TITLE I—STATE AUTHORITY FOR 
HYDRAULIC 
FRACTURING 
REGULATION 
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting States’ 
Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act’’. 
SEC. 102. STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING 
REGULATION. 
The Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is 
amended by redesignating section 44 as section 45, and 
by inserting after section 43 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 44. STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING 
REGULATION. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Department of the Interior 
shall not enforce any Federal regulation, guidance, or per-
mit requirement regarding hydraulic fracturing, or any 
component of that process, relating to oil, gas, or geo-
thermal production activities on or under any land in any 
State that has regulations, guidance, or permit require-
ments for that activity. 
‘‘(b) STATE AUTHORITY.—The Department of the 
Interior shall recognize and defer to State regulations, 
permitting, and guidance, for all activities related to hy-
draulic fracturing, or any component of that process, re-
lating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on 
Federal land. 
‘‘(c) TRANSPARENCY OF STATE REGULATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall submit to 
the Bureau of Land Management a copy of its regu-
lations that apply to hydraulic fracturing operations 
on Federal land. 
‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of the In-
terior shall make available to the public State regu-
lations submitted under this subsection. 
‘‘(d) TRANSPARENCY OF STATE DISCLOSURE RE-
QUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall submit to 
the Bureau of Land Management a copy of any reg-
ulations of the State that require disclosure of 
chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations on 
Federal land. 
‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of the In-
terior shall make available to the public State regu-
lations submitted under this subsection. 
‘‘(e) HYDRAULIC FRACTURING DEFINED.—In this 
section the term ‘hydraulic fracturing’ means the process 
by which fracturing fluids (or a fracturing fluid system) 
are pumped into an underground geologic formation at a 
calculated, predetermined rate and pressure to generate
fractures or cracks in the target formation and thereby 
increase the permeability of the rock near the wellbore and 
improve production of natural gas or oil.’’. 
SEC. 103. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY. 
(a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall conduct a study examining the economic bene-
fits of domestic shale oil and gas production resulting from 
the process of hydraulic fracturing. This study will include 
identification of— 
(1) State and Federal revenue generated as a 
result of shale gas production; 
(2) jobs created both directly and indirectly as 
a result of shale oil and gas production; and 
(3) an estimate of potential energy prices with-
out domestic shale oil and gas production. 
(b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall submit 
a report on the findings of such study to the Committee 
on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 
within 30 days after completion of the study. 
SEC. 104. TRIBAL AUTHORITY ON TRUST LAND. 
The Department of the Interior shall not enforce any 
Federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement re-
garding the process of hydraulic fracturing (as that term 
is defined in section 44 of the Mineral Leasing Act, as 
amended by section 102 of this Act), or any component
of that process, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal produc-
tion activities on any land held in trust or restricted status 
for the benefit of Indians except with the express consent 
of the beneficiary on whose behalf such land is held in 
trust or restricted status. 
TITLE II—EPA HYDRAULIC 
FRACTURING RESEARCH 
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘EPA Hydraulic Frac-
turing Study Improvement Act’’. 
SEC. 202. EPA HYDRAULIC FRACTURING RESEARCH. 
In conducting its study of the potential impacts of 
hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, with re-
spect to which a request for information was issued under 
Federal Register Vol. 77, No. 218, the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency shall adhere to the 
following requirements: 
(1) PEER
REVIEW
AND
INFORMATION
QUAL-
ITY.—Prior to issuance and dissemination of any 
final report or any interim report summarizing the 
Environmental Protection Agency’s research on the 
relationship between hydraulic fracturing and drink-
ing water, the Administrator shall— 
(A) consider such reports to be Highly In-
fluential Scientific Assessments and require
peer review of such reports in accordance with 
guidelines governing such assessments, as de-
scribed in— 
(i) 
the 
Environmental 
Protection 
Agency’s Peer Review Handbook 3rd Edi-
tion; 
(ii) the Environmental Protection 
Agency’s Scientific Integrity Policy, as in 
effect on the date of enactment of this Act; 
and 
(iii) the Office of Management and 
Budget’s Peer Review Bulletin, as in effect 
on the date of enactment of this Act; and 
(B) require such reports to meet the stand-
ards and procedures for the dissemination of in-
fluential scientific, financial, or statistical infor-
mation set forth in the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency’s Guidelines for Ensuring and 
Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, 
and Integrity of Information Disseminated by 
the Environmental Protection Agency, devel-
oped in response to guidelines issued by the Of-
fice of Management and Budget under section 
515(a) of the Treasury and General Govern-
ment Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 
(Public Law 106–554). 
(2) PROBABILITY, UNCERTAINTY, AND
CON-
SEQUENCE.—In order to maximize the quality and 
utility of information developed through the study, 
the Administrator shall ensure that identification of 
the possible impacts of hydraulic fracturing on 
drinking water resources included in such reports be 
accompanied by objective estimates of the prob-
ability, uncertainty, and consequence of each identi-
fied impact, taking into account the risk manage-
ment practices of States and industry. Estimates or 
descriptions of probability, uncertainty, and con-
sequence shall be as quantitative as possible given 
the validity, accuracy, precision, and other quality 
attributes of the underlying data and analyses, but 
no more quantitative than the data and analyses can 
support. 
(3) RELEASE OF FINAL REPORT.—The final re-
port shall be publicly released by September 30, 
2016.