Written by Chloe Marie – Research Specialist
This article will provide an overview of recent legislative developments
that have taken place in the states of Oregon and Washington to prohibit the
use of hydraulic fracturing for any future oil and gas development projects.
According to the most recent production report published by the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA), Oregon had 659 MMCF of natural gas production
in 2017. With this production level, Oregon ranked 28th out of 34
natural gas-producing states. According to the EIA report, Washington did not
have any natural gas production in 2017. Additionally, neither Oregon nor
Washington are listed as producing any oil during February 2019, which is the
latest data available on the EIA website.
Washington and
Oregon join the states of New York, Maryland, and Vermont which have previously
adopted statewide bans on hydraulic fracturing drilling activities. In May
2012, Vermont became the first state to permanently ban the practice of
hydraulic fracturing for the drilling of unconventional wells. The states of
New York and Maryland subsequently acted to prohibit such activities in June
2015 and April 2017, respectively, due to stated concerns over the potential
impacts of such technique on the environment and public health.
Washington state
On May 8, 2019, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law Senate Bill No. 5145, a very brief bill imposing a permanent ban on the use of hydraulic
fracturing in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the
state of Washington. The new legislation clarifies that it “does not prohibit
the use of hydraulic fracturing for other purposes.” The definition of
hydraulic fracturing in the bill, however, is limited to actions taken “for the
purpose of production or recovery of oil or natural gas.” The ban on hydraulic
fracturing is set to become effective on July 28, 2019.
Upon signing the bill, Governor Inslee issued a Press
Release welcoming the ban and stressing the urgency and the importance of
taking action now against climate change and preventing the environmental
impact specific to the development of natural gas. In this regard, Governor
Inslee declared that “[t]he accelerating threat of climate change and the emerging science on
the damaging impacts of natural gas production and distribution mean we must
focus our full efforts on developing clean, renewable and fossil-fuel free
energy sources. Being committed now to 100 percent clean electricity and
signing a bill prohibiting fracking in Washington state, we want to be
consistent to that spirit of progress.” Approximately one month earlier, on May
7, 2019, Governor Inslee had signed into law Senate Bill 5116
establishing and supporting a 100 percent clean electricity standard in the
state of Washington.
Oregon
Following Washington in close temporal proximity, the Oregon Legislative
Assembly passed House Bill No. 2623 on June 10, 2019, to implement a moratorium on the use of hydraulic
fracturing in the exploration for, or in the production of, oil and natural gas
in Oregon. HB 2623 passed the Oregon House of Representatives on March 18 and included
a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing in the state for a total of 10
years. During its consideration of the bill, however, the Senate made
amendments to the House proposal, shortening the period of the moratorium from
10 to 5 years. The House accepted those amendments and repassed the bill on
June 5, 2019. The House Speaker and the President of the Senate each signed the
bill on June 7 and 10, respectively.
The bill provides an exemption from the ban for the drilling of natural
gas storage wells, geothermal wells, activities related to exploration for
geothermal energy, and coal bed methane extraction wells in existence as of the
effective date of the legislation. The State Legislative Assembly passed this bill
as “being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health
and safety” and declared it to be an emergency measure. According to Oregon
Senator James Manning, “[t]his bill will put a stop to a dangerous and
environmentally damaging practice in Oregon … [w]e don’t want oil and gas
companies to come in and start wasting our water and damaging our environment
to make a buck. It dirties our water and pollutes our planet,” as reported by
Kallanish Energy in a media article
released on June 5, 2019.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed the legislation on June 17, 2019. The
temporary ban is set to expire on January 2, 2025.
References:
Washington
Oregon
Additional
Resources:
This material is based upon work supported by the National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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