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The Obama Administration rolls out new fracking regulations
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This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

Mar 20, 2015
Listen 8:38
The Obama Administration rolls out new fracking regulations
Big changes could be coming to the nation’s booming fracking industry. The Obama Administration announced today new regulations for fracking on public lands.
LOST HILLS, CA - MARCH 23:  A high pressure gas line crosses over a canal in an oil field over the Monterey Shale formation where gas and oil extraction using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is on the verge of a boom on March 23, 2014 near Lost Hills, California. Critics of fracking in California cite concerns over water usage and possible chemical pollution of ground water sources as California farmers are forced to leave unprecedented expanses of fields fallow in one of the worst droughts in California history. Concerns also include the possibility of earthquakes triggered by the fracking process which injects water, sand and various chemicals under high pressure into the ground to break the rock to release oil and gas for extraction though a well. The 800-mile-long San Andreas Fault runs north and south on the western side of the Monterey Formation in the Central Valley and is thought to be the most dangerous fault in the nation. Proponents of the fracking boom saying that the expansion of petroleum extraction is good for the economy and security by developing more domestic energy sources and increasing gas and oil exports.   (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
A high pressure gas line crosses over a canal in an oil field over the Monterey Shale formation where gas and oil extraction using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is on the verge of a boom on March 23, 2014 near Lost Hills, California.
(
David McNew/Getty Images
)

Big changes could be coming to the nation’s booming fracking industry. The Obama Administration announced today new regulations for fracking on public lands.

Big changes could be coming to the nation’s booming fracking industry. The Obama Administration announced today new regulations for fracking on public lands.

It’s a move that is sure to ruffle some feathers throughout the oil and natural gas industry.

Fracking is an oil mining process in which chemicals are blasted into shale rocks at high pressure. Environmental experts are concerned about what those chemicals could wind up doing to the nation’s water supplies.

The regulations will require companies to disclose the chemicals that they use while mining, and will allow government inspectors to investigate chemical storage and mining practices at will. Most fracking is done on private lands, however, which means the new regulations won’t apply to some of the nation’s largest suppliers. Roughly 100,000 oil wells fall under the new guidelines.

Today on AirTalk, Larry Mantle talks to experts on both sides of the debate about the effect that these new laws will have on the industry and the environment.

Guests:

Amy Mall, land policy expert with the National Resources Defense Council

John Felmy, chief economist with the American Petroleum Institute

Credits
Host, AirTalk
Host, All Things Considered, AirTalk Friday
Senior Producer, AirTalk & FilmWeek
Producer, AirTalk with Larry Mantle
Producer, AirTalk with Larry Mantle
Associate Producer, AirTalk with Larry Mantle
Apprentice News Clerk, AirTalk
Apprentice News Clerk, FilmWeek