Utility Regulators Consider New Fracking Regulations

Kansas utility regulators are considering new rules to require oil and natural gas companies to disclose some information about the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The Kansas Corporation Commission outlined the proposed rules to legislators on Monday. The KCC also plans a public hearing August 10th in Wichita on the proposals.

The rules would require companies to disclose the chemicals they use in fracking with water under high pressure to crack open rock formations and release oil and natural gas. The information would have to be listed on a KCC database or an online industry database.

Companies could avoid some disclosures if their chemicals were a trade secret. Environmentalists said the rules don’t go far enough.