DENVER The gas industry and its longtime critics reached a compromise Tuesday on a new rule to disclose hydraulic fracturing fluids, and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission enthusiastically adopted the plan.
The rule will require companies to use the FracFocus.org website to tell the public what chemicals they use to pry open underground rock layers to extract gas or oil.
The commission took up the rule last week, but it delayed a decision until Tuesday as both sides negotiated over an exception to the rule that would allow companies like Halliburton to protect their trade secret chemicals.
I think weve reached the fairest and most transparent rules on the transparency of frack fluids of any state in the country, Gov. John Hickenlooper said.
Hickenlooper called for a frack fluid disclosure rule in the summer. He intervened personally in negotiations over the last week and exercised his considerable persuasive powers, said Mike King, head of the state Department of Natural Resources.
Were overjoyed, said COGCC Chairman Tom Compton, a Hesperus resident. It really, really demonstrated a good-faith effort on the part of the industry and environmental community.
Industry critics were worried that companies could use the trade secret exception to avoid telling the public about many of their chemicals, but they agreed to a rule that still allows companies to keep secrets.
It came about as a result of both parties recognizing that trade secrets are legitimate, and we have to protect those in order for business to thrive in Colorado, King said. Under the compromise, companies will have to submit a form to the COGCC and justify, under penalty of perjury, the reason for their trade secret claims.
Opponents could challenge the exemption by lodging a complaint with the COGCC or by suing the state.
The nine-person gas commission adopted the rule unanimously.
Commissioner Andy Spielman said he could not have voted for the original draft of the rule, which allowed companies to get trade secret exemptions without any paperwork to back up their claims.
Fracking companies last week had said that a broad requirement to disclose both their chemical names and the concentrations would allow competitors to reverse-engineer their formulas. But they compromised with environmentalists Tuesday on the scope of disclosures.
Several states have tackled fracking disclosure rules recently, and Colorados will become a national model, said Michael Freeman, an Earthjustice lawyer who helped negotiate the compromise.
Im not aware of another state disclosure statute that requires disclosure of concentrations and that kind of information, Freeman said.
Reach Joe Hanel at joeh@cortezjournal.com
