HARRISBURG, PA (December 9, 2025) – At its Tuesday, December 9 meeting, Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board voted to accept the rulemaking petition submitted by Clean Air Council and Environmental Integrity Project to increase minimum no-drill zones from fracking sites to homes, schools, water sources, and streams. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will now prepare a report evaluating the petition, as well as the dozens of health studies included in it, and will make a recommendation to the EQB on whether the EQB should approve the action requested in the petition. The Protective Buffers PA coalition, composed of environmental and public health organizations, is championing the rulemaking petition to enhance the health and safety of people across the Commonwealth by reducing exposure to fracking pollution.
Minimum setbacks, also referred to as protective buffers and no-drill zones in the context of fracking, are mandatory distances between new fracking wells and homes, schools, hospitals, drinking water wells, and surface waters. Pennsylvania’s current fracking well location requirements—which include a waivable 500-foot setback from buildings and a 1,000-foot setback from water supply extraction points—are woefully insufficient to protect public health and the environment from the dangers of fracking.
The rulemaking petition asks the DEP to consider instituting the following research-informed setbacks:
- 3,281 feet from any building and from any drinking water well;
- 5,280 feet from any building serving vulnerable populations (e.g., schools, hospitals); and
- 750 feet from any surface water of the Commonwealth.
On April 8, 2025, Environmental Integrity Project and Clean Air Council presented on why EQB should accept the petition, and DEP recommended that EQB accept it for further study, but the EQB vote was stalled for eight months. In September 2025, Environmental Integrity Project and Clean Air Council filed an amended version of the petition that was substantively identical to the earlier petition but also incorporated citizen petitions, legal documents, and a research report that was handed to EQB at the April meeting. Now that the EQB has voted to accept the amended petition, DEP has 60 days to prepare a report evaluating the petition, to which the groups will be able to respond. Then DEP will make its final recommendation. If DEP recommends a regulatory change, it has six months to develop a proposed rulemaking for EQB consideration, which will then go through public notice and comment.
“EQB took an important step today to protect the people of this Commonwealth from fracking pollution,” said Lisa Hallowell, Senior Attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project. “We hope DEP and EQB move quickly to require the minimum setbacks the petition seeks so that no more families have to suffer the health effects that have been documented in dozens of studies as a result of the woefully inadequate current setback distances.”
“Clean Air Council is thrilled to see the EQB do the right thing and allow DEP to study our petition,” said Alex Bomstein, Executive Director of Clean Air Council. “We are confident that the research supports these stronger protections and will convince DEP of the need to protect Pennsylvanians across the state from the serious dangers of fracking.”
“Today was an important milestone for residents who have waited far too long for basic public health protections from fracking’s harms, ” said Melissa Ostroff, Pennsylvania Policy and Field Advocate with Earthworks. “EQB did the right thing in following DEP’s recommendation to move this petition to the next step in the regulatory process. Impacted residents deserve to see a report from DEP about increasing setback distances without delay.”
“Today’s vote represents an important step toward closing the large gap between science and policy in Pennsylvania,” said Alison L. Steele, Executive Director, Environmental Health Project. “What we know from dozens of peer-reviewed health studies is clear: while there is no established ‘safe’ distance from fracking operations, increasing the distance from those who live, work, and play nearby lowers the risk of negative health impacts. We look forward to the DEP’s review of relevant, unbiased research and a timely recommendation for setback requirements informed by scientific evidence.”
“Advancing this commonsense rulemaking petition to study the implications of stronger protective buffers is the first step towards protecting the health of 3.6 million Pennsylvanians who share their communities with fracked wells,” said Katie Jones, Ohio River Valley Coordinator at FracTracker Alliance. “Research shows that larger buffers are necessary to safeguard public health, and reviewing these protections enhances state oversight without prohibiting unconventional drilling.”
