USA liberalises fracking on federal lands

An overhaul of US hydraulic fracturing rules for federal and Indian lands was set to be published in the Federal Register on Friday after a decision made by the Department of the Interior, international media reported.

The reform will remove regulations passed by the administration of former President Barack Obama that demand the disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, and set stringent standards for the drilling of wells and covering of surface ponds with fracking fluids.

While environmental activists decried the reform as potentially dangerous to the environment and human health, industry representatives welcomed it.

“It was clear from the start that the federal rule was redundant with state regulation and politically motivated, as the prior administration could not point to one incident or regulatory gap that justified the rule,” Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, told The Hill.