The U.S. faces a crisis in the enforcement of rules governing the oil and gas industry. The shale gas and shale oil boom has brought an expansion of oil and gas activity unseen in many parts the country since the 19th century.  Unfortunately, as this report shows, states are dangerously unprepared to oversee current levels of extraction, let alone increased drilling activity from the shale boom.

Battles over rulemakings can be intense – stakeholders spend considerable effort to influence the process whenever regulations are created or revised.  They do so because they believe that rules matter – that after the rules are created, the government will enforce them.

This report reveals, in the case of state oil and gas rules, that is simply not true.  Based on their own data, every state we studied fails to adequately enforce regulations on the books.