Month: December 2017

Interior Department repeals regulations on hydraulic fracturing

The Obama administration’s 2015 fracking rule was never actually implemented, thanks to an ongoing court battle, and it apparently never will be. The Interior Department published a final rule Friday in the Federal Register repealing immediately the hydraulic-fracturing regulation on federal lands, saying that “we believe it imposes administrative burdens and compliance costs that are not justified.”

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/31/trump-administration-kills-obama-era-fracking-rule/

Interior Dept. rescinds regulations on fracking

The Interior Department has rescinded some Obama-era regulations on fracking. The Bureau of Land Management published its formal notice of the repeal Dec. 29. To explain its decision, the bureau wrote, “This final rule is needed to prevent the unnecessarily burdensome and unjustified administrative requirements and compliance costs of the 2015 rule.”

https://www.nbc26.com/newsy/interior-department-rescinds-obamaera-fracking-regulations?embedded=true

After tough year, environmentalists seek wins in 2018

Surveyed one year into the Trump administration, environmental activists say the going is tough, and expect more of the same. But they tout a few “wins.” Sharon Furlong, a Lower Southampton resident and spokeswoman for the local environmental group Bucks Environmental Action, epitomizes what it feels like to be an environmental activist at the end of 2017.

http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/20171231/after-tough-year-environmentalists-seek-wins-in-2018

Offshore-rig rule cuts proposed

Companies would have had to disclose the chemicals used in the process, often called fracking, which pumps pressurized water underground to break open hydrocarbon deposits. The rules were supposed to take effect in 2015, but a federal judge in Wyoming blocked them at the last minute. The industry doesn’t want anyone to know just how bad these chemicals are for your health.

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/dec/30/offshore-rig-rule-cuts-proposed-2017123/

Trump’s BLM revokes chemical disclosure rules for fracking

“The Trump administration is proceeding with revoking a 2015 rule requiring chemical disclosures and otherwise regulating hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “According to a Bureau of Land Management document released Thursday and scheduled to be published today in the Federal Register, the BLM is issuing a final rule repealing the measure, which never has taken effect due to a court challenge of it.

Fighting Fossil Fuels in New York: What to Expect in 2018

As 2017 comes to a close, we are taking a look at all that this year has brought us. While there have been setbacks on the national scale, this was a landmark year for our advocacy efforts in New York State and the Northeast region, particularly in our fight against fossil fuels.

https://www.nrdc.org/experts/kimberly-ong/fighting-fossil-fuels-new-york-what-expect-2018