BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 7
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 7 (Wieckowski)
As Amended May 28, 2013
Majority vote
NATURAL RESOURCES 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Grove, Bigelow, Garcia, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Muratsuchi, Patterson, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Stone, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| | | |Gomez, Hall, Ammiano, |
| | | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Wagner, Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the owner or operator of an oil and gas well
on which hydraulic fracturing is performed to provide the
Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR)
information related to the hydraulic fracturing and requires
DOGGR, to the extent that the information is not a trade secret,
to make the information available to the public. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Requires the owner or operator of an oil and gas well on which
hydraulic fracturing is performed to provide DOGGR with all of
the following information:
a) A complete list of the chemical constituents formulated
for use in the hydraulic fracturing fluid that is injected
into the well and each chemical's associated chemical
abstracts service (CAS) numbers. Where the CAS number does
not exist, the operator or supplier may provide another
unique identifier where available;
b) The purpose of each additive contained in the hydraulic
fracturing fluid;
c) The estimated total amount of the additives in the
hydraulic fracturing fluid;
d) The estimated maximum concentration of each chemical
constituent in the additive as disclosed on a material
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safety data sheet in the hydraulic fracturing fluid
expressed as a percentage by mass;
e) The estimated maximum concentration of each chemical
constituent disclosed on a material safety data sheet in
the hydraulic fracturing fluid, expressed as a percentage
by mass;
f) The amount and source of any water suitable for
irrigation or domestic purposes used to conduct the
hydraulic fracturing treatment of the well;
g) The amount and disposition of water and hydraulic
fracturing fluid recovered from each well where hydraulic
fracturing occurred; and,
h) Any radiological components or tracers injected into the
well as part of the hydraulic fracturing process and a
description of the recovery method, if any, for those
components or tracers, the recovery rate, and the disposal
method for recovered components or tracers.
2)Requires DOGGR to make hydraulic fracturing information
provided by an owner or operator of a well available to the
public in a way that the information is associated with each
specific well where chemicals are injected for purposes of
hydraulic fracturing. For purposes of complying with this
requirement, DOGGR may use an Internet Web site administered
by the Ground Water Protection Council or the Interstate Oil
and Gas Compact Commission (such as fracfocus.org) if certain
specified standards are met.
3)Requires, on or before January 1, 2015, DOGGR, in consultation
with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and
the Department of Toxic Substances Control, to establish a
process through which all chemicals used in hydraulic
fracturing treatments may be studied or reviewed, a list
containing any restricted or prohibited toxic chemicals, and a
list containing any restricted or prohibited locations deemed
extremely vulnerable to a spill or release of chemicals.
4)Extends DOGGR's permit review period for an application to
commence oil and gas drilling from 10 working days to 30
working days.
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5)Requires an application to commence oil and gas drilling to
include information related to the type of exploration and
production techniques that will be used at the well and a
complete list of chemicals, if any, that will be injected into
the well for hydraulic fracturing or other production
enhancement methods in the exploration or production process.
6)Provides trade secret protection for the chemical composition
of additives pursuant to Section 1060 of the Evidence Code or
the Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
7)Requires DOGGR to prepare and transmit to the Legislature a
comprehensive annual report regarding hydraulic fracturing in
oil and gas exploration and production in California.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires DOGGR to supervise the drilling, operation,
maintenance, and abandonment of wells and the operation,
maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and
facilities attendant to oil and gas production, including
certain pipelines that are within an oil and gas field, so as
to prevent, as far as possible, damage to life, health,
property, and natural resources; damage to underground oil and
gas deposits from infiltrating water and other causes; loss of
oil, gas, or reservoir energy, and damage to underground and
surface waters suitable for irrigation or domestic purposes by
the infiltration of, or the addition of, detrimental
substances.
2)Requires the operator of any well, before commencing the work
of drilling the well, to file with DOGGR a written notice of
intention to commence drilling. Drilling shall not commence
until approval is given by DOGGR. If DOGGR fails to give the
operator written response to the notice within 10 working days
from the date of receipt, that failure shall be considered as
an approval of the notice.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, estimated costs in the $1 million one-time and $1
million on-going range to fulfill new duties at DOGGR relating
to evaluating trade secrets and processes public requests on
trade secrets.
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COMMENTS :
Purpose . This bill is primarily intended to provide the public
disclosure of information relating to hydraulic fracturing.
Background . Hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) is
one energy production technique used to obtain oil and natural
gas in areas where those energy supplies are trapped in rock
(i.e., shale) or sand formations.
Once an oil or natural gas well is drilled and properly lined
with steel casing, fluids are pumped down to an isolated portion
of the well at pressures high enough to cause cracks in shale
formations below the earth's surface. These cracks or fractures
allow oil and natural gas to flow more freely. Often, a
propping agent such as sand is pumped into the well to keep
fractures open.
In many instances, the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing are
water-based. There are some formations, however, that are not
fractured effectively by water-based fluids because clay or
other substances in the rock absorb water. For these
formations, complex mixtures with a multitude of chemical
additives may be used to thicken or thin the fluids, improve the
flow of the fluid, or even kill bacteria that can reduce
fracturing performance.
Federal Exemption Followed by Fracking Increase . In 2005,
Congress exempted hydraulic fracturing (except when involving
the injection of diesel fuels) from the federal Safe Drinking
Water Act. As a result of this action, the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) lacks the authority to
regulate hydraulic fracturing activities that do not use diesel
fuel as an additive. Since 2007, shale oil production has
increased from about 39 barrels to 217 million barrels and shale
gas production increased from 1.6 trillion cubic feet to 7.2
trillion cubic feet.
Potential Environmental Risks . The United States Government
Accountability Office (GAO) categorizes the potential
environmental risks of fracking into the following categories:
a) air quality; b) water quality and quantity; c) land and
wildlife.
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Air quality risks are generally a result of engine exhaust from
increased traffic and equipment emissions with a risk of
unintentional emissions of pollutants from faulty equipment.
Water quality risks result from spills or releases of fracking
fluids from tank ruptures, or operational errors or underground
migration. Fracturing chemicals may contaminate surface or
groundwater under these conditions. Water is the primary
component of fracking fluids. The cumulative effects of using
surface water or groundwater should be regulated to prevent
significant local effects.
With regard to land and wildlife, the GAO raises concerns about
vegetation clearing, road construction, pipelines and storage
tanks, unintentional oil or toxic chemical spills and the
resulting impact on wildlife and habitat
DOGGRs Fracking Regulations . DOGGR has the statutory
responsibility to regulate fracking, but to date has not done
so. In December 2012, DOGGR released a pre-rulemaking
discussion draft of fracking regulations to help inform the next
regulatory draft.
Once released, the proposed regulations will be vetted through a
year-long formal rulemaking process. In the meantime, DOGGR is
conducting workshops throughout the state. Numerous groups are
concerned that fracking activity is continuing absent formally
adopted safeguards and regulations.
Others are concerned that DOGGR may not be conducting adequate
environmental review through the CEQA process to fully determine
significant environmental effects.
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0001071
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