THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY MUNDY, BRENNAN, DePASQUALE, GEORGE, GERBER, HORNAMAN, MATZIE, MULLERY, MURPHY, PAYTON, SAMUELSON AND SANTARSIERO, MAY 23, 2011

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, MAY 23, 2011  

A RESOLUTION

Memorializing the Congress of the United States to pass the

Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act,

thereby repealing the provision in the Federal Safe Drinking

Water Act that exempts oil and gas industries from

restrictions on hydraulic fracturing operations located near

drinking water sources, as well as requiring oil and gas

industries to disclose all hydraulic fracturing chemicals and

chemical constituents.

WHEREAS, Wise stewardship of our natural resources involves

the protection of water supplies for generations to come; and

WHEREAS, Protection of the public water supplies is best

accomplished by measures that prevent contamination, rather than

remediating and treating contaminated water supplies after the

fact; and

WHEREAS, In recent years, Pennsylvania's burgeoning natural

gas industry has expanded its drilling operations to tap into

the Marcellus Shale deposit located deep beneath the surface of

the land; and

WHEREAS, The oil and gas production process involves the use

of industrial fluids and chemicals during drilling and hydraulic

fracturing; and

WHEREAS, Hydraulic fracturing of underground formations is

accomplished by injecting a complex mix of fluids and chemicals,

along with sand and water, under very high pressure to create

fractures in those formations to access pockets of oil or

natural gas; and

WHEREAS, The companies that use hydraulic fracturing are not

required to reveal the constituents of the chemicals they are

injecting during hydraulic fracturing, since they are considered

secret proprietary rights of the company; and

WHEREAS, There is concern that some of the chemical

constituents injected during hydraulic fracturing may have

potential adverse health effects; and

WHEREAS, In 2005, regulation of hydraulic fracturing was

exempted from Federal regulations, thereby allowing the use of

these substances without the Federal oversight of scientific

standards that would be otherwise applicable; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania call upon the Congress of the

United States to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and

Awareness of Chemicals Act, thereby repealing the provision in

the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act that exempts oil and gas

industries from restrictions on hydraulic fracturing operations

located near drinking water sources, as well as requiring oil

and gas industries to disclose all hydraulic fracturing

chemicals and chemical constituents; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to

the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each

member of Congress from Pennsylvania.