Fran Pavley

California moved a step closer to regulating fracking Wednesday when a key State Senate committee approved a bill by Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) that calls for comprehensive regulation of the controversial drilling practice.

The bill, SB 4, would for the first time create accountability and transparency for fracking in California. It would require public noticing, disclosure of chemicals and estimates of the amount of water used, among other provisions. The bill also calls for an independent scientific study of fracking and its risks. If the study were not finished by January 1, 2015, the bill would stop the issuance of fracking permits pending completion of the study.

The bill was approved 6-2 Wednesday by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee and will now go to the Senate Appropriations Committee before it can be heard on the Senate Floor.

Known technically as hydraulic fracturing, fracking is the process of injecting water, chemicals and sand into shale rock deep underground to open up fissures and free up hard-to-reach oil and gas. Drillers have experimented with fracking for decades, but only in the past few years have advances in technology and rising oil prices made the practice economical on a large scale.

With today’s technology, experts now estimate there to be 15.4 billion barrels of extractable oil in the Monterey Shale, a huge underground rock formation in California. Speculators are leasing tens of thousands of acres of federal land for drilling in California. Last month, U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal ruled the federal government overlooked the risks of fracking when it leased land in 2011 in Monterey and Fresno counties.

Fracking promises to vastly expand production, but it has raised serious concerns about impacts on public health and safety, agriculture and the environment. The practice has also raised concerns about groundwater depletion.

“There’s no transparency and accountability in the process right now,” Pavley said at the hearing. “If we’re going to move forward we’ve got to have the correct regulatory framework in place.”

SB 4 has been endorsed by both the Los Angeles County and Ventura County boards of supervisors, major newspapers and environmental groups.

“We believe this is an appropriate middle ground,” said Alan Fernandes, Chief Legislative Advocate for the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office.

Fran Pavley represents California’s 27th Senate District, which includes about half of the Santa Clarita Valley.