I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4215 
To require regulation of wastes associated with the exploration, development, 
or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy under 
the Solid Waste Disposal Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 10, 2015 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Ms. BASS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRADY of 
Pennsylvania, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. CLARK of Massa-
chusetts, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, 
Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FARR, Mr. GRAYSON, 
Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 
Mr. KEATING, Mr. BEYER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. 
CAPUANO, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 
COHEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. 
DESAULNIER, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Mr. HECK of Washington, Mr. HONDA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. EDDIE 
BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LARSEN 
of Washington, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, 
Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 
NOLAN, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. RAN-
GEL, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, 
Mr. KILMER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE, Mr. 
TED LIEU of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SEAN PATRICK 
MALONEY of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, 
Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEAL, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POLIS, Mr. 
QUIGLEY, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 
SERRANO, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SWALWELL of Cali-
fornia, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. TONKO, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, 
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. 
SLAUGHTER, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. TAKAI, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. 
TSONGAS, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Mr. WELCH, 
and Mr. YARMUTH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
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A BILL 
To require regulation of wastes associated with the explo-
ration, development, or production of crude oil, natural 
gas, or geothermal energy under the Solid Waste Dis-
posal Act, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘CLEANER Act of 
2015’’ or the ‘‘Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary 
and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. REGULATION OF WASTES ASSOCIATED WITH THE 
EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT, OR PRODUC-
TION OF CRUDE OIL, NATURAL GAS, OR GEO-
THERMAL ENERGY UNDER THE SOLID WASTE 
DISPOSAL ACT. 
(a) IDENTIFICATION OR LISTING, AND REGULATION 
UNDER SUBTITLE C.—Paragraph (2) of section 3001(b) 
of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921(b)) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(2) Not later than 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of the CLEANER Act of 2015, the Administrator 
shall— 
‘‘(A) determine whether drilling fluids, pro-
duced waters, and other wastes associated with the 
exploration, development, or production of crude oil, 
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natural gas, or geothermal energy meet the criteria 
promulgated under this section for the identification 
or listing of hazardous waste; 
‘‘(B) identify or list as hazardous waste any 
drilling fluids, produced waters, or other wastes as-
sociated with the exploration, development, or pro-
duction of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal en-
ergy that the Administrator determines, pursuant to 
subparagraph (A), meet the criteria promulgated 
under this section for the identification or listing of 
hazardous waste; and 
‘‘(C) promulgate regulations under sections 
3002, 3003, and 3004 for wastes identified or listed 
as hazardous waste pursuant to subparagraph (B), 
except that the Administrator is authorized to mod-
ify the requirements of such sections to take into ac-
count the special characteristics of such wastes so 
long as such modified requirements protect human 
health and the environment.’’. 
(b) REGULATION UNDER SUBTITLE D.—Section 
4010(c) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 
6949a(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) DRILLING
FLUIDS, PRODUCED
WATERS, 
AND OTHER WASTES ASSOCIATED WITH THE EXPLO-
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RATION, DEVELOPMENT, OR PRODUCTION OF CRUDE 
OIL, NATURAL GAS, OR GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.—Not 
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 
CLEANER Act of 2015, the Administrator shall 
promulgate revisions of the criteria promulgated 
under section 4004(a) and under section 1008(a)(3) 
for facilities that may receive drilling fluids, pro-
duced waters, or other wastes associated with the ex-
ploration, development, or production of crude oil, 
natural gas, or geothermal energy, that are not iden-
tified or listed as hazardous waste pursuant to sec-
tion 3001(b)(2). The criteria shall be those nec-
essary to protect human health and the environment 
and may take into account the practicable capability 
of such facilities. At a minimum such revisions for 
facilities potentially receiving such wastes should re-
quire ground water monitoring as necessary to de-
tect contamination, establish criteria for the accept-
able location of new or existing facilities, and provide 
for corrective action and financial assurance as ap-
propriate.’’. 
Æ 
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