Breaking all the Rules: Oil & Gas Enforcement
September 25, 2012
EARTHWORKS | Oil & Gas Enforcement.
Oil & Gas Enforcement

States are failing to enforce oil & gas rules
Thanks to federal loopholes unique to the oil and gas industry, state government is the primary regulator of oil and gas development.
So the public is entitled to know, are states doing a good job overseeing the oil & gas development industry?
Breaking All the Rules: The Crisis in Oil & Gas Regulatory Enforcement, demonstrates that states across the country are failing to enforce their own oil and gas development regulations.
The one-year, in-depth research project examined enforcement data and practices in Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, New York, New Mexico and Colorado and includes interviews with ex-industry and state agency employees.
The research produced the national reports, and six state reports focusing on the pertinent state agencies:
- The full report (125 pages with appendices), and the executive summary (13 pages).
- Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
- New Mexico Oil and Gas Conservation Division
- New York Department of Environmental Conservation
- Ohio Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
- Texas Railroad Commission
In addition to these publications, supporting data from the research can be found in the For More Information links below.