The short answer is that it is a myth. The bipartisan 2005 energy bill does not contain an exemption or “loophole,” as some have called it, for hydraulic fracturing, as the practice was not regulated under federal law by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prior to 2005.
In Pennsylvania, natural gas companies are required by regulation to disclose all chemical additives used during the hydraulic fracturing process. Companies must first provide “completion reports” and then disclose all additives on www.FracFocus.org, a national chemical disclosure registry that gives the public access to reported chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing within their area.
