including identification of the 
        chemical constituents of mixtures, Chemical Abstracts Service 
        numbers for each chemical and constituent, material safety data 
        sheets if available, and the amount of each chemical used;
            (4) the total volume of fluid used in the hydraulic 
        fracturing or acid well stimulation treatment;
            (5) the volume of wastewater generated during the hydraulic 
        fracturing or acid well stimulation treatment and the manner in 
        which it was disposed of; and
            (6) the intended purpose and results of the offshore 
        hydraulic fracturing or acid well stimulation treatments.
    (c) Unavailable Information.--If any information listed in 
subsection (b) is not available for a given instance of offshore 
hydraulic fracturing or acid well stimulation treatment, the Secretary 
shall note the absence of the information and provide an explanation of 
why the information is not available.
    (d) Public Availability.--The Secretary shall make the list created 
under subsection (b) available to the public, including by publishing 
it on the Internet site of the Department of the Interior.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Hydraulic fracturing.--The term ``hydraulic 
        fracturing'' means an operation conducted in an individual 
        wellbore designed to increase the flow of hydrocarbons from a 
        rock formation to the wellbore through modifying the 
        permeability of reservoir rock by fracturing it, except that 
        such term does not include enhanced secondary recovery, 
        including water flooding, tertiary recovery, and other types of 
        well stimulation operations.
            (2) Acid well stimulation treatment.--The term ``acid well 
        stimulation treatment''--
                    (A) means a well stimulation treatment that uses, 
                in whole or in part, the application of one or more 
                acids to the well or underground geologic formation; 
                and
                    (B) includes--
                            (i) such stimulation treatment at any 
                        applied pressure or in combination with 
                        hydraulic fracturing treatments or other well 
                        stimulation treatments;
                            (ii) acid treatments conducted at pressures 
                        lower than the applied pressure necessary to 
                        fracture the underground geologic formation 
                        (commonly referred to as acid matrix 
                        stimulation treatments); and
                            (iii) acid fracturing treatments.
                                 <all>
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