Polis Joins DeGette, Cartwright, and Schakowsky to Introduce "Frack Pack" Bills, Close Loopholes that Endanger Local Communities

Press Release

Today, U.S. Representatives Jared Polis (CO-02), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Matt Cartwright (PA-17), and Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) introduced a series of bills dubbed the "Frack Pack" that would better regulate hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The four "Frack Pack" bills are designed to address the failure of patchwork environmental protections to keep pace with the fracking boom of the last decade. Loopholes and exceptions written into the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act have kept landmark environmental laws from protecting the health and safety of individuals and families living in communities affected by fracking. By closing loopholes, the "Frack Pack" bills would hold the energy industry to the same standards that apply to everyone.

"These common sense initiatives represent an unprecedented, bipartisan push to level the playing field surrounding our policies on oil and gas development," said Rep. Polis. "Our nation's economy continues to benefit from domestic energy production and as the industry grows, these policies simply close loopholes and make extraction processes safer, bringing the industry in line with protections required by nearly every other mineral development sector."

Specifically, the BREATHE Act, which Rep. Polis is leading, would hold oil and gas operators accountable for their impact on our nation's air quality by requiring them to aggregate their small air pollution sources--pollution sources that individually seem harmless but cumulatively account for releasing large volumes of toxic substances into the air.

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