To create the maps below, RFF staff and outside experts reviewed state statutes, regulations, permitting guidelines, and other documents, along with independent reports. Experts and regulators in the states were also contacted to review the findings.
The maps show only uniform, state-level regulation in force as of March 1, 2013, except for New York, which is treated as if the proposed rules in its 2011 Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement were currently in place. Local and federal regulations are not included.
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The maps provide an overview of the states’ regulations, the regulatory tools they use, and in some cases the stringency of regulations. They do not, however, authoritatively compile any given state's regulations or fully analyze any specific regulation. Many of these regulations apply to the development of both conventional and unconventional (shale) gas, as many aspects of development are common.
The maps are divided into the following categories:
- Site Selection and Preparation
- Drilling the Well
- Hydraulic Fracturing
- Wastewater Storage and Disposal
- Excess Gas Disposal
- Severance Taxes
- Well Plugging and Abandonment
- Other
Project Team
Alan Krupnick, RFF Senior Fellow and Director of CEEP
Nathan Richardson, RFF Resident Scholar
Madeline Gottlieb, RFF Research Assistant
Hannah Wiseman, Assistant Professor, Florida State University College of Law