Washington (Platts)--11Apr2013/434 pm EDT/2034 GMT

A proposed rule to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal lands is "imminent" and will be announced "in the very near future," outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday.

The rule was first floated last May by the Bureau of Land Management, but was delayed until 2013 while the agency considered comments from industry groups and others.

The rule, among other things, would require that companies publicly disclose the chemicals used in fracking of oil and gas wells on public and Indian lands. Two other components would relate to wellbore integrity and the flowback of water used in fracking operations.

"It's a matter which we are taking very seriously," Salazar said at a hearing of a House Appropriations subcommittee on the department's proposed 2014 budget. "The rule is imminent and I suspect my successor will be announcing it in the very near future."

Salazar is stepping down from his post. His successor, Sally Jewell, was confirmed by the US Senate on Wednesday evening. Thursday's appropriations committee hearing will be Salazar's last appearance before Congress as Interior secretary.

--Gary Gentile, gary_gentile@platts.com --Edited by Jason Lindquist, jason_lindquist@platts.com

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