Debate over fracking regs hits House floor

The House is expected to vote Wednesday on legislation designed to rein in the Obama administration’s authority to regulate oil and gas production on federal lands.

Much of the debate, The National Journal reports, will center on a bill penned by Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas) that would prohibit the Interior Department from regulating hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” on public lands in states that already regulate the practice.

{mosads}Other legislation up for consideration Wednesday would set new drilling permit deadlines and expand the amount of land the Interior Department must offer for oil-and-gas development, according to The Hill’s E2 Wire.

That bill also contains language that would force also activists to pay thousands of dollars to lodge formal protests against drilling leases and permits.