Tuesday, September 24, 2013

California's Governor Signs Hydraulic Fracturing Legislation into Law

Jerry Brown, California's governor, signed a bill into law that regulates hydraulic fracturing to provide greater transparency and accountability to the public.  The law requires operators using hydraulic fracturing to acquire a permit, disclose the dates when they will stimulate wells, and disclose the chemical composition of the additives used to stimulate the wells.  The law further requires well operators to provide a copy of the well stimulation permit and information on the water sampling and testing to every tenant or owner of any surface property within either 1,500 feet of the wellhead or 500 feet from the horizontal projection of the subsurface projection of the well.  The law prohibits operators from stimulating the well until at least thirty days after surface tenants and surface owners received the notice, so that the they may acquire water testing and sampling. Under the new law, civil penalties may be assessed for hydraulic fracturing violations in the amount of no less than $10,000 and no more than $25,000 per violation per day. 


Written by: Tom Panighetti
September 24, 2013

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