Legal Limit May Drive Novel Voluntary Plan In EPA's TSCA Fracking Rule

摘要

EPA's plan for requiring disclosure of chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) includes a novel suggestion of using the rarely-used Pollution Prevention Act to create a voluntary reporting program, a move the agency may be considering because some companies involved in the process may not be subject to the law's reporting requirements, industry sources say. "There may be a legal issue underlying the voluntary idea," an industry source says, because "service" companies - those that inject chemical-laced fluid to help with energy extraction - do not meet the law's definition of chemical "processors" that can be subject to the law.