STATE OF OKLAHOMA

1st Session of the 54th Legislature (2013)

SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION 31	By:	Standridge of the Senate

			and

		Trebilcock of the House

AS INTRODUCED

A Concurrent Resolution urging the Department of the Interior to withdraw the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s proposed rule to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal and Tribal lands, and to defer to the states on how best to address any health, environmental or safety issues arising from hydraulic fracturing and related operations on these lands.

WHEREAS, Oklahoma has maintained primary authority over, and regulation of oil and natural gas production since prior to statehood, including a completion technique known as hydraulic fracturing; and
WHEREAS, the other 49 states have also maintained similar province over any production within their borders; and
WHEREAS, hydraulic fracturing is currently, and has been for decades, a common operation used in exploration and production by the oil and gas industry in all the member states of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission without groundwater contamination; and
WHEREAS, approximately 35,000 wells are hydraulically fractured annually in the United States and close to one million wells have been hydraulically fractured in the United States since the inception of the technique, with no known case of groundwater contamination; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is conducting a rulemaking that would force an unnecessary, one-size-fits-all regulatory regime on top of carefully crafted, individualized programs designed by the states; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is unable to point to any incidents, examples, or data justifying the rule; and
WHEREAS, this inability to point to any incidents, examples or data is in apparent violation of legal and procedural requirements designed to ensure that costs and other adverse effects are fully and carefully weighed against benefits; and
WHEREAS, the proposal is arbitrary and capricious in nature, evidenced by the lack of justification, erroneous cost estimates, clearly overstated and unfounded benefits; and
WHEREAS, the states will suffer from this rule, both by increased costs to their citizens, and by the loss of substantial royalty revenues as exploration and production companies divert investment to state and private land in lieu of federal land; and
WHEREAS, in recognizing the importance of protecting our nation’s underground water resources, the member states of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission have adopted comprehensive laws and regulations governing oil and gas exploration and production, and employ highly trained personnel to effectively enforce them. Disclosure tools, such as the website www.fracfocus.org, play an important role in this effort; and
WHEREAS, domestic production of oil and natural gas will ensure that the United States continues on the path to energy independence; and
WHEREAS, hydraulic fracturing plays a major role in the development of virtually all unconventional oil and gas resources and should not be limited in the absence of any evidence that hydraulic fracturing has resulted in groundwater contamination.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE 1ST SESSION OF THE 54TH OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN:
THAT the Oklahoma Legislature hereby declares the Oklahoma Corporation Commission is the appropriate authority to regulate all oil and gas exploration and production activities in the State of Oklahoma.
THAT a federal one-size-fits-all regulatory approach ignores the local and regional differences among oil and natural gas operations that make state regulations more adaptive and effective. 
THAT the Department of the Interior withdraw the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s proposed rule to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal and Tribal lands, and defer to the states on how best to address any health, environmental or safety issues arising from hydraulic fracturing and related operations on these lands.
THAT a copy of this resolution be distributed to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Interior and to each member of the Oklahoma Congressional Delegation.

54-1-1883	MJM	5/14/2013 4:27:14 PM