HB6222 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 22283 CEL 71033 b

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB6222

Introduced , by Rep. Brad E. Halbrook

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

225 ILCS 725/6.8 new

Amends the Illinois Oil and Gas Act. Creates a new provision concerning the extraction of hydrocarbons from shale using hydraulic fracturing. Provides the Department of Natural Resources shall, by rule, require an operator of a well on which a hydraulic fracturing treatment is performed to (i) complete specified forms that includes the total volume of water used and each chemical ingredient, subject to certain federal requirements, (ii) post the form on a specified website, (iii) submit the form to the Department, and (iv) provide the Department a list of all other chemical ingredients not previously listed. Provides that the Department, shall, by rule, require a service company that performs hydraulic fracturing treatments to (i) provide the operator of the well certain information, (ii) prescribe a process by which an entity may withhold and declare certain information as a trade secret but still comply with the disclosure requirements, (iii) require a person challenging a claim of entitlement to a trade secret to file the challenge by a specified date, (iv) limit the persons who may challenge a claim of entitlement to a trade secret, (vi) require, when a trade secret challenge occurs, that the Department promptly notify the service company performing the hydraulic fracturing treatment on the relevant well, (v) prescribe a process, consistent with federal rules, that permits a health professional or emergency responder to obtain trade secret information, (vi) require, prior to such hydraulic fracturing, the owner or operator to perform a suitable mechanical integrity test of the casing or of the casing-tubing annulus or other mechanical integrity test methods and (vii) require, during the well stimulation operation, that the owner or operator monitor and record the annulus pressure. Provides that the owner or operator shall provide information to the Director as to the amounts, handling, and, if necessary, disposal at an identified appropriate disposal facility, or reuse of the well stimulation fluid load recovered during flow back, swabbing, or recovery from production facility vessels. Provides that the protection and challenge of trade secrets under the provision is also governed by the State's Freedom of Information Act. Provides that the Department shall adopt any other rules necessary to regulate hydraulic fracturing and corollary issues related to hydraulic fracturing.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning regulation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Oil and Gas Act is amended by adding Section 6.8 as follows:

(225 ILCS 725/6.8 new)

Sec. 6.8. Extraction of hydrocarbons from shale using hydraulic fracturing.

(a) The Department, by rule, shall:

(1) require an operator of a well on which a hydraulic fracturing treatment is performed to:

(A) complete the form posted on the hydraulic fracturing chemical registry Internet website of the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission with regard to the well;

(B) include in the form completed under subparagraph (A):

(i) the total volume of water used in the hydraulic fracturing treatment; and

(ii) each chemical ingredient that is subject to the requirements of 29 C.F.R. 1910.1200(g)(2), as provided by a service company, chemical supplier, or by the operator, if the operator provides its own chemical ingredients;

(C) post the completed form described by subparagraph (A) on the website described by that subparagraph or, if the website is discontinued or permanently inoperable, post the completed form on another publicly accessible Internet website specified by the Department;

(D) submit the completed form described by subparagraph (A) to the Department with the well completion report for the well; and

(E) in addition to the completed form specified in subparagraph (D), provide to the Department a list, to be made available on the Internet website of the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission or, if necessary, another publicly accessible website, of all other chemical ingredients not listed on the completed form that were intentionally included and used for the purpose of creating a hydraulic fracturing treatment for the well; the Department, by rule, shall ensure that an operator, service company, or supplier is not responsible for disclosing ingredients that:

(i) were not purposely added to the hydraulic fracturing treatment;

(ii) occur incidentally or are otherwise unintentionally present in the treatment; or

(iii) in the case of the operator, are not disclosed to the operator by a service company or supplier; the rule shall not require that the ingredients be identified based on the additive in which they are found or that the concentration of such ingredients be provided;

(2) require a service company that performs a hydraulic fracturing treatment on a well or a supplier of an additive used in a hydraulic fracturing treatment on a well to provide the operator of the well with the information necessary for the operator to comply with paragraph (1);

(3) prescribe a process by which an entity required to comply with paragraph (1) or (2) may withhold and declare certain information as a trade secret, including, but not limited to, the Chemical Abstract Service Number and amount of the chemical ingredient used in a hydraulic fracturing treatment;

(4) require a person who desires to challenge a claim of entitlement to trade secret protection under paragraph (3) to file the challenge not later than the second anniversary of the date the relevant well completion report is filed with the Department;

(5) limit the persons who may challenge a claim of entitlement to trade secret protection under paragraph (3) to:

(A) a surface fee title owner or his or her agricultural farm tenant who has been directly and substantially affected or aggrieved by the hydraulic fracturing treatment; or

(B) a department or agency of this State with jurisdiction over a matter to which the claimed trade secret is relevant;

(6) require, in the event of a trade secret challenge, that the Department promptly notify the service company performing the hydraulic fracturing treatment on the relevant well, the supplier of the additive or chemical ingredient for which the trade secret claim is made, or any other owner of the trade secret being challenged and provide the owner an opportunity to substantiate its trade secret claim;

(7) prescribe a process, consistent with 29 C.F.R. 1910.1200, for an entity described by paragraph (1) or (2) to provide information, including information that is a trade secret as defined by Appendix D to 29 C.F.R. 1910.1200, to a health professional or emergency responder who needs the information in accordance with subsection (i) of that section of 29 C.F.R. 1910.1200;

(8) require, prior to such hydraulic fracturing, the owner or operator to perform a suitable mechanical integrity test of the casing or of the casing-tubing annulus or other mechanical integrity test methods using procedures that are established by administrative rule; and

(9) require, during the well stimulation operation, that the owner or operator monitor and record the annulus pressure using procedures that are established by administrative rule.

(b) The protection and challenge of trade secrets under this Section is governed by subsection (g) of Section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act.

(c) The owner or operator shall provide information to the Department as to the amounts, handling, and, if necessary, disposal at an identified appropriate disposal facility, or reuse of the well stimulation fluid load recovered during flow back, swabbing, or recovery from production facility vessels. Storage of the well stimulation fluid load shall be protective of an underground source of drinking water by the use of either tanks or lined pits.

(d) This Section applies only to the extraction of hydrocarbons from shale.

(e) The Department shall adopt any other rules necessary to regulate hydraulic fracturing and corollary issues related to hydraulic fracturing.