Overview
Throughout 2018, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contacted individuals from state regulatory agencies, the oil and gas industry, academia, and non-governmental organizations to better understand barriers and concerns associated with increasing opportunities for oil and gas wastewater (known as produced water) to be discharged onshore under the Clean Water Act (CWA) (EPA 2019).
During this time, the EPA created a public docket and conducted a public meeting to gather additional feedback from stakeholders. The results of this survey were released in a draft report in May 2019, entitled Study of Oil and Gas Extraction Wastewater Management Under the Clean Water Act. In this report, we evaluate and provide technical comments on this draft report from EPA.
Report
