A state panel has approved a comprehensive list of regulations for companies that want fracking permits to drill for and collect natural gas in North Carolina. The rules are now ready for consideration by the state legislature.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that the state Rules Review Commission on Wednesday approved 117 rules in all. The measures covered items like chemical disclosure, well shafts, water storage, water testing and buffer zones.
The approval comes a month after the state Mining and Energy Commission voted in favor of dozens of rules to guide the process for how companies would use the hydraulic fracturing method.
The commission was criticized by an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, who felt the approval process had been rushed.
The rules now head to the state legislature, which is expected to lift North Carolina's fracking moratorium in a matter of months.
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