Sponsors (21)
The bill increases drinking-water testing quality and public transparency for communities near fracking sites to better protect health, while imposing added compliance, logistical, and potential economic costs on operators, homeowners, and consumers.
Residents living within ~0.5–1 mile of hydraulic fracturing sites will receive regular baseline and follow-up drinking-water testing (pre-injection, semiannual during operations, and annual for five years after), improving early detection of contamination and protecting public health.
Residents and local governments will get faster, public access to water-quality results because labs must report to EPA within two weeks and results are posted in a ZIP-code searchable public database, increasing transparency and enabling community oversight.
Residents near fracking operations will have their water tested by EPA-certified drinking-water labs, which should improve reliability and credibility of contaminant analyses tied to fracturing-related impacts.
Energy operators (and potentially consumers or taxpayers) will face higher compliance costs for frequent sampling, certified lab analyses, and reporting requirements, which could increase operating costs and be passed through as higher prices or public costs.
Homeowners near sampled sites may experience reduced property values, face remediation expenses, or encounter increased liability risk because localized contamination data will be publicly released.
Operators and communities in remote areas could face logistical challenges and operational delays from the requirement to sample all accessible wells within 0.5 mile (or the nearest within 1 mile), complicating field work and scheduling.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Conditions state UIC programs on operator agreement to baseline, operational, and post‑operation drinking‑water testing, reporting to EPA, and public disclosure for fracturing‑related underground injection.
Requires operators who use hydraulic fracturing-related underground injection to perform baseline, operational, and post‑operational drinking-water testing, report results quickly to EPA, and make data public; states must prohibit such injection unless the operator agrees to comply. Establishes detailed sampling, laboratory certification, reporting timing, and an EPA searchable database of results by ZIP Code, with a narrow exception if no accessible drinking water source exists within one mile.
Official title: To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to require testing of underground sources of drinking water in connection with hydraulic fracturing operations, and for other purposes.
Introduced November 18, 2025 by Janice D. Schakowsky · Last progress November 18, 2025