Fracking Gets Nod from Bureau of Land Management

The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) may have dated regulations for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on public and Indian lands. That will, for the time being, keep the relatively new way to add to energy supplies from a stiff set of new rules. As far as the matter goes, the federal government has accepted the fact that it is slow to decide on new regulations, or it is willing to keep old ones in place if they help the economy to move forward.

The economic benefits of fracking cannot be argued. Analysts can look at the jobs and GDP benefits in North Dakota — the current fracking capital of the world. And also forecasts of what the process and the resulting access to oil reserves will do to make the U.S. energy independent within a decade — something that seemed impossible two or three years ago. Estimates are that fracking could help add several hundred thousand jobs in America, and this at a time when the government continues to struggle to solve the unemployment disaster.

In new comments from the Department of the Interior, its management said its goal for hydraulic fracturing was to create a “commonsense measure which will support safe and responsible production of America’s domestic energy resources.” Comments from the public are welcome. However:

Once comments on the updated draft have been collected and analyzed, the BLM expects to issue a final rule that will ensure that operators apply proven cost-effective safety and environmental protection processes when engaging in hydraulic fracturing on public and Indian lands.

So, please let Interior know what you think, but do not expect it to matter.

In fact, for the most part, Interior would like to wash its hands of the matter. That would leave local authorities to handle regulation, which they likely will do based on their own economic interests:

While the revised draft seeks to establish baseline environmental safeguards across all public and Indian lands, it also complements efforts of several states that are regulating hydraulic fracturing, including Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Texas. The proposal includes a variance process that allows for deferring to states and tribes that already have standards in place that meet or exceed those proposed by this rule.

Do not expect states that will rely on fracking for most of their economic success to set many “safeguards” at all.