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33 Wm. & Mary Envtl. L. & Pol'y Rev. 605 (2008-2009)
The Not-So-Safe Drinking Water Act: Why We Must Regulate Hydraulic Fracturing at the Federal Level

handle is hein.journals/wmelpr33 and id is 609 raw text is: THE NOT-SO-SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT: WHY WE MUST REGULATE HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL ANGELA C. CUPAS* INTRODUCTION When Congress enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974, it gave the Environmental Protection Agency the power to set national stan- dards governing the maximum acceptable levels of water-contaminates in public water systems.' Section 300f of the Safe Drinking Water Act man- dates regulation of any contaminant that may adversely affect human health, in the judgment of the Administrator.2 The Safe Drinking Water Act also authorizes states to create specific regulations to protect their underground drinking water sources, as long as each state complies with the EPA's minimum requirements and receives EPA approval.3 The Safe Drinking Water Act requires that any state wishing to create its own regu- latory regime must incorporate a plan to regulate industrial underground extraction processes known as underground injection control programs.4 Most industrial extraction processes involve the injection of propping agents, such as sand, water, nitrogen, and diesel fuel into underground gas or oil reservoirs. These agents are used to pry open gaps in under- ground reservoirs to allow the fluids to flow toward the collection and production chambers quickly and efficiently.5 * J.D., William & Mary School of Law, 2009. B.S.B.A. University of Richmond, 2006. Thanks to my family and friends for all their support. ' Safe Drinking Water Act, Pub. L. No. 93-523 §2(a), 88 Stat. 1660 (1974) (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. § 300f et seq. (2000)). 2 42 U.S.C. § 300f (2000). 'See 42 U.S.C. § 300h-1 (2000); 42 U.S.C. § 300g-2 (2000). 4 42 U.S.C. § 300h-1(b) (2000). See also Nicholas A. Robinson, Environmental Controls: Drinking Water Regulation, 10 REAL PROP. PROB. & TR. J. 675, 678 (1975) (noting that states are given primary enforcement authority to regulate underground drinking water safety standards only after they have adopted regulations and enforcement programs that are at least as strict as the federal standards). 5 U.S. ENvTL. PROT. AGENCY, EVALUATION OF IMPACTS TO UNDERGROUND SOURCES OF DRINKING WATER BY HYDRAULIC FRACTURING OF COALBED METHANE RESERVOIRS, ES-4, ES-12 (2004), available at http'J/www.epa.gov/OGWDW/uiclwellscoalbedmethanestudy

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