Obama administration approves ALEC model bill

[paulk]

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/16513-obama-administration-approves-alec-model-bill-for-fracking-chemical-fluid-disclosure-on-public-lands


On May 16, the Obama Interior Department announced its long-awaited rules governing hydraulic fracturing ("fracking&quot on federal lands.

As part of its 171-page document of rules, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the U.S. Dept. of Interior (DOI), revealed it will adopt the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model bill written by ExxonMobil for fracking chemical fluid disclosure on U.S. public lands.

ALEC is a 98-percent corporate-funded bill mill and "dating service" that brings predominantly Republican state legislators and corporate lobbyists together at meetings to craft and vote on "model bills" behind closed doors. Many of these bills end up snaking their way into statehouses and become law in what Bill Moyers referred to as "The United States of ALEC."

discuss...

[Gravitycollapse]

1. Another disappointment by the Obama administration.

[msongs]

2. those moderate republican types stick together nt

[ProSense]

3. Wait,

"Obama administration approves ALEC model bill"

...how did weakening a rule still in draft form become "approves ALEC model bill"? The proposal was never modeled after ALEC. The fact that they're not as strong as originally proposed is the result of the same process that happens as rules are being considered.

Sierra Club:

Breaking: Interior Department Bows to Pressure from Oil and Gas Industry, Weakens Fracking Rules

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed an updated set of rules governing hydraulic fracturing, on public lands today. The controversial oil and gas development technique—in which drillers blast millions of gallons of chemically treated water into the earth to force oil and gas from underground deposits—has been linked to air and water pollution and public health problems.

“Comparing today’s rule governing fracking on public lands with the one proposed a year earlier, it is clear what happened: the Bureau of Land Management caved to the wealthy and powerful oil and gas industry and left the public to fend for itself,” said Jessica Ennis, legislative representative at Earthjustice.

<...>

The updated proposal eliminates protections included in the version proposed last year and fails to include safeguards demanded by environmental and public health advocates.

Among the problems identified in the updated regulations:

• The proposed rules do not require an evaluation of the integrity of cement barriers in individual wells—the critical barrier between toxic fracking chemicals and groundwater—instead allowing oil and gas companies to test one well and allow those results to guide the development of other similar wells.
  
  
• The updated proposal does not require fracking companies to disclose chemicals before they are pumped into the ground—a critical measure that would give nearby communities time to test and monitor water supplies for any fracking-related water pollution.

“The Sierra Club is alarmed and disappointed by the fundamental inadequacy of the Bureau of Land Management’s new proposed fracking regulations,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “After reviewing the draft rules, we believe the administration is putting the American public’s health and well-being at risk, while continuing to give polluters a free ride. The draft BLM rules ignore the recommendations of the president’s own shale gas advisory committee, which called for transparency, full public chemical disclosure, environmental safeguards, and pollution monitoring.”
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http://ecowatch.com/2013/interior-department-bows-to-pressure-oil-gas-industry-weakens-fracking-rules/

The rules are still in draft form, and the administration should be pressured to include these protections, which were in the original proposal, in the final rule.

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. Abomination.

[ProSense]

5. Here's some

"Abomination."

...information for anyone who wants to comment on the proposed rule.

<...>

ACTION: Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Comment.

SUMMARY: On May 11, 2012, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule entitled Oil and Gas; Well Stimulation, Including Hydraulic Fracturing, on Federal and Indian Lands. The BLM has used the comments on that draft to make improvements and is now seeking additional comment on a revised proposed rule. Key issues in this updated draft include: (1) The use of an expanded set of cement evaluation tools to help ensure that usable water zones have been isolated and protected from contamination; and (2) More detailed guidance on how trade secrets claims will be handled, modeled on the procedures promulgated by the State of Colorado. The revised proposed rule would also provide opportunities for the BLM to coordinate standards and processes with individual States and tribes to reduce administrative costs and to improve efficiency.

DATES: Send your comments on this supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPR) to the BLM on or before (INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER). The BLM need not consider, or include in the administrative record for the final rule, comments that the BLM receives after the close of the comment period or comments delivered to an address other than those listed below (see ADDRESSES). If you wish to comment on the information collection requirements in this SNPR, please note that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is required to make a decision concerning the collection of information contained in this SNPR between 30 to 60 days after publication of this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment to OMB is best assured of being considered if OMB receives it by (INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER).

ADDRESSES: Mail: U.S. Department of the Interior, Director (630), Bureau of Land Management, Mail Stop 2134 LM, 1849 C St., NW, Washington, DC 20240, Attention: 1004–AE26. Personal or messenger delivery: Bureau of Land Management, 20 M Street, SE, Room 2134 LM, Attention: Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20003. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions at this Web site.

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