Protecting America’s access to clean air and water is paramount and should not be trumped by oil and gas exploration .
The Federal government has delegated, to local and state governments, the task20of preventing toxic contamination of our air and water. At the same time, it has provided exemptions to one polluting industry, which makes it difficult, or even impossible, for those local and state governments to enforce the environmental standards they should. The Federal government must again work together with states to provide the strongest possible environmental enforcement, and reverse its policies which permit pollution that would otherwise be illegal.
CDOG strongly urges Congress to remove environmental statute exemptions provided to the oil and gas industry. For the US to realize the true cost of fossil fuels, environmental standards must be enforced
1. Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
a. The SDWA was amended in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 in three ways:
i. Hydraulic Fracturing operations were completely exempted from regulation under
SDWA
ii. Energy Policy Act of 2005 asked for voluntary discontinuance of diesel fuel in
fracking operations instead of banning outright
iii. Underground Injection Control of fracking fluids were defined to codify the EPA’s
practice of not regulating fracking fluids unless diesel fuels were used, and in the
case of the use of diesel fuels regulation is discretionary.
2. Clean Water Act (CWA)
a. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 amended the CWA so that sediment is no longer
considered a pollutant in managing stormwater run-off. The exemption provided for in
the Energy Policy Act of 2005 encompasses the drill pad site and all oil and gas field
construction activities and operations.
b. The EPA confirmed Congress’ interpretation by stating that “all covered oil and gas related construction activities are eligible for the NPDES permitting exemption for their
uncontaminated stormwater discharges without regard to the acreage disturbed.”
c. The EPA also defined oil and gas operations and activities to include the construction of
the drill site, waste management pits, access roads, in-field treatment plants and
transportation infrastructure.
3. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
a. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 created a presumption that the following oil and gas
related activities should be analyzed and processed by the Interior and Agricultural
Departments under categorical exclusions. Categorical exclusions are less comprehensive
than environmental assessments and there is no public comment. Exempted Activities:
i. Individual=2 0surface disturbance of less than five acres as long as total surface
disturbance is not greater than 150 acres and site-specific analysis has been
prepared pursuant to NEPA.
ii. Drilling within five years of a previous well.
iii. Placement of a pipeline in a right-of-way corridor that has been determined within
five years.
iv. Drilling a well within a developed field where there is an approved land use plan
or documentation prepared pursuant to NEPA that would see the drilling as
reasonably foreseeable activity.
v. The presumption in the Energy Policy Act also shifts the burden to prove the
activity would require further analysis from the EPA to the public. The public
must now demonstrate that drilling activities occur in an area of extraordinary
circumstances to require a full NEPA review.
4. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)
a. Section 101(14) of CERCLA lists the hazardous substances covered under the statute.
The last clause of this section excludes crude oil and petroleum.
5. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
a. The Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1980 exempts oil field waste from Subchapter III of
RCRA until the EPA could prove the wastes were a danger to human health and the
environment. In 1988 EPA made a regulatory determination that oil field waste should
be exempted because of adequate state and federal regulations. This includes:
i. Produced waters
ii. Drilling fluids
iii. Associated wastes
6. Clean Air Act (CAA)
a. The CAA states that the oil and gas industry will not be aggregated together to determine
if they are subject to Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) for each
source. The exemption also extends to pipeline compressors and pump stations in some
instances.
b. Hydrogen sulfide is not listed as an extremely hazardous substance in the Clean Air Act.
7. Toxic Release Inventory under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know
Act (EPCRA)
a. The oil and gas industry is exempted from reporting under section 313 of EPCRA, even
though it generally meets the requirements established for reporting.
This list was provided by Citizen’s Campaign for the Environment www.citizenscampaign.org who urge you to copy and mail this list to your congressional representatives.