Congressional Amendment Threatens Stability of Fracking Ban in Delaware River Basin

UPDATE: The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure took up the WRDA for a mark-up session on Tuesday, July 14, which would have provided an opportunity for the bill to be adopted. The DRBC told Radio Catskill that Perry’s bill was not offered, and that WRDA passed out of committee without the amendment being included. DRBC says their understanding is the House still intends to consider WRDA 2026 under a suspension of rules, meaning that no further amendments would be offered and preserving the status quo in the Mid-Atlantic river basins, but that may be subject to change. Currently neither the Rules Committee nor the full House has any action noticed on this bill.

DELAWARE RIVER VALLEY — The Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an advocacy group that works to oversee and protect the environment of the Delaware River, released a call to arms this week warning of a potential risk to the organization banning fracking in the Delaware River basin.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) voted in 2021 to ban hydraulic fracking throughout the Delaware River Basin, citing the potential for adverse impacts to surface and water resources. This regulation prohibits fracking in Wayne and Pike counties, PA, and in Sullivan County, NY; Sullivan County is also covered by New York’s statewide ban on the practice.

The DRN raised the alarm about a potential amendment to the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), proposed by PA-10 Representative Scott Perry, that would “strip the power of DRBC to enforce the ban on fracking that protects the Delaware River, our drinking water and our communities from the toxic contamination, polluted runoff and the depleted water uses fracking for fossil fuels would cause.” According to DRN, the amendment could come up for a vote as soon as this Monday, July 12.

Perry introduced the “DRILL Now Act,” H.R.1341, on February 13, 2025. The act would amend the WRDA to state that the DRBC, as well as the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, “may not finalize, implement or enforce any regulation relating to hydraulic fracking that is issued pursuant to any authority other than that of the state in which the regulation is to be implemented or enforced.” Perry also introduced the “DRILL Now Act” in 2022 and in 2023.

Currently, the amendment is in the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Development, part of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

The committee released the 2026 WRDA on Friday, June 26. As originally released, the text of the bill does not include Perry’s amendment. The committee postponed a markup of the bill, originally scheduled for Wednesday, July 1, until further notice, according to its website.

Maya Van Rossum, Delaware Riverkeeper and head of the DRN, told the River Reporter that part of the problem is the structure of the amendment.

Currently, the amendment is in the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Development, part of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. If the amendment passes through the committee, it will become part of the broader WRDA, without the full House of Representatives getting the chance to vote on that amendment in isolation.

The House of Representatives is unlikely to vote down the entire WRDA based on one provision, said Van Rossum.

The DRN is rallying members of the public over the weekend to call their representatives, asking them to vote down the amendment.

“WRDA is supposed to be about advancing projects and studies carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” reads the DRN’s release. “This proposed amendment would hijack WRDA in order to strip legal authority and protections that are totally unrelated.”

The DRN has specifically targeted three members of the committee for outreach: NY-18 Representative Pat Ryan, NY-12 Representative Jerry Nadler and NJ-9 Representative Nellie Pou.

Van Rossum said that DRN has gotten a positive response back so far from Nadler. While he does not represent a district on the Delaware River, he represents NYC, which, while not located in the Delaware River watershed, takes water from the watershed.

This story originally appeared in The River Reporter by Liam Mayo.

Image Credit: River Reporter