Enviros Threaten EPA: Tighten Drilling Regulations or Get Sued
Enviros Threaten EPA: Tighten Drilling Regulations or Get Sued
On August 26, 2015, a consortium of environmental groups led by the Environmental Integrity Project and the Natural Resources Defense Council gave the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) official notice of their intent to sue and compel the agency to update its regulations on drilling waste. The consortium alleges that the EPA has violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (“RCRA”) by failing to conduct a mandatory triennial review of the drilling waste rules. Environmental groups have enjoyed some success with this tactic, most prominently when they obtained a court order in 2012 to force the EPA to update its coal ash disposal regulations.
Currently waste from drilling is largely regulated by the states, due to Congress’ decision in 1988 to exempt these forms of waste from regulation by the EPA. While the environmental consortium alleges that the EPA has failed to review the for nearly three decades, their belated effort to compel the EPA to regulate this form of waste can be traced to the recent boom in fracking, which involves the injection of water into certain geologic formations to force out natural gas trapped within the rock. Having failed to block the expansion of fracking in several states, environmental groups are now attempting to force the federal government to regulate fracking and drilling waste disposal. Industry groups, including fracking advocate Energy in Depth, have criticized the environmental groups’ efforts by arguing that claims of drilling waste’s toxicity is exaggerated and based on only theoretical claims.
The EPA will now have sixty days to respond and comply with the consortium’s demands, after which the consortium may file suit in federal court to compel the agency to begin updating its regulations.