Obama administration issues draft fracking rules

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-administration-issues-draft-fracking-regulations/2013/05/16/bff501bc-be58-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html

The Obama administration drew criticism from both environmental and oil industry groups on Thursday after issuing a new draft of regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands.

In its first update of hydraulic fracturing regulations in three decades, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management would require wider disclosure of chemicals used in drilling, techniques to assure wellbore integrity so fluids don’t leak into groundwater and ways to make sure companies have a water management plan for fluids that flow back to the surface.

But environmental groups had been seeking complete disclosure of chemicals used in fracking, which the regulations don’t require, and a ban on the storage of waste fluids in open lined pits.