A Review of Shale Gas Regulations by State

Resources for the Future (RFF) has published a document with maps depicting state regulations on a variety of aspects related to shale gas development. Here is their brief description:

Experts in RFF's Center for Energy Economics and Policy are analyzing regulations and surveying regulators in the 31 states that have significant shale gas reserves or where industry shows interest in shale gas development. The maps in this project show the preliminary results of these efforts for approximately 20 important regulatory elements in each state in the continental United States. As relevant regulations are passed, the maps will be updated accordingly. A final report that includes all updated maps and additional analysis will be released in fall 2012.

The purpose of these maps is to provide an overview of the regulatory patterns, similarities, and differences among states—not to authoritatively compile any given state's regulations or fully analyze any specific regulation. Note that the maps only show uniform, state-level regulation. Local regulation and, importantly, regulation via case-by-case permitting are not currently included, but may be added later. For comparison, the American Petroleum Institute's (API) best practices are also included in the maps where applicable.