Tracking Oil and Gas Laws

For three and half years, the Intermountain Oil & Gas BMP Project has been working on a collection of datasets and maps at LawAtlas.org that focus on water quality, water quantity, and air quality statutes and regulations within oil and gas development in the United States, specifically related to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (better known as fracking).

Most recently this collection of seven datasets expanded from 13 states (CO, LA, MT, ND, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, TX, UT, WV, and WY) to 17 states (adding IL, CA, AR, and AK) and added regulations from four federal agencies – Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Forest Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency. The research, which was funded in part by the Public Health Law Research program (PHLR), is meant to shed light on the regulations in place in the industry, and establish a baseline for how the industry is regulated.

Samelson head shot
Matt Samelson, JD

Matt Samelson, JD, a consultant attorney at University of Colorado Boulder Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment, spoke with PHLR about his work and the recent developments in this project.

PHLR: What is the mission of the Intermountain Oil and Gas BMP Project? Read More