“Protect PT applauds the EQB’s sound decision to vote this petition forward for review by the DEP,” said Gillian Graber, Executive Director, Protect PT. “For the first time, the DEP will take health impacts into account when considering the statewide minimum drilling setback for unconventional wells, using the research that our coalition has compiled. We know the findings are impossible to ignore. It’s been a long time coming, but today marks a significant step closer to essential health protections for frontline communities like ours in Southwestern PA.”
“My family is not alone in knowing that fracking happens too close to our homes,” said Jodi Borello, Community Organizer, Center for Coalfield Justice. “Those of us who testified to the grand jury gave all we had to have the truth heard and still had to wait half a decade for action. As communities have suffered impacts to our health and homes and more children have gotten sick, we have been calling on anyone in power to finally stand up to this industry and bring meaningful, sensible solutions. The EQB’s ruling is a long overdue step towards relief for impacted communities and working families like mine. I am proud to be part of a coalition that never stopped fighting for the people most impacted by this industry.”
Fracking contaminates groundwater (used for public and private drinking water supplies) and also pollutes surface water, damaging headwater streams and other ecosystems. Furthermore, spills often occur in watersheds linked to drinking water sources and the air pollution from fracking causes illness.
Dozens of peer-reviewed scientific studies show that a person’s proximity to fracking wells is associated with severe human health risks and a wide range of ailments, including increased cancer rates, increased hospitalization rates, and higher rates of respiratory, neurological, dermatological, and muscular symptoms. Vulnerable populations are particularly susceptible—numerous studies have shown that proximity to fracking wells harms health for infants and children. In addition to these studies, first-hand accounts of residents living near Pennsylvania fracking wells demonstrate the profound harms of living close to fracking.
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The Environmental Integrity Project is America’s environmental watchdog. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting public health and our natural world by holding polluters and government agencies accountable under the law. We advocate for tough but fair environmental standards and empower communities fighting for clean air and clean water.
Clean Air Council is a member-supported environmental organization serving Pennsylvania and the surrounding regions. The Council is dedicated to protecting everyone’s right to a healthy environment. The Council works through a broad array of sustainability and public health initiatives, including public education, community action, government oversight, and enforcement of environmental laws. For more information, please visit www.cleanair.org.
Earthworks protects communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral and energy development while promoting sustainable solutions. Since 1988, Earthworks has helped communities secure protections of their health, land, water, and air from extractive industries. We are the only national organization in the U.S. to focus exclusively on preventing the destructive impacts of the extraction of oil, gas, and minerals.
The Environmental Health Project (EHP) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public health organization that defends public health in the face of shale gas development. EHP provides frontline communities with timely monitoring, interpretation, and guidance while engaging diverse stakeholders: health professionals, researchers, community organizers, policy makers, and others.
FracTracker Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides technical expertise and services—including useful, real-world data, scientific analyses, interactive maps, and other visual tools—to help activists, researchers, and the public better understand the environmental, economic, and social problems driven by extractive industries. To learn more about FracTracker Alliance, visit fractracker.org.
Protect PT (Penn-Trafford) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring residents’ safety, security, and quality of life by engaging in education and advocacy to protect the economic, environmental, and legal rights of the people in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties. Protect PT was established in 2014 as a grassroots community-based organization designed to protect our community from the harmful environmental impacts of fossil fuel activity.
CCJ’s mission is to improve policy and regulations for the oversight of fossil fuel extraction and use; to educate, empower and organize coalfield residents; and to protect public and environmental health. We provide community members with detailed information about proposed projects and potential impacts so they can make informed decisions about individual or collective actions. We connect people in similar struggles together to build power and to invest in the leadership of people living in Washington and Greene Counties. We blend organizing, communications, legal, and policy strategies to build power with and for residents across Washington and Greene Counties, and to create an expanded set of options for achieving justice. Through this approach, and by investing in people’s skills and leadership, our communities will be able to advocate effectively for a healthy environment and thriving economy. www.centerforcoalfieldjustice.org
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ari Phillips, aphillips@environmentalintegrity.org, (202) 263-4456
Katie Edwards, kedwards@cleanair.org, 609-432-0129
