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Operator FAQ

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    Information for Operators

    We've listed some common questions received by companies who submit their chemical disclosures through FracFocus. If you have questions remaining, please email us at: fracfocus@gwpc.org



    FracFocus tracks disclosures on Federal/Indian Lands

    The FracFocus system tracks disclosures on Federal and Indian lands. Because of this fact operators should be aware of the following rule when performing hydraulic fracturing jobs on Federal and Indian Lands.


    Per the Final Hydraulic Fracturing Rule on Federal and Indian Lands (FF Vol. 80, No. 58 / Thursday, March 26, 2015), #167;3162.3-3 (i)(8) the operator must certify that:


    i. The operator complied with the requirements in #167;3162.3-3, paragraphs (b), (e), (f), (g), and (h) of the section;


    ii. For Federal lands, the hydraulic fracturing fluid constituents, once they arrived on the lease, complied with all applicable permitting and notice requirements as well as all applicable Federal, State, and local laws, rules, and regulations;


    iii. For Indian lands, the hydraulic fracturing fluid constituents, once they arrived on the lease, complied with all applicable permitting and notice requirements as well as all applicable Federal and tribal laws, rules, and regulations.



    Security Policy - User's Login Locked

    FracFocus has an implemented security policy that if a user has not been active in the system for more than 6 months their account will be locked. Users will need to do a "Forgot Password?" option from the login screen to get a new password issued by the system and sent to their email.


    This policy assures that the user's email is still active with their company, as an active email is required to get a new password.


    Bankruptcy or Business Closures

    See: Submissions involving Bankruptcy or Business Closures


    Issue


    A Hydraulic Fracturing job was performed on a well and the disclosure has not been submitted to FracFocus, and one or both of the principals (i.e., Operating Company or Service Company) involved in the job has gone out of business.


    FIRST: For definitive guidance always consult the state agency for which the disclosure is being submitted.


    SECOND: Consider the steps defined in News Link


    LASTLY: For definitive guidance consult the state agency for which the disclosure is being submitted.


    Find Links to your state here: Regulations



    How can my company become a FracFocus participationg company and begin entering records?

    To become a “FracFocus” participating company please follow the instructions below:


    1. Open the website: www.FracFocusData.org
    2. Click on Register in the menu on the right hand side of the home page (see below)
    3. Complete the form and submit
    4. Wait for a confirmation e-mail
    5. Login and review the User Guide
    6. Establish yourself as a Supervisor and a Data Submitter
    7. Assign other Supervisors and Data Submitters (as necessary)
    8. Begin entering and submitting records

    Please note that only 1 representative per company is allowed but any number of supervisors and data submitters can be approved. Although official company representatives must work for the company that is being registered, persons not affiliated with the operating company may register as Registered Agents providing the official representative for the operating company they are submitting disclosures for approves their registration.



    How do I register?

    Use the web form, linked here, to apply for a new company account to be used to submit chemical data to the registry.


    Note: Upon submission of application for a new company, notice will be sent to the Hydraulic Fracturing Disclosure Administrator for approval. Please allow 2-3 business days for approval.


    Upon receiving approval:


    • Establish yourself as a Supervisor and a Data Submitter
    • Assign other Supervisors and Data Submitters (as necessary)
    • Download the Excel template
    • Begin entering and submitting records

    Please note that only 1 representative per company is allowed but any number of supervisors and data submitters can be approved. Although official company representatives must work for the company that is being registered, persons not affiliated with the operating company may register as Registered Agents providing the official representative for the operating company they are submitting disclosures for approves their registration.


    Only one Company Registration per Corporate Entity

    FracFocus limits registration to one Company Registration per corporate entity. If your company has multiple regional offices, and each submits disclosures to FracFocus, then all users for your company should be managed under a single "Headquarters" corporate entity. FracFocus does not track separate corporate subsidiaries as separate registrations.


    I submitted a registration to FracFocus but have not received an approval.

