A Regulatory Comparison of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Disclosure Regimes in the United States, Canada, and Australia

Numerous state, provincial, and federal governments in the United States, Canada, and Australia have created guidelines, legislation, and/or regulations (or are in the process of doing so) in response to public concerns about water contamination from hydraulic fracturing. This article will compare and analyze three national regimes in the leading states and provinces in which laws have been amended, proposed, or adopted to address public concerns about the chemicals and additives in hydraulic fracturing fluids used to produce unconventional hydrocarbons. New regulations, recent legislative amendments, and, in some cases, new statutes have been proposed or adopted in the past few years. Most of the state and provincial laws require public disclosure of some information about the contents of hydraulic fracturing fluids.

At the same time, governments interested in attracting investment capital to develop their shale oil and gas resources recognize the importance of protecting the intellectual property rights (trade secrets) of those parties that have developed hydraulic fracturing fluids.