Description:
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on July 31, 2013
H.R. 2728 would prevent the Department of the Interior (DOI) from enforcing regulations related to hydraulic fracturing in any state where those activities are governed by state regulations. Hydraulic fracturing involves pumping liquids into the ground to generate cracks within geologic formations to increase access to liquids and gases trapped within those formations.
Because there are currently no federal regulations directly related to hydraulic fracturing, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2728 would have no significant impact on the federal budget. The Department of the Interior has proposed regulations concerning hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands. If those, or similar regulations, were to go into force in the future, H.R. 2728 could limit the implementation of those regulations, possibly reducing federal costs. Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
H.R. 2728 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
