WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, called the final rule issued by Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell on hydraulic fracturing “insufficient to protect public health and environmental safety.” He issued the following statement:

“We want to be able to tap into the natural gas reserves of this nation, but we must do it in a safe and environmentally sound manner. American families have a right to clean and safe drinking water,” said Senator Cardin. “This rule is headed in the right direction, but it should have gone further to create real transparency for the fracking process, and done more to protect public health, public land and water resources. I am particularly concerned that the DOI rule continues to rely on FracFocus—an industry-run and largely voluntary reporting system for fracking chemicals–for disclosure.

“Natural gas development can help America transition towards a clean, independent energy future, but only if it is done responsibly. The promise of natural gas will be a promise unfulfilled if the human health and environmental impacts are not properly safe-guarded.”

Four years ago, in April 2011, Senator Cardin participated in the first Senate hearing on natural gas drilling and its impact on public health and the environment, while he was chairman of the Environment and Public Works Water and Wildlife Subcommittee.