Title: Protecting States' Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Protecting States' Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act
This bill amends the Mineral Leasing Act to prohibit the Department of the Interior from enforcing any federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement regarding hydraulic fracturing (including any component of that process), relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on or under any land in any state that has regulations, guidance, or permit requirements for that activity.
Interior must recognize and defer to state regulations, permitting, and guidance, for all activities regarding hydraulic fracturing relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on federal land regardless of whether those rules are duplicative, more or less restrictive, have different requirements, or do not meet federal regulations, guidance, or permit requirements.
The bill defines "hydraulic fracturing" as the process by which fracturing fluids (including a fracturing fluid system) are pumped into an underground geologic formation to generate fractures or cracks, thereby increasing rock permeability near the wellbore and improving production of natural gas or oil.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 316 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 316

 To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to recognize the authority of States 
    to regulate oil and gas operations and promote American energy 
    security, development, and job creation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 6, 2017

Mr. Hatch (for himself and Mr. Barrasso) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to recognize the authority of States 
    to regulate oil and gas operations and promote American energy 
    security, development, and job creation, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting States' Rights to Promote 
American Energy Security Act''.

SEC. 2. STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING REGULATION.

    The Mineral Leasing Act is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 44 (30 U.S.C. 181 note) as 
        section 45; and
            (2) by inserting after section 43 (30 U.S.C. 226-3) the 
        following:

``SEC. 44. STATE AUTHORITY FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING REGULATION.

    ``(a) Definition of Hydraulic Fracturing.--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, as a result, increase 
the permeability of the rock near the wellbore and improve production 
of natural gas or oil.
    ``(b) Prohibition.--The Secretary of the Interior shall not enforce 
any Federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement regarding 
hydraulic fracturing, or any component of hydraulic fracturing, 
relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on or under 
any land in any State that has regulations, guidance, or permit 
requirements for hydraulic fracturing.
    ``(c) State Authority.--The Secretary of the Interior shall 
recognize and defer to State regulations, guidance, and permitting for 
all activities regarding hydraulic fracturing, or any component of 
hydraulic fracturing, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production 
activities on Federal land regardless of whether the regulations, 
guidance, and permitting are duplicative, more or less restrictive, 
have different requirements, or do not meet Federal regulations, 
guidance, or permit requirements.''.
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