What's happening
This bill requires full disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking), strengthens liability for contamination, and sets new rules for property agreements.
Why it matters
Mandates comprehensive public disclosure of fracking chemicals. The bill requires operators and service companies to report detailed information about all fluids, additives, and chemical constituents used in hydraulic fracturing, including their concentrations and specific chemical identifiers (CAS numbers), except for those classified as legitimate trade secrets. This increases transparency, allowing the public, regulators, and scientists to better assess potential environmental and health risks.
Strengthens liability and compensation for contamination. Fracking operators would have to accept strict liability for any property damage, personal injury, or wrongful death linked to their operations—regardless of fault. If contamination occurs, property owners would be entitled to 150% of the appraised value of their property plus full remediation costs, and affected individuals would receive lifelong coverage for health impacts. This shifts financial risk and responsibility squarely onto the industry, incentivizing safer practices.
Enhances protections and information for property owners. Before any fracking agreement is signed, property owners must receive three independent property appraisals (at the producer’s expense) and baseline water/soil testing. Agreements must include detailed, state-vetted disclosures of financial, health, and environmental risks, as well as statements of the operator’s strict liability. This empowers landowners with critical information and legal safeguards.
Limits trade secret exemptions and prioritizes emergency medical access. While certain chemical identities can be withheld as trade secrets, the process for claiming this status is stringent, subject to public agency review, and not absolute. Health professionals can obtain full chemical information immediately if needed for diagnosis or treatment, ensuring public health is not compromised by secrecy.
Expands local government oversight in some areas. The bill partially restores local authority to regulate aspects of oil and gas operations through general laws and zoning ordinances, subject to certain state preemptions. This could allow communities greater say over where and how fracking occurs within their borders.
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Regulate Hydraulic Fracturing Disclosure
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History
- Referred to environmental conservation
- Referred to environmental conservation
Full text
9 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1741
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 16, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. ABINANTI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to regulation of the extraction of natural gas by means of hydraulic fracturing; and to repeal subdivision 2 of section 23-0303 of such law relating to exclusivity of state authority over mining
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Article 23 of the environmental conservation law is amended by adding two new titles 15 and 16 to read as follows:
TITLE 15
DISCLOSURE OF COMPOSITION OF
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING FLUIDS Section 23-1501. Definitions.
23-1503. Information submitted considered public; posting on
internet website.
23-1505. Service company disclosures.
23-1507. Operator disclosures.
23-1509. Use of services of noncomplying service company
prohibited.
23-1511. Trade secret protection. § 23-1501. Definitions.
As used in this title, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Additive" means any substance or combination of substances found in a hydraulic fracturing fluid, including a proppant, that is added to a base fluid in the context of a hydraulic fracturing treatment.
2. "Base fluid" means the base fluid type, such as water or nitrogen foam, used in a particular hydraulic fracturing treatment.
3. "Chemical abstracts service" or "CAS" means the chemical registry that is the authoritative collection of disclosed chemical substance information.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05056-01-9
A. 1741 2
4. "Chemical constituent" means a discrete chemical with its own specific name or identity, such as a CAS number, that is contained in an additive.
5. "Hydraulic fracturing fluid" means the fluid used to perform a particular hydraulic fracturing treatment and includes the applicable base fluid and all additives.
6. "Hydraulic fracturing treatment" means the stimulation of a well by the forceful application of hydraulic fracturing fluid into the relevant geological formation for the purpose of creating fractures in the formation in order to facilitate production of hydrocarbons.
7. "Operator" means the person or entity authorized to conduct operations on a well.
8. "Proppant" means sand or another natural or man-made inert material that is used in a hydraulic fracturing treatment to prevent artificially created or enhanced fractures from closing once the treatment is completed.
9. "Trade secret" means any confidential formula, pattern, process, device, information or compilation of information that is used in a person's or entity's business and that gives such person or entity an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors that do not know or use it.
10. "Well" means a hydrocarbon production well.
11. "Well completion report" means the report an operator is required to file with the commission following the completion or recompletion of a well, if applicable. § 23-1503. Information submitted considered public; posting on internet
website.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, unless the information is otherwise authorized to be withheld as a trade secret pursuant to this title, information submitted to the department pursuant to section 23-1505 or 23-1507 of this title is public information, and the department shall post the information on its publicly accessible internet website. § 23-1505. Service company disclosures.
1. An operator which authorizes any person or entity to conduct hydraulic fracturing treatments upon any of such operator's wells in this state shall disclose to the department and maintain an updated master list of:
a. all base fluids to be used by such person or entity during any hydraulic fracturing treatment in this state;
b. all additives to be used by such person or entity during any hydraulic fracturing treatment in this state; and
c. all chemical constituents to be used by such person or entity in any hydraulic fracturing treatment in this state and their associated CAS numbers.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph c of subdivision one of this section, if the specific identify of any chemical constituent to be used in any hydraulic fracturing treatment in this state is entitled to be withheld as a trade secret pursuant to the criteria provided by 42 U.S.C. Section 11042(a)(2) and section 23-1511 of this title, the department shall protect and hold confidential the identity of the chemical constituent and its associated CAS number. To qualify for trade secret protection, the person performing the hydraulic fracturing treatment must submit to the department on an approved form a formal claim of entitlement to that protection in the manner required by section 23-1511 of this title.
