The Government has been accused of watering down rules preventing fracking in protected areas.
Ministers accepted Labour moves to tighten fracking regulations in the Infrastructure Bill by imposing a number of conditions, including banning the process from protected areas such as national parks and groundwater protection zones which feed aquifers.
But campaigners warned the Government’s new amendment to the Bill, which is now being considered by the Lords, has weakened the rules by allowing ministers to define what counts as protected groundwater source areas and other protected areas.
The new amendment also removed the rule preventing drilling underneath protected areas, environmentalists said.
Fracking involves drilling vertically deep underground and then horizontally out from the vertical well, before pumping liquid at high pressure into shale rock to fracture it and release gas.
The change means rigs could drill next to and frack under national parks, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the environmentalists claimed.
They also raised concerns over the absence of other conditions put forward by Labour, such as individually notifying residents of fracking applications and scaling back monitoring of methane emissions from the process.
Greenpeace energy campaigner Simon Clydesdale said: “These amendments are a lesson in why you should always read the small-print.
“They water down so many of the safeguards that Labour attempted to put in place against this risky, unproven industry, that the bill isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
“For example, a tucked-away clause could open up sensitive water protection areas to fracking by giving the Secretary of State the extraordinary power of picking and choosing which of these areas can be drilled as they see fit.
“Clearly our government cares more about making things as easy as possible for their industry chums than they do about protecting our water supplies and countryside.”
He said Labour had warned that the set of conditions they put forward were “all or nothing” and he called on the Opposition to demand a moratorium if the House of Lords backed the new regulations.
Friends of the Earth’s energy campaigner Donna Hume said: “The Government has U-turned on its commitment to enforce regulatory conditions that would have introduced common sense measures to protect drinking water from controversial fracking.
“The Government seems determined to make fracking happen whatever the cost and people will be staggered that risky fracking will be allowed in areas that provide one third of our drinking water.
“The Government must follow the lead of Wales, Scotland, France, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and New York State by putting a stop to fracking and instead focus on renewables and cutting energy waste.”
But the Government rejected claims it had watered down the measures.
A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “The Government is returning to the Lords with a package of safeguards which are presented in the clearest possible way.
“We want to give the shale industry the best possible chance of success in the future, so it’s important we provide clear reassurance in law that environmental impact assessments, groundwater monitoring and other measures are in place before hydraulic fracturing can occur.”
The latest row over the controversial process comes as Lancashire County Council announced it had agreed with shale company Cuadrilla that it would extend the time period for deciding two fracking planning applications to April 30.
Cuadrilla had asked for the decision on the two Lancashire sites to be deferred as it submitted new information on noise and traffic, after planning officers recommended the applications be turned down on those grounds.
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