A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that the federal government has no authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing. Via the Associated Press, U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl said the Bureau of Land Management has not received authorization from Congress to impose environmental regulations on fracking.
The bureau proposed rules that would have required drillers to report the chemicals they use in fracking. The states of Colorado, Utah, North Dakota and Wyoming joined energy groups and a pair of Native American tribes in Utah in challenging the rule.
Last year Skavdahl temporarily blocked well integrity rules the Obama Administration set for fracking on federal lands.
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