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3. A person or entity performing hydraulic fracturing treatments in this state shall provide to the operator of each well for which the person or entity performs a hydraulic fracturing treatment:
a. the maximum pump pressure measured at the surface and the type and volume of base fluid used in each stage of the hydraulic fracturing treatment;
b. a list of all additives used in the hydraulic fracturing fluid, specified by general type, such as acid, biocide, breaker, corrosion inhibitor, crosslinker, demulsifier, friction reducer, gel, iron control, oxygen scavenger, pH adjusting agent, proppant, scale inhibitor and surfactant;
c. for each additive type listed under paragraph b of this subdivision, the specific name of the additive used and the actual rate or concentration of each additive, expressed as pounds per thousand gallons or gallons per thousand gallons and expressed as a percentage by volume of the total hydraulic fracturing fluid used;
d. a list of all the chemical constituents used in the hydraulic fracturing fluid and their associated CAS numbers, except to the extent that the specific identity of any chemical constituent is entitled to be withheld as a trade secret as provided by subdivision two of this section; and
e. for each chemical constituent identified under paragraph d of this subdivision, the actual rate or concentration of each chemical, expressed as pounds per thousand gallons or gallons per thousand gallons and expressed as a percentage by volume of the total hydraulic fracturing fluid used.
4. The provisions of subdivisions two and three of this section shall not be deemed to authorize any operator, person or entity to withhold information that federal or state law, including this section, requires to be provided to any health care professional who needs the information for diagnostic or treatment purposes. The operator and person or entity performing a hydraulic fracturing treatment shall provide directly to a health care professional, immediately in request, all information required by the health care professional, including the percent by volume of the chemical constituents of the hydraulic fracturing fluid and their associated CAS numbers. In a case that is not a medical emergency, the health care professional shall provide the operator and the person or entity performing the hydraulic fracturing treatment a written statement of need for the information before the health care professional is entitled to receive the information. In a medical emergency, the health care professional shall provide the operator and the person or entity performing the hydraulic fracturing treatment a written statement of need for the information as soon as circumstances permit.
5. A health care professional to whom information is disclosed pursuant to subdivision four of this section shall hold the information confidential, except that the health care professional may, for diagnostic or treatment purposes, disclose such information to another health care professional, a laboratory or a third-party testing firm. A health care professional, laboratory or third-party testing firm to which information is disclosed by another health care professional shall hold such information confidential. § 23-1507. Operator disclosures.
1. Following the completion of a hydraulic fracturing treatment on a well, the operator shall include in the well completion report, on a form approved by the department:
A. 1741 4
a. the maximum pump pressure measured at the surface and the type and volume of base fluid used in each stage of the hydraulic fracturing treatment;
b. a list of all additives used in the hydraulic fracturing treatment, specified by general type, such as acid, biocide, breaker, corrosion inhibitor, crosslinker, demulsifier, friction reducer, gel, iron control, oxygen scavenger, pH adjusting agent, proppant, scale inhibitor and surfactant;
c. for each additive type listed under paragraph b of this subdivision, the specific name of the additive used and the actual rate or concentration of each additive, expressed as pounds per thousand gallons or gallons per thousand gallons and expressed as a percentage by volume of the total hydraulic fracturing fluid used;
d. the information provided pursuant to subdivision three of section 23-1505 of this title to the operator by the person or entity who performed the hydraulic fracturing treatment; and
e. if the operator caused any additives to be used during the hydraulic fracturing treatment that are not required to be disclosed pursuant to subdivision three of section 23-1505 of this title to the operator by the person or entity who performed the hydraulic fracturing treatment:
(1) a list of the additives used; and
(2) for each additive listed, the chemical constituents of the additive and their associated CAS numbers and the actual rate or concentration of each additive or chemical, expressed in the manner provided pursuant to subdivision three of section 23-1505 of this title.
2. The operator may supply field service company tickets, excluding pricing information, and reports regarding the hydraulic fracturing treatment, as used in the normal course of business, to satisfy some or all of the requirements of subdivision one of this section.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph e of subdivision one of this section, if the specific identity of a chemical constituent contained in an additive is entitled to be withheld as a trade secret pursuant to the criteria provided by 42 U.S.C Section 11042(a)(2) and section 23-1511 of this title, the department shall protect and hold confidential the identity of the chemical constituent and its associated CAS number. To qualify for trade secret protection, the operator shall submit to the department on an approved form a formal claim of entitlement to that protection in the manner required by section 23-1511 of this title.
4. The provisions of subdivision three of this section shall not be deemed to authorize an operator to withhold information that federal or state law, including this section, requires to be provided to any health care professional who needs the information for diagnostic or treatment proposes. An operator shall provide directly to a health care professional, immediately on request, all information required by the health care professional, including the percent by volume of the chemical constituents of the hydraulic fracturing fluid and their associated CAS numbers. In a case that is not a medical emergency, the health care professional shall provide the operator a written statement of need for the information before the person is entitled to receive the information. In a medical emergency, the health care professional shall provide the operator a written statement of need for the information as soon as circumstances permit.
5. A health care professional to whom information is disclosed pursuant to subdivision four of this section shall hold the information confidential, except that the health care professional may, for diagnos-
A. 1741 5
tic or treatment proposes, disclose such information to another health care professional, a laboratory or a third-party testing firm. A health care professional, laboratory or third-party testing firm to which such information is disclosed by another health care professional shall hold the information confidential. § 23-1509. Use of services of noncomplying service company prohibited.
An operator shall not use the services of another person or entity in performing a hydraulic fracturing treatment in this state unless the other person or entity is in compliance with the requirements of section 23-1505 of this title. § 23-1511. Trade secret protection.
1. A claim of entitlement to trade secret protection pursuant to this title shall include substantiating facts in the form of the information required by 40 C.F.R. Section 350.7(a). If requested by the trade secret claimant, the department shall treat any such substantiating facts as confidential and shall not disclose them to any third party or the public for any purpose. Until a final determination that the information is not entitled to trade secret protection is made under this section, the department shall treat the information implicated by the claim of trade secret entitlement as a confidential trade secret, and the information is not subject to disclosure pursuant to article six of the public officers law.
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