WASHINGTON — US lawmakers on June 9 introduced legislation that would make the drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” come under Safe Drinking Water Act regulations.

The bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Diana DeGette, D-CO, and Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-NY, and in the Senate by Sen. Bob Casey, D-PA, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, a June 9 Dow Jones report in The Wall Street Journal’s online news site said.

Fracking is a method of drilling that injects a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into rock formations at high pressure to force out oil and natural gas. It has been exempt from regulation under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, although in some cases it has been regulated by state and local authorities.

Environmentalists and lawmakers have asked whether fracking can contaminate well water and are concerned that the water used in the process could drain drinking water sources, the report said.

Removing the exemption for fracking would open the door to US Environmental Protection Agency supervision of the practice.

According to the Dow Jones report, “It is unclear how much support the proposal could get in Congress or from the White House, but the oil and natural-gas industry has already geared up for a fight to oppose the provision, given its potential impact on the sector.”

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