U.S. Tightens Rules for Fracking on Federal Land

The regulations represent the administration's most significant effort to tighten standards for hydraulic fracturing, the controversial practice that pumps liquid into rock seams at high pressure to access pockets of oil and gas.

The measures affect wells only on federally owned lands, or roughly a quarter of the gas and oil operations in the country. The Bureau of Land Management said drillers on federal lands must reveal the chemicals they use, meet well-construction standards and safely dispose of contaminated water used in fracking.

Industry groups immediately attacked the rules. The Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Western Energy Alliance filed a lawsuit in U.S. court in Wyoming, saying the regulations are the product of "unsubstantiated concerns" and lack evidence necessary to sustain them.

Madeleine Foote, legislative representative for the League of Conservation Voters, called the regulations "an important step forward in regulating fracking" but said environmental groups were disappointed that the requirements were not tougher.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, a former petroleum engineer, said the changes were long overdue. "Current federal well-drilling regulations are more than 30 years old, and they simply have not kept pace with the technical complexities of today's hydraulic fracturing operations," Jewell said.

About 100,000 oil and gas wells operate on federally owned territory in 32 states, and about 90 percent of them employ fracking techniques.

In Colorado, there are 9,399 active wells on federal land, according to Steven Hall, spokesman for Colorado's BLM. That's about 18 percent of the active wells in Colorado, which totaled 53,203 as of Feb. 8.

In 2014, 189 wells were drilled on federal land in Colorado, a smaller number than in previous years. Hall attributed that to a slowdown in prices and a jump in activity on the Front Range.

The new rules hew closely to a draft that has lingered since the Obama administration proposed it in May 2013. The rule relies on an online database used by at least 16 states to track chemicals used in fracking operations. The website, FracFocus.org, was formed by industry and intergovernmental groups in 2011 and allows users to gather well-specific data on tens of thousands of drilling sites across the country.

The new rules drew criticism from congressional Republicans, who warned they could disrupt the years-long energy boom in the U.S.

"I'm concerned that the combination of state regulation and redundant federal regulation will slow U.S. energy production on public lands," said Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., in a statement.

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, who has proposed a bill that would regulate fracking under the Safe Drinking Water Act, praised the rules. "I am pleased to see the Interior Department take this landmark step," she said in a statement.