PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 3, 2025
Protecting American Energy Production Act
This bill prohibits the President from declaring a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless Congress authorizes the moratorium. The bill also expresses the sense of Congress that states should maintain primacy (authority) for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on state and private lands.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the formation.
People & committees
Rep. Boebert, Lauren [R-CO-4] · R–CO
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Sep 19, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-01-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Protecting American Energy Production Act would prevent the President from declaring a suspension of hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, unless Congress authorizes it by law. It also expresses Congress’s view that states should lead regulation of fracking for oil and natural gas production on state and private lands. That statement expresses a policy preference rather than imposing a regulatory requirement.
This Act may be cited as the Protecting American Energy Production Act.
(a) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that States should maintain primacy for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on State and private lands.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President may not declare a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless such moratorium is authorized by an Act of Congress.
The statement favoring states’ leading regulatory role concerns hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on state and private lands. It does not state a position about regulatory leadership on federal lands.
It is the sense of Congress that States should maintain primacy for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on State and private lands.
The proposed restriction on presidential moratoriums would apply despite other provisions of law. It permits a moratorium authorized by an Act of Congress and contains no express limitation to state and private lands.
(b) Prohibition on declaration of a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President may not declare a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless such moratorium is authorized by an Act of Congress.
The supplied action snapshot, updated September 19, 2026, records introduction in the House on January 3, 2025, and referral that day to the Natural Resources and Energy and Commerce committees for provisions within their respective jurisdictions.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-19T23:21:45Z.
2025-01-03: Introduced in House
2025-01-03: Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-01-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not extend to other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Its general policy coverage does not by itself constitute a targeted benefit. This conclusion is limited to this version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 19, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI