FRESH Act

Subjects: Energy

Summary:  <p><b>Fracturing Regulations are Effective in State Hands Act</b> <b><b>or the FRESH Act</b></b></p> <p> This bill gives states the sole authority to promulgate or enforce any regulation, guidance, or permit requirement regarding hydraulic fracturing on or under any land within their boundaries. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the geological formation.</p> <p>Hydraulic fracturing on federal land must comply with the law of the state in which the land is located.</p>

<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 19 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 19

 To clarify that a State has the sole authority to regulate hydraulic 
     fracturing on Federal land within the boundaries of the State.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             January 23 (legislative day, January 3), 2023

  Mr. Mullin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To clarify that a State has the sole authority to regulate hydraulic 
     fracturing on Federal land within the boundaries of the State.

    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 ``Fracturing Regulations are Effective 
in State Hands Act'' or the ``FRESH Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF FEDERAL LAND.

    In this Act, the term ``Federal land'' means--
            (1) public lands (as defined in section 103 of the Federal 
        Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702));
            (2) National Forest System land;
            (3) land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of 
        Reclamation; and
            (4) land under the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers.

SEC. 3. STATE AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--A State shall have the sole authority to 
promulgate or enforce any regulation, guidance, or permit requirement 
regarding the treatment of a well by the application of fluids under 
pressure to which propping agents may be added for the expressly 
designed purpose of initiating or propagating fractures in a target 
geologic formation in order to enhance production of oil, natural gas, 
or geothermal production activities on or under any land within the 
boundaries of the State.
    (b) Federal Land.--The treatment of a well by the application of 
fluids under pressure to which propping agents may be added for the 
expressly designed purpose of initiating or propagating fractures in a 
target geologic formation in order to enhance production of oil, 
natural gas, or geothermal production activities on Federal land shall 
be subject to the law of the State in which the land is located.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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