Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act

Current understanding

Since the 2005 Energy Policy Act, hydraulic fracturing (except when using diesel fuels) has been exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act’s Underground Injection Control program, leaving groundwater protection largely to states. The FRAC Act of 2025 would repeal that exemption, granting EPA authority to regulate fracking’s impact on underground drinking water sources and require disclosure of fracturing fluid chemicals — including trade-secret constituents to medical personnel in emergencies. Proponents cite groundwater and public-health risks; industry and state regulators argue existing state programs are adequate and federal permitting would slow domestic oil and gas development. Status: introduced.

Evidence log

• 2025-11-18 — Safe Hydration is an American Right in Energy Development Act of 2025: 2025 — HR6116 (Safe Hydration is an American Right in Energy Development Act of 2025, introduced) would require hydraulic fracturing operations to test for and publicly report contamination of underground drinking water sources as a condition of state primacy under UIC programs; unlike the FRAC Act, it works within the existing SDWA exemption framework by attaching monitoring/disclosure duties to state UIC primacy rather than repealing the exemption. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-11-29 — FRESHER Act of 2025: cross-connection with npdes-stormwater-oil-gas-mining-exemption: Both FRESHER Act (NPDES stormwater exemption repeal) and FRAC Act (SDWA hydraulic fracturing exemption repeal) target long-standing statutory carve-outs that shield oil and gas operations from major federal water-protection permitting programs. (novelty: 3)
• 2025-11-18 — Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2025: cross-connection with blm-oil-gas-leasing-regulations: Federal onshore oil and gas leasing on BLM lands would be directly affected if hydraulic fracturing on those leases became subject to EPA SDWA/UIC permitting and chemical disclosure under the FRAC Act. (novelty: 3)

Open questions

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