Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking Environmental Regulation Act of 2015 or the FRESHER Act of 2015
This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to require a permit under the national pollutant discharge elimination system for discharges of stormwater runoff from: (1) mining operations; (2) oil and gas operations; or (3) transmission facilities for collecting and conveying precipitation runoff that are not contaminated by contact with any overburden, raw material, intermediate products, finished product, byproduct, or waste products located on the site of the operations.
The Department of the Interior must study stormwater runoff associated with oil or gas operations, including an analysis of: (1) measurable contamination, (2) groundwater resources, and (3) the susceptibility of aquifers to contamination from stormwater runoff associated with the operations.