I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4811 
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 
JULY 20, 2023 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 
Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. BEYER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. COHEN, 
Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. 
MORELLE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. POCAN, Mr. SHERMAN, 
Mr. SMITH
of Washington, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. VARGAS, and Ms. 
VELA´ZQUEZ) 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 2023’’. 
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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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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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