The CLEANER Act requires the EPA to regulate oil and gas industry waste products—including drilling fluids, produced water, and other byproducts from crude oil, natural gas, and geothermal energy production—under federal hazardous waste laws for the first time. Currently, these wastes are largely exempt from regulation. Within one year of the bill's enactment, the EPA must determine which of these wastes qualify as hazardous and issue regulations to manage them accordingly, while also setting standards for facilities that handle non-hazardous oil and gas waste. The new standards must include groundwater monitoring, location criteria for waste facilities, and financial safeguards to protect human health and the environment. This legislation affects the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries and aims to close a long-standing regulatory loophole that has allowed these industries to dispose of waste with minimal oversight.
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