Legislative History of Hydraulic Fracturing in the US
This paper examines the legislative history of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the United States, tracing the political and regulatory context that has shaped policy development over the past two decades. Beginning with a definition of legislative history and its role in statutory interpretation, the paper explores how fracking's exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act created a regulatory gap that spurred federal action. It analyzes key legislative events, including the introduction of the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act in multiple congressional sessions, the committee review process, and the floor debates in both chambers of Congress. The paper also addresses the persistent difficulties in enacting federal fracking regulations given states' jurisdictional authority over drilling activities.
- Introduction to Legislative History and Fracking: Defines legislative history and introduces fracking as subject
- Historical and Political Context of Fracking in the US: Traces fracking's rise and Safe Drinking Water Act exemption
- Laws and the Development of Fracking Policy: Federal regulatory gap and Interior Department rule drafting
- Congressional Bills, Committee Reports, and Floor Debates: FRAC Act introduction, committee process, and floor debates
- Challenges in Enacting Federal Fracking Regulations: Repeated failure of FRAC Act and state jurisdiction barriers
- Conclusion: Synthesizes legislative obstacles to federal fracking regulation
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What makes this paper effective
- Clearly situates the topic within a defined framework — legislative history — before applying that framework to a specific policy case, giving the analysis coherent structure.
- Traces the policy timeline chronologically, showing how repeated failed congressional attempts connect to the broader regulatory gap created by the Safe Drinking Water Act exemption.
- Draws on a varied source base including legal analysis (Marten Law), government tracking tools (GovTrack), academic commentary (Spence), and journalism (Davenport), demonstrating source triangulation.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses a policy analysis framework to connect procedural legislative steps — bill introduction, committee referral, floor debate, and enactment failure — to a substantive regulatory outcome. This technique shows how institutional processes shape (and sometimes block) policy change, which is a core skill in public administration and policy writing courses.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a definition of legislative history, then establishes the political context (the Safe Drinking Water Act exemption and energy independence goals). The body traces specific legislative events, including the FRAC Act's introduction, committee handling, and repeated reintroduction. The conclusion synthesizes the main obstacles to federal fracking regulation. A Works Cited list in MLA format closes the paper.
Introduction to Legislative History and Fracking
Legislative history is a term used to refer to the background or events that contribute to the enactment of a statute (Taylor, p. 1). This process includes various activities and events such as committee reports, hearings, and floor debates. Apart from referring to events leading to the enactment of a law, legislative history is usually documented so that it can be utilized in the future to help in the interpretation of that law. Generally, legislative history provides a suitable foundation for understanding what was involved in the formulation and enactment of a statute.
An example of an issue with a strong legislative history in the United States is hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking. This paper examines the legislative history of fracking in the United States as part of policy writing and analysis. The evaluation includes a brief description of the historical and political context of the issue and an analysis of laws with respect to the development of the policy issue.
Historical and Political Context of Fracking in the US
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is one of the major issues in the United States energy sector over the past decade (Manfreda par. 1). Hydraulic fracturing is defined as a means of enhancing the output at oil and natural gas wells through the use of high-pressure fluid injection to open gas-bearing rock formations (Marten Law par. 1). This technique has received considerable attention in the United States because it has enabled oil and gas producers to extract these commodities from shale rock. Since the technique has increased oil and natural gas production within the United States, it has been regarded as a technological breakthrough. Through this process, the drilling technique has enabled the United States to become one of the largest producers of oil and natural gas in the world and was projected to enable the country to achieve energy independence by 2020.
In light of these developments, hydraulic fracturing has received considerable attention in policy development. The United States federal government embarked on several legislative and administrative initiatives relating to fracking operations for more than a decade (Kramer par. 1). While fracking has a long history dating back to 1862, most policy initiatives have been carried out over the past two decades because of its potential to make the United States energy independent. According to Davenport, the first major federal regulations on fracking were unveiled by the Obama Administration in 2015 (par. 1).
One of the major historical and political issues that shaped the formulation and enactment of recent statutes relating to fracking is the exemption of hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act. This act generally governs underground injection activities through its Underground Injection Control Program, which includes Class II wells linked to the production of oil and natural gas. While fracking is a national issue, it is currently exempted from national environmental laws and from all requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act (Marten Law par. 4). Given this exemption, the regulation of hydraulic fracturing has largely been carried out at the state level. However, significant attention on this drilling technique and its potential benefits to the U.S. energy sector has generated calls for changes in the federal regulation of fracking, and these calls have in turn shaped the political context for the formulation of federal regulations on this issue.
Laws and the Development of Fracking Policy
As previously indicated, legislative initiatives regarding hydraulic fracturing have largely been fueled by the exemption of this drilling technique from the Safe Drinking Water Act. While this federal statute covers underground injection activities, it does not contain provisions that address fracking activities, which has contributed to a regulatory gap in the governance of these operations. In the past, policymakers and other relevant stakeholders have been involved in various initiatives geared toward addressing this gap.
The formulation of the major federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing unveiled by the Obama Administration began with the drafting of rules by the Interior Department. This department drafted rules focused on drilling safety after the technological breakthrough associated with fracking was recognized. However, since states have jurisdiction over drilling activities on private and state-owned land, the rules drafted by the Interior Department covered approximately 100,000 oil and gas wells drilled on public lands (Davenport par. 4).
Conclusion
Legislative history is a process that focuses on examining the background and events contributing to the development and enactment of policies. An example of an issue that has been subjected to a long legislative history is hydraulic fracturing in the United States, which has gained significant attention over the past decade. Policy proposals and regulations on this issue have been fueled primarily by fracking's exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act. As shown in the analysis of relevant laws, the development of this policy issue involves the introduction of proposals by multiple sponsors, committee discussion and reporting, and floor debates in both chambers of Congress. However, policymakers have faced numerous difficulties in enacting federal regulations on fracking, largely because of the jurisdictional authority that states exercise over drilling activities on private and state-owned land.
Works Cited
Davenport, Coral. "New Federal Rules Are Set for Fracking." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Mar. 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2017.
GovTrack. "Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2013 (2013 – H.R. 1921)." GovTrack.us. Civic Impulse, LLC, n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2017.
GovTrack. "H.R. 1084 (112th): Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2011." GovTrack.us. Civic Impulse, LLC, n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2017.
Kramer, Bruce M. "History and Current Status of Federal Fracing Regulation." American Bar Association. American Bar Association, 3 June 2013. Web. 08 Nov. 2017.
Manfreda, John. "The Real History of Fracking." OilPrice.com. OilPrice.com, 13 Apr. 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2017.
Marten Law. "Hydraulic Fracturing: Legislative and Regulatory Trends." Marten Law. Marten Law PLLC, 4 Oct. 2011. Web. 08 Nov. 2017.
Spence, David. "Fracking Regulations: Is Federal Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation Around the Corner?" McCombs School of Business. The University of Texas at Austin, n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2017.
Taylor, Julia. "Legislative History Research: A Guide to Resources for Congressional Staff." Federation of American Scientists. Congressional Research Service, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2017.
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