Opponents of energy development are stuck in the 19^th Century. They portray oil and gas development as the “Wild West”, an unregulated operation done with reckless regard for the environment. It’s a nice caricature—but it’s not accurate.

A 2012 report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) provides a good look at just how regulated the oil and gas industry is at the federal and state level:

As with conventional oil and gas development, requirements from eight federal environmental and public health laws apply to unconventional oil and gas development. … All six states in GAO’s review implement additional requirements governing activities associated with oil and gas development and have updated some aspects of their requirements in recent years.

What are these eight federal laws? They are:

• The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
• The Clean Water Act (CWA)
• The Clean Air Act (CAA)
• The Resources Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
• The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
• The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)
• The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
• The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)

These laws are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to regulating oil and gas. The industry is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Environmental Protection Agency, U.W. Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. And that’s just at the federal level.

States—especially those with significant energy resources—have their own regulatory agencies that oversee oil and gas industries in their states. Among these regulatory agencies:

• Alabama Geological Survey of Alabama, State Oil and Gas Board
• Alabama Department of Environmental Management
• Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
• Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
• Alaska Department of Fish and Game
• Arizona Geological Survey
• Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
• Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission
• Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
• California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources
• California Coastal Commission
• California Department of Fish and Wildlife
• California Environmental Protection Agency
• Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
• Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment
• Colorado Department of Labor and Employment
• Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
• District Department of the Environment
• Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control
• Florida Department of Environmental Protection
• Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
• Florida Department of Health
• Georgia Department of Natural Resources
• Hawai’i Department of Health
• Idaho Department of Lands
• Idaho State Insurance Fund
• Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas
• Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
• Illinois Office of State Fire Marshal
• Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas
• Indiana Department of Environmental Management
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources
• Kansas Oil and Gas Conservation Division
• Kansas Department of Health and Environment
• Kentucky Department for Energy Development and Independence, Division of Oil and Gas Conservation
• Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection
• Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation
• Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
• Maine Department of Environmental Protection
• Maryland Department of the Environment
• Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
• Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Geological Survey
• Michigan Office of Oil, Gas and Minerals
• Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
• Missouri Division of Geology and Land Survey
• Missouri Department of Natural Resources
• Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board
• Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
• Montana Department of Environmental Quality
• Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Board of Oil and Gas
• Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
• Nebraska State Fire Marshal
• Nevada Division of Minerals
• Nevada Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, Division of Environmental Protection
• New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
• New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
• New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural  Resources Department, Oil Conservation Division
• New Mexico Public Regulation Commission
• New Mexico Environment Department
• New York Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Mineral Resources
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Environmental Remediation
• North Carolina Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources
• North Carolina Department of Environment & Natural Resources, Division of Waste Management
• North Dakota Industrial Commission, Department of Mineral Resources Oil and Gas Division
• North Dakota Department of Health
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mineral Resources Management
• Ohio Department of Commerce
• Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Oil and Gas Conservation Division
• Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries
• Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
• Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Oil and Gas Management
• Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Waste Management
• Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
• South Carolina Bureau of Land and Waste Management
• South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
• South Dakota Geological Survey Program
• South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources
• Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
• The Railroad Commission of Texas
• Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
• Texas General Land Office
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
• Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining
• Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Environmental Response and Remediation
• Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation
• Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy, Division of Gas and Oil
• Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
• Division of Geology and Earth Resources, Washington Geological Survey
• Washington State Department of Ecology
• West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water & Waste Management
• West Virginia Department of Environmental  Protection, Office of Oil and Gas
• West Virginia Department of Commerce, Coal, Oil and Gas
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
• Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
• Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality

Want a visual look at how the regulatory process progresses throughout the years? Take a look at this timeline.

Energy development is highly regulated by the federal and state governments. The fact that environmentalists continue to push the false narrative that it’s done without oversight underscores the intellectual dishonesty of the anti-fracking movement.