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for proper construction of wells and wastewater disposal.
• Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the long-awaited rules will allow continued expansion of drilling while protecting public health and safety.
• "As we continue to offer millions of acres of America's public lands for oil and gas development, it is critical that the public have full confidence that the right safety and environmental protections are in place," Salazar said.
• The proposed rules will "modernize our management of well-stimulation activities, including hydraulic

fracturing, to make sure that fracturing operations conducted on public and Indian lands follow common-sense industry best practices," he said.
• The new rules, which have been under consideration for a year and a half, were softened after industry groups expressed strong concerns about an initial proposal leaked earlier this year. The proposal would allow companies to file disclosure reports after drilling operations are completed, rather than before they begin, as initially proposed. Industry groups said the earlier proposal could have caused lengthy delays.
• Some environmental groups criticized the change as a cave-in to industry, but Salazar said the rules were never intended to cause delays, but to ensure that the public is "fully aware of the chemicals that are being injected into the underground" by companies seeking to produce oil and natural gas.
• The Bureau of Land Management, which oversees drilling on public lands, estimates that 90 percent of the approximately 3,400 wells currently drilled on federal and Indian lands using hydraulic fracturing techniques.

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