As chemical use in every industry has become an increasing public concern, many governing bodies have implemented measures to enforce regulations and provide public access to relevant information. This is also true in the oil and natural gas industry, which is primarily regulated at the state level.

Prior to 2011, there was no comprehensive database of chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing of wells. This was the catalyst for the creation of FracFocus.org, a national database providing public access to information regarding hydraulic fracturing chemicals.

Today, what began as a voluntary reporting site with 37 participating companies now receives reports from more than 1,600 companies reporting chemicals for more than 189,000 hydraulic fracturing operations nationwide. Because of the system’s success from both operator and consumer perspectives, 27 states now either require or allow companies to officially disclose chemical data via FracFocus. However, the site receives disclosures from companies with operations in three additional states as well.

(updated, March 2022)