Texas Requires Disclosure of Fracking Fluid Components
On June 17, 2011, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a bill requiring natural gas producers to disclose information about the chemicals used in their hydraulic fracturing fluids. Texas is the first state to enact such a law. Under the new law, operators are required to "complete the form posted on the hydraulic fracturing chemical registry Internet website of the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission” with respect to the well in which fracking fluids are used. The referenced website, fracfocus.org, has been up and running for some time and is available for operators to post data about the chemical composition of their fracking fluids.
The bill, which had broad industry support, becomes effective on September 1, 2011. However, the Texas Railroad Commission must adopt implementing regulations before the bill’s requirements become mandatory; the bill expressly provides that it "applies only to a hydraulic fracturing treatment performed on a well for which an initial drilling permit is issued on or after the date the initial rules adopted by the Railroad Commission of Texas under [the hydraulic fracking] subchapter take effect."
Some operators have lauded the Texas disclosure bill as a good example of how reasonable disclosure can take place. A few environmental organizations have criticized the bill for its allegedly soft treatment of proprietary and trade secret information. In any event, concerned stakeholders are likely to closely follow the implementation of the bill to see whether and the extent to which it impacts operators, and whether it lessens or serves to increase the call for even more disclosure.
