The Energy Policy Act of 2005 rather famously - or infamously, depending on your point of view - allowed for a Safe Drinking Water Act exemption for the Haliburton-perfected process of hydraulic fracturing in of natural gas wells.
But, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued today, the act also sought to pick up the pace of natural gas exploration and production by allowing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to use "categorical exclusions" when issuing oil and gas drilling permits.
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