The Task Force on Shale Gas has called on the Government to introduce an industry regulator as it releases its first interim report on UK Planning, Regulation and Local Engagement.

The report, funded by the fracking industry, includes a series of recommendations to address the UK’s current planning and regulatory system.

The overarching recommendation is that a new, bespoke regulator for onshore underground energy be created. This regulator should assume the current responsibilities of the Environment Agency (EA), Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the regulatory activities of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) with joint accountability to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and DECC.

The Task Force has concluded that, in the period before a new regulator can be established, the existing regulatory system should continue to operate. The existing system, whilst complex and relatively unapproachable, nonetheless works; but if the industry develops and the number of applications rises, there will be a need for a single, simplified system.

The group calls on the new incoming Government to legislate to create the new regulator as soon as possible.

“Speaking to local communities, we have been struck by how complex the regulatory framework appears, and how this leads to a lack of confidence in the system,” said Lord Chris Smith, Chair of the Task Force on Shale Gas and former Environment Agency chief. “We believe the creation of a new, bespoke regulator for onshore underground energy would command more public confidence for ensuring proper monitoring and regulation of any proposed shale gas industry.”

The Task Force recommends that the regulator conduct proactive, independent monitoring of any shale gas sites. It concludes that members of the community should be given the opportunity to be involved in this monitoring, in order to verify the process.

The Task Force has also proposed that operators be required to produce a Risk Assessment at the outset of any application, simpler, more succinct and more accessible than a full Environmental Impact Assessment, which can run to thousands of pages. Community engagement should begin before any proposal is formally submitted.

The recommendations include input from industry, relevant associations and community representatives from all sides of the debate on shale gas.

“Our guiding principle is to provide accurate, factual, impartial information that people need in order to make up their own minds about shale gas,” said Lord Chris Smith, “With this first report the Task Force has reviewed evidence, talked with experts and communities, and has developed a series of conclusions and recommendations about the UK’s current planning and regulatory system. We look forward to the public’s response.”

A summary of the recommendations:

• Regulation: Create a new, bespoke regulator for onshore underground energy, to assume the current responsibilities of the Environment Agency (EA), Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the regulatory activities of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) with joint accountability to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and DECC

• Monitoring: The regulator must undertake proactive, independent monitoring to ensure that all sites are fully compliant with permits - especially in relation to well integrity - so that the public can be assured that any examples of poor implementation are being identified and remedied. Where they wish, local community representatives should be able to take part in the monitoring process, alongside the regulators

• A readily understandable Risk Assessment: Required for all applications for shale gas recovery and should cover cumulative and immediate impacts, as well as clusters of sites where they are in close proximity to one another

• Planning: Authorities should have a statutory duty to consult the new regulator when assessing an application

• Community engagement: Must begin before a proposal is formally submitted to the new regulator or planning authority

The Task Force will publish three additional reports in 2015 covering environmental protection, climate change, and economics. A final report on the potential risks and benefits of shale gas for the UK will be published as the culmination of the Task Force’s research in the spring of 2016.