Jackson’s Fracking Bill Clears Committee

A fracking regulation measure authored by State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson made it out of the Environmental Quality Committee this week with a 6-3 vote. The bill, SB 395, would give oversight authority to the Department of Toxic Substances Control, which would be able to regulate surface fluids left by the oil and gas extraction method known as fracking. A congressional report cited 29 of the 750 chemicals commonly used to extract fossil fuels from shale as carcinogenic, potentially carcinogenic, or otherwise regulated.