I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1515 
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to require testing of underground 
sources of drinking water in connection with hydraulic fracturing oper-
ations, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 19, 2015 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BEYER, Mr. CART-
WRIGHT, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. CLARK of Massachu-
setts, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. FARR, Mr. RANGEL, 
Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. NORTON, 
and Mr. GRIJALVA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to require testing 
of underground sources of drinking water in connection 
with hydraulic fracturing operations, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Safe Hydration is an 
American Right in Energy Development Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. TESTING OF UNDERGROUND DRINKING WATER 
SOURCES IN CONNECTION WITH HYDRAULIC 
FRACTURING OPERATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1421(b)(1) of the Safe 
Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300h(b)(1)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(E) shall prohibit the underground injection of 
fluids or propping agents pursuant to hydraulic frac-
turing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal 
production activities unless the person proposing to 
conduct the hydraulic fracturing operations agrees 
to conduct testing and report data in accordance 
with section 1421A.’’. 
(b) TESTING
AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
Part C of the Safe Drinking Water Act is amended by 
inserting after section 1421 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 300h) 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 
1421A. 
TESTING 
OF 
UNDERGROUND 
DRINKING 
WATER SOURCES IN CONNECTION WITH HY-
DRAULIC FRACTURING OPERATIONS. 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.—Regulations under section 
1421(a) for State underground injection control programs 
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shall, in connection with the underground injection of 
fluids or propping agents pursuant to hydraulic fracturing 
operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production ac-
tivities, require any person conducting such operations— 
‘‘(1) to conduct testing of underground sources 
of drinking water in accordance with subsections (c) 
and (d)— 
‘‘(A) with respect to a site where, as of the 
date of enactment of this section, underground 
injection has not commenced for the first 
time— 
‘‘(i) prior to commencement of under-
ground injection at the site for the first 
time; 
‘‘(ii) at least once every 6 months dur-
ing the period beginning at the commence-
ment of underground injection described in 
clause (i) and ending at the cessation of 
such hydraulic fracturing operations; and 
‘‘(iii) at least once every 12 months 
during the 5-year period following the end 
of the period described in clause (ii); 
‘‘(B) with respect to a site where, as of the 
date of enactment of this section, there is no 
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active underground injection, but underground 
injection has previously occurred at the site— 
‘‘(i) prior to renewing underground in-
jection at the site; 
‘‘(ii) at least once every 6 months dur-
ing the period beginning at such renewal of 
underground injection and ending at the 
cessation of such hydraulic fracturing oper-
ations; and 
‘‘(iii) at least once every 12 months 
during the 5-year period following the end 
of the period described in clause (ii); and 
‘‘(C) with respect to a site where, as of the 
date of enactment of this section, such hydrau-
lic fracturing operations are occurring— 
‘‘(i) at least once every 6 months dur-
ing the period beginning on the date of en-
actment of this section ending at the ces-
sation of such hydraulic fracturing oper-
ations; and 
‘‘(ii) at least once every 12 months 
during the 5-year period following the end 
of the period described in clause (i); and 
‘‘(2) to submit reports to the Administrator on 
the results of testing under subparagraph (A), (B), 
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or (C) of paragraph (1) within 2 weeks of such test-
ing. 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—The testing and reporting re-
quirements of subsection (a) do not apply with respect to 
hydraulic fracturing operations if there is no accessible un-
derground source of drinking water within a radius of one 
mile of the site where the operations occur. 
‘‘(c) SAMPLING LOCATIONS.—Testing required pur-
suant to subsection (a) shall occur— 
‘‘(1) at all accessible underground sources of 
drinking water within a radius of one-half mile of 
the site where the hydraulic fracturing operations 
occur; and 
‘‘(2) if there is no accessible underground 
source of drinking water within such radius, at the 
nearest accessible underground source of drinking 
water within a radius of one mile of such site. 
‘‘(d) TESTING.—Testing required pursuant to sub-
section (a) shall— 
‘‘(1) be conducted by one or more laboratories 
certified pursuant to the Environmental Protection 
Agency’s program for certifying laboratories for 
analysis of drinking water contaminants; and 
‘‘(2) include testing for any hazardous sub-
stance, pollutant, contaminant, or other factor that 
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the Administrator determines would indicate damage 
associated with hydraulic fracturing operations. 
‘‘(e) DATABASE; PUBLIC ACCESSIBILITY.— 
‘‘(1) DATABASE.—The Administrator shall es-
tablish and maintain a database of the results re-
ported pursuant to subsection (a)(2). 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC
ACCESSIBILITY.—The Adminis-
trator shall make such database publicly accessible 
on the Website of the Environmental Protection 
Agency. 
‘‘(3) PUBLIC
SEARCHABILITY.—The Adminis-
trator shall make such database searchable by zip 
code, allowing members of the public to easily iden-
tify all sites for which reports are submitted pursu-
ant to subsection (a)(2). 
‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘acces-
sible underground source of drinking water’ means an un-
derground source of drinking water to which the person 
conducting the hydraulic fracturing operations can reason-
ably gain access.’’. 
(c) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
1421(d)(1)(B)(ii) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 
U.S.C. 300h(d)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended by inserting ‘‘except 
as provided in subsection (b)(1)(E) of this section and sec-
tion 1421A,’’ before ‘‘the underground injection of fluids 
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or propping agents (other than diesel fuels) pursuant to 
hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geo-
thermal production activities’’. 
Æ 
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