Government sneaks through exemption on fracking that threatens national parks

Wednesday, 1 March 2017 15:48

The Government today sneaked through a major exemption to restrictions on fracking in protected areas. Despite repeated assurances over the last two years that the Government would ban fracking in National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest, they today approved an exemption that means that only high volume fracking activity would not be allowed in those areas. The surface protections the Government has...Request free trial

The Government today sneaked through a major exemption to restrictions on fracking in protected areas.

Despite repeated assurances over the last two years that the Government would ban fracking in National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest, they today approved an exemption that means that only high volume fracking activity would not be allowed in those areas.

The surface protections the Government has introduced only apply to fracking that uses more than 10,000 cubic metres of fracking fluid, or 1,000 per stage – a threshold that almost half of fracked gas wells in the US between 2000 and 2010 would not have met.

Furthermore, the Government tried to sneak in these regulations via a backdoor procedure without debate. Labour MPs forced this matter to be heard in Committee today and now call for it to be brought to the floor of the House.

Alan Whitehead MP, Shadow Energy & Climate Change Minister, said:

“Members of Parliament – particularly those who have National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest in their own constituencies – will be alarmed to hear that, in spite of its promises to the contrary, the Government has left the door wide open to fracking in some of our most valuable areas.

“It is essential that all MPs have the opportunity to debate and vote on these regulations on the floor of the House.”

Ends

Editor’s Notes:

1. The Statutory Instrument can be viewed here.
2. The Government introduced these regulations in October by negative Statutory Instrument (SI) – a way of passing secondary legislation that does not require debate or vote. Only if the Opposition “prays against” the SI and requests a committee meeting does the SI get heard. The Shadow BEIS team and Jeremy Corbyn prayed against it in December and the Committee happened today.
3. According to Prof Stuart Haszeldine at the University of Edinburgh, analysis of more than 17,000 gas wells fracked in the US from 2000-10 shows 43% would not be defined as fracking under UK rules.” - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/13/uk-governments-fracking-definition-could-allow-drilling-without-safeguards.