    The most likely cause is that the FracFocus administrator has been unable to certify that you work for the company for which the registration was submitted. If you do not receive a response from the administrator within 1 week of submitting your registration you should contact the administrator at fracfocus@gwpc.org to verify the cause for the delay.


    Who should register as a Service Company?

    Is your company a service company performing fracturing jobs for operators or do you only supply 3rd Party chemicals to operators for inclusion to their fracturing jobs?

    The FracFocus service company registration is for companies performing frac jobs and then uploading chemical disclosures to operators. Uploading/Submitting a single or small subset of chemicals used during the fracturing job is not a complete disclosure for submission. Each fracturing job performed should only have one disclosure in the system. If you are supplying 3rd party chemicals to the job, and operators need that information to be able to submit a complete disclosure, please supply that information directly to the operator or service company that performed the job.

    If your company does need to upload a complete or near complete disclosure to an operator so that they can submit, then please register as a service company.


    I registered to use FracFocus and received my account approval but when I attempt to login I receive an error message.
      The most common causes of login failure are:
    1. Failure to include the special character you used in your password
    2. Use of an incorrect e-mail address.

    I am the company/agency representative, but I cannot submit a disclosure.

    In order to submit a disclosure you must use the Add/ Manage Accounts to make yourself a Supervisor and Data Submitter if you are an Operator, or a User if you are a Service Company or State Agency. If you select Add/ Manage Accounts you will see a button in the top center of the screen that says Make Me a Supervisor, Make Me a Data Submitter, or Make Me a User. If you click that button you will be assigned to this/ those roles and your Dashboard will change to reflect all of the functions available to that class of user.


    When I attempt to register the system tells me I cannot use the e-mail address I have entered.

    The most likely cause of this error is that the e-mail has either been submitted for registration before or is already in use by another user. E-mail addresses must be unique. Try to register using another e-mail address.


    The system doesn't have any way for me to change the company representative.

    Since the company representative is the highest ranking person in the company as far as the FracFocus system is concerned, this person can only be changed by the FracFocus system manager. If you need to change a company representative, contact fracfocus@gwpc.org.


    When I enter a disclosure using the form in FracFocus I get Warnings and Errors when a validate the disclosure. Will this prevent me from submitting the record?

    Warnings will not prevent submission of a record. However, Errors will. Warnings are designed to let you know that one or more of your entries does not match the standard format of a FracFocus field (e.g. Improper CAS number format). These Warnings should be checked but they will not prevent submission of a record. Errors must be corrected before a disclosure can be submitted.


    Why do I get an upload failure message when I submit my xml file?
    1. The first 3 lines and last 2 lines of the xml file do not appear as follows at a minimum:
      1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
      2. -<FracFocus2_0 xmlns="FracFocus2_0.xsd" >
      3. -<FractureJob>
      4. ...
      5. </FractureJob>
      6. </FracFocus2_0>
    2. There is a null value in a required field (E.g. Datum), OR
    3. This is a blank tag in a numeric element such as TVD – True Vertical Depth

    FracFocus says my well location is not within the county boundaries but I know it is not. What could be the problem?

    FracFocus uses a bounding box surrounding the identified county of the well to test the location spot provided for the well. The wells location is required to be entered in Decimal Degrees. The validation test is to make sure that the well is located within the county identified from the API Well Number. Many times an operator will have the well’s location reported to them in a format know as Degrees-Minutes-Seconds (D-M-S) and that location may appear as:


    NAD83:
    Lat: 32o06’03.458”
    Long: 101o39’04.112”


    The above format is not correct for entering into FracFocus. We have seen a number of operators try to enter this information in as 32.0603458 and -101.3904112. Again this would be incorrect. The proper way is to convert the above information from Degrees, Minutes and Seconds to Decimal Degrees. There are a number of conversion tools available for free on the internet.


    By entering the above numbers into the conversion tool we get the following Lat/Long in Decimal Degrees that can be entered into FracFocus.


    NAD83:
    Lat: 32.100961
    Long: 101.651142