Recently, the Harvard Environmental Policy Initiative
(EPI) issued a study entitled “Hydraulic fracturing chemicals reporting:
Analysis of available data and recommendations for policymakers.” The study
investigates the changes in the disclosure of chemicals used during the
hydraulic fracturing process after examining FracFocus disclosure forms.
EPI found that the amount of information submitted in
the FracFocus chemical registry website has increased since 2013. In 2013, EPI
released a report stating that the voluntary reporting of fracturing fluid
composition in FracFocus “fails as a regulatory compliance tool” and contended
that “the reliance on FracFocus by numerous states as a de facto regulatory
mechanism sends a strong signal to industry that careful reporting and
compliance is not a top priority.” In the new study, EPI confirms a trend towards
greater disclosure while also stating that “companies seemed to disclose more
information when FracFocus was a voluntary initiative led by the Department of
Energy.”
The study is available in the academic journal Energy
Policy at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421515301804.
Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow
12/17/2015
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