A Fracking Good Solution to the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation Conundrum

s Services (“CAS”) number, disclose the maximum concentration of each ingredient in the fluid, identify its trade name, and provide a description of its intended use or function.84 West Virginia requires the least amount of information, only requiring that the company disclose a list of the additives used before and after the drilling process and not requiring disclosure of the additive volumes.85 Other states fall in between the two extremes, such as Louisiana, which only requires companies to disclose the CAS numbers and maximum concentrations for ingredients deemed hazardous under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”).86 Yet others, 82 See 225 ILL. COMP. STAT. ANN. 732/1-77 (West, WestlawNext through P.A. 98-121 of the 2013 Reg. Sess.) (requiring chemical disclosure for fracking operations starting June 17, 2013); BRANDON J. MURRILL & ADAM VANN, CONG. RESEARCH SERV., R42461, HYDRAULIC FRACTURING: CHEMICAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS 4 (2012), available at http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42461.pdf (summarizing the various state chemical disclosure regulations); see also Zachary Lees, Note, Anticipated Harm, Precautionary Regulation and Hydraulic Fracturing, 13 VT. J. ENVTL. L. 575, 583, 592, 604 (2012) (explaining that chemical disclosure laws are one of the precautionary types of hydraulic fracturing regulatory schemes). Chemical disclosure is a precautionary regulation, which is one of two legal responses described by Zachary Lees, to an uncertain probability of harm posed by fracking (i.e. precautionary approach or anticipatory nuisance). Id. at 583–604. 83 See BRANDON J. MURRILL & ADAM VANN, CONG. RESEARCH SERV., R42461, HYDRAULIC FRACTURING: CHEMICAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS 4 (2012), available at http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42461.pdf (summarizing the various state chemical disclosure regulations). 84 COLO. CODE REGS. §§ 404-1:205Ab(2)A(ix)–(xii) (2013)). However, Colorado does not require parties to link the ingredients to the additive that they compose. See id. §§ 4041:205Ab(2)(A) (demonstrating the omission of such a disclosure requirement). 85 W. VA. CODE ANN. § 22-6A-7(e)(5) (West, WestlawNext through 2012 First Extraordinary Sess.). This is not the only type of weak disclosure, as other types of information generally provide low levels of disclosure such as additive type, trade name, additive vendor, or volume of additive. BRANDON J. MURRILL & ADAM VANN, CONG. RESEARCH SERV., R42461, HYDRAULIC FRACTURING: CHEMICAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS 6 n.38 (2012), available at http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42461.pdf. 86 LA. ADMIN. CODE tit. 43, § 118(d)(C)(1)(d)–(e) (West, WestlawNext through rules published in the Louisiana Register dated June 20, 2013). Companies must disclose “ingredients contained in the hydraulic fracturing fluid that are subject to the requirements of 29 CFR [§] 1910.1200(g)(2).” Id. § 118C1d. String: A Fracking Good Solution to the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation C Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2013 440 VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 48 such as Michigan and New Mexico, require submitting Material Safety Data Sheets (“MSDS”) for chemical ingredients in the frac fluid.87 The most detailed information disclosed on the MSDS is the name of hazardous chemicals.88 Others, such as Ohio, require the trade name, total amount used, and the supplier of all products, fluids, or substances “intentionally added to facilitate the drilling of any portion of the well.”89 Oklahoma, on the other hand, mandates disclosure of the total volume and type of base fluid, CAS numbers, and maximum concentrations of ingredients intentionally added.90 Texas requires companies to disclose the CAS numbers, maximum concentrations of hazardous ingredients in the frac fluid, and the CAS numbers for non-hazardous chemicals intentionally added to the frac fluid, while other states only seek disclosure of items listed on the FracFocus.org form.91 Before drilling takes place, Illinois mandates disclosure of the base fluid used, all additives used, and the 87 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1200(g)(2) (2012); N.M. CODE R. § 19.15.16.19(B) (LexisNexis, Lexis Advance through New Mexico Register, Vol. XXIV, No. 22 dated November 27, 2013); MICH. DEP’T OF ENVTL. QUALITY, SUPERVISOR OF WELLS INSTRUCTION 1-2011: HIGH VOLUME HYDRAULIC FRACTURING WELL COMPLETIONS 3 (2011), available at http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/SI_1-2011_353936_7.pdf. 88 See 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1200(g) (requiring the preparer of the Material Safety Data Sheet (“MSDS”) to identify hazardous chemicals under OSHA’s Hazard Communication requirements). MSDSs only provide information on chemicals considered to be “hazardous” under OSHA’s Hazard Communication requirements. Id. § 1910.1200(a)(1). However, OSHA recently altered the Hazard Communication requirements to require more detailed information be disclosed on safety data sheets beginning June 1, 2015. Id. § 1910.1200(j)(2). 89 OHIO REV. CODE ANN. § 1509.10(A)(9)(a) (West, WestlawNext through files 24, 26–38 of the 130th Gen. Assemb.). 90 OKLA. ADMIN. CODE § 165:10-3-10(b)(1)(H) (West, WestlawNext through rules published in Vol. 30, No. 21 of the Okla. Reg.). 91 16 TEX. ADMIN. CODE § 3.29(c) (West, WestlawNext through Aug. 31, 2013) (stating that what is hazardous is defined by OHSA’s Hazard Communications requirements of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1200); see N.D. ADMIN. CODE 43-02-03-27.1(1)(g) (West, WestlawNext through Supplement 347 (Jan. 2013)) (requiring the drilling companies post all required information that is made available to the public on the FracFocus website); 58 PA. CONS. STAT. ANN. § 3222.1(b)(2) (West, WestlawNext through end of 2012 Reg. Sess.) (requiring that “the operator of the well . . . complete the chemical disclosure registry form and post the form”). The FracFocus Chemical Disclosure Registry requests the following information: the trade name, supplier, and purpose; the ingredients; the CAS number; and the maximum concentrations in the frac fluid. Find a Well, FRACFOCUS CHEMICAL DISCLOSURE REGISTRY, http://www.fracfocusdata.org/DisclosureSearch/StandardSearch.aspx (last visited Jan. 10, 2014); see Benjamin Haas et al., Fracking Hazards Obscured in Failure to Disclose Wells, BLOOMBERG (Aug. 14, 2012, 5:26 PM), http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0814/fracking-hazards-obscured-in-failure-to-disclose-wells.html (explaining the problems associated with posting information on FracFocus.org). Valparaiso University Law Review, Vol. 48, No. 1 [2013], Art. 10 http://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol48/iss1/1