Oct. 29 US: Bills call for increased access to information about chemicals used in fracking

This Bulletin is brought to you by Akron Legal News concerning new bills for chemical disclosure.

Senate Bill 379, sponsored by Sen. Michael Skindell, and House Bill 596, led by Rep. Robert Hagan, would amend the requirements for disclosure of chemical information to medical professionals, oil and gas permit applications and oil and gas well completion records.

The bills also would charge an owner with reporting all chemicals brought to a well site.

The proposed legislation calls for lifting the confidentiality clause that was placed on medical professionals through Senate Bill 315, the mid-biennium energy bill that was signed into law in June.

The measure would remove language from Ohio law that states: “A medical professional who receives information pursuant to (a chemical’s composition) shall keep the information confidential and shall not disclose the information for any purpose that is not related to the diagnosis or treatment of an individual who was affected by an incident associated with the production operations of a well.”

For more information and the full bulletin please refer to the link above.