Fracking regulations written by frackers?
Tell the Nevada Legislative Commission that Nevada is Not Ready for Fracking.
Reject the industry-written rules
The Commission on Mineral Resources approved the fracking regulations on August 28, 2014. The final step in finalizing the regulations for addition to the Nevada Administrative Code is the approval by the Nevada Legislative Commission. Click here to read the proposed regulations.
The Legislative Commission meeting will be held Friday October 24th at 9:00am.
You can attend the meeting in Las Vegas: Grant Sawyer State Office Building, Room 4401, 55 E. Washington Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Or you can also observe the meeting and provide public comment through a simultaneous videoconference in Carson City: Nevada State Legislative Building, Room 4100 401 S. Carson Street, Carson City, Nevada.
The regulations the Legislative Commission is poised to approve fall short of providing the kind of protections our communities deserve and precious groundwater demands. The regulations were approved in a rushed, non-transparent process by the Commission on Minerals, which is comprised of members who represent (i.e., own interest in) oil, gas and mining corporations.
Nevada should follow the lead of New York, which implemented a moratorium on fracking pending a further environmental and socio-economic analysis of fracking’s impacts. Barring that, the minimum changes to the regulations must be made:
- If the Fracking industry wants to inject chemicals into our groundwater, let’s hold them to a higher standard. Under proposed regulations, there maybe no groundwater sampling, or sampling in the wrong location to intercept contamination. Make the Fracking industry adhere to the same regulations as the mining industry, and require monitoring wells. In addition, we want the company to monitor the groundwater for a longer period of time than just five years.
- Fugitive methane releases from fracking is a powerful greenhouse gas, yet the current regulations are silent. Ambient air monitoring is needed at oil and gas/hydraulic fracturing sites to assure that hydrogen sulfide is at acceptable levels and that methane gas is not being released excessively. There also needs to be a provision to assure that hydraulic fracturing operations are not emitting excessive greenhouse gases.
- Bonding amounts for drilled wells contained in current statute are not adequate for Fracking. These regulations, based on traditional oil and gas extraction, are insufficient to cover potential long-term environmental damage. To supplement the bonding requirements for drilled wells the state of Colorado has included a number of additional financial assurance provisions that Nevada should also include for hydraulic fracturing operations.
- The proposed regulations fall short on public participation. Permits for hydraulic fracturing wells should be available for public review prior to finalizing, which includes a detailed plan of operations with the anticipated hydraulic fracturing scheme. Especially given the public concern over hydraulic fracturing, and in the interest of public engagement and transparency, the NDOM should follow at a minimum the same procedure that NDEP uses for air, water and water pollution control permits. This procedure is to post the draft permit for a 30 day public comment period, and process comments with agency responses, and then issue a Notice of Decision on the permit. In addition an appeal of a permit procedure should be installed, so that the public has recourse to an independent body, such as the State Environmental Commission.
Finally, under the proposed regulations, the Nevada Department of Wildlife has zero role in permitting, analysis or even consultation. This is in spite of the fact that Fracking is known to exacerbate the decline of habitat of the endangered sage grouse.
Tell the committee: We don’t want Nevada’s wild and open lands converted into Fracking Industrial wastelands! Reject fracking industry-written rules!
Action you can take:
- Comment during public comment at the Legislative Commission Meeting
- Send comments to the Legislative Commission: director@lcb.state.nv.us
Commission Members:
Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, Chair – Marilyn.Kirkpatrick@asm.state.nv.us, 702-655-0332
Assemblyman Jason Frierson, Vice Chair – Jason.Frierson@asm.state.nv.us, 702-280-2981
Senator Kelvin Atkinson – Kelvin.Atkinson@sen.state.nv.us, 702-457-9995
Senator Moises Denis – Moises.Denis@sen.state.nv.us, 702-657-6857
Senator Ben Kieckhefer – Ben.Kieckhefer@sen.state.nv.us, 775-223-9618
Senator Ruben J. Kihuen – Ruben.Kihuen@sen.state.nv.us, 702-274-1707
Senator Michael Roberson – Michael.Roberson@sen.state.nv.us, 702-612-6929
Senator James Settelmeyer – James.Settelmeyer@sen.state.nv.us, 775-450-6114
Assemblyman Skip Daly – Skip.Daly@asm.state.nv.us, 775-359-0731
Assemblyman Wesley Duncan – Wesley.Duncan@asm.state.nv.us, 702-767-3733
Assemblyman Ira Hansen – Ira.Hansen@asm.state.nv.us, 775-221-2502
Assemblyman Lynn D. Stewart – Lynn.Stewart@asm.state.nv.us, 702-614-0631
