House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement on the proposed regulations of hydraulic fracturing on federal lands announced today by the Department of the Interior:

“The Obama Administration is once again choosing costly red tape at the expense of American jobs and American energy production. It is charging forward with new regulations on hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands that are burdensome, restrictive, unnecessary, and directly duplicate what states have been doing efficiently and effectively for over sixty years. States are able to carefully craft regulations to meet the specific needs of their states. Yet the Department seems committed to imposing a new ‘one-size-fits-all’ set of rules for hydraulic fracturing. This is nothing more than another roadblock by the Obama Administration in the way of job creation, lower energy prices, and American energy security. At a time when the Interior Department is currently canceling lease sales because they say they do not have the necessary funds, they should not be wasting federal dollars and resources implementing duplicative and unnecessary regulations.

“Furthermore, it is unacceptable that the Administration is only offering a mere 30-day public comment period on this proposed regulation that will have significant job, economic, and energy production impacts throughout the country. The public comment period should be no less than 120 days.”

Background

For over two years, the Natural Resources Committee has conducted aggressive oversight of the Obama Administration’s pursuit of duplicative and potentially costly regulations of hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. The Committee has held numerous hearings to learn from stakeholders about the job and economic impacts of federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing – most recently an oversight hearing on May 8, 2013 – and will conduct additional oversight of this proposed rule in June.