BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota plans to join Wyoming in a lawsuit challenging a new federal hydraulic fracturing rule for U.S. government lands.
The North Dakota Industrial Commission headed by Gov. Jack Dalrymple voted Tuesday to intervene in the lawsuit that Wyoming filed last week in federal court.
The Obama administration is requiring companies that drill on federal lands to disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.
The process involves pumping water, sand and chemicals underground to split open rocks to allow oil and gas to flow.
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says North Dakota agrees with Wyoming's argument that the rule is unlawful because it interferes with state regulations.
North Dakota's top energy regulator, Lynn Helms, says the federal rule will hamper the drilling of thousands of wells in the state.