Sponsors (21)
The bill substantially increases testing rigor and public transparency to protect drinking water for communities near fracking, but does so at the cost of higher compliance and logistical burdens for operators and potential economic impacts for nearby property owners and consumers.
Residents near fracking sites will receive required baseline and ongoing drinking-water testing (pre-injection, semiannual during operations, and annual for five years after), increasing early detection of contamination risks.
Residents and local governments gain faster and easier access to water-quality results because operators must report results to EPA within two weeks and the data will be posted in a public, ZIP-code searchable database.
Residents near fracking sites benefit from more reliable contamination analysis because testing must be performed by EPA-certified drinking-water laboratories.
Utilities and energy operators face higher compliance costs for frequent testing, certified lab analysis, and reporting, which could increase operating expenses and be passed on to consumers or taxpayers.
Operators and local communities may experience logistical delays and operational difficulties because the bill requires sampling of all accessible wells within 0.5 mile (or the nearest within 1 mile), which is challenging in remote areas.
Homeowners and operators could face reduced property values, remediation expenses, or increased liability risk because localized contamination data will be publicly released.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires baseline and ongoing drinking‑water testing near hydraulic fracturing injection sites, timely EPA reporting, and a public EPA database of results.
Requires operators involved in hydraulic fracturing-related underground injection to perform baseline, periodic, and post‑operation drinking-water testing near sites, report results quickly to EPA, and submit test data to a public EPA database; states must condition their underground injection control program rules to prohibit injection unless the operator agrees to these testing and reporting requirements. Testing must be done by EPA‑certified drinking water laboratories for contaminants the EPA Administrator identifies as indicative of fracturing-related impacts, with sampling of all accessible drinking-water sources within 0.5 mile (or the nearest within 1 mile) and limited exceptions where no source exists within one mile.
Introduced November 18, 2025 by Janice D. Schakowsky · Last progress November 18, 2025