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Bill to notify lawmakers of wastewater-injection well hearings passes committee
Summary
A bill requiring the Oil and Gas Commission to notify state legislators when a public hearing is scheduled for a wastewater injection disposal well in their districts passed the Senate Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development Committee by voice vote.
A House bill that would require the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission to notify state legislators when it schedules a public hearing on a wastewater injection disposal well in their districts passed the Senate Agriculture, Forestry & Economic Development Committee on a voice vote.
Representative Cameron Cooper, R-District 57, said the bill is “a very simple bill” and described it as constituent-driven. Cooper told the committee that a disposal well permitted last year in his and Senator Dismang’s districts went forward while many residents were unaware of the permit or its public hearing opportunity.
The bill would add lawmakers to the existing notice list the commission already uses for county judges. Cooper said the bill allows the commission to send those notices by email. He told senators that disposal wells accept production water or “frac water” from natural gas wells and noted historical concerns about earthquakes: “You may remember a decade or more ago there were earthquakes in North Central Arkansas and it was tied to these disposal wells,” he said, adding that one permitted well is near a recognized fault line close to the town of Enola.
Cooper said an administrative moratorium means the commission's director will not automatically grant these permits and that they must go before a full commission hearing. He said residents in the affected area learned of the project only after construction had begun and that earlier notice to lawmakers would have allowed them to inform constituents about the hearing and opportunities to comment.
No members of the public signed up to speak for or against the bill during the committee meeting. The committee recorded a motion to pass the bill by Senator Crowell with a second from Senator Letting; senators voted by voice, and the chair announced the bill passed.
The transcript does not specify a vote tally, the bill's next committee or floor assignment, or an effective date; those details were not provided during the presentation.
