Zirogiannis Nikolaos and others

U.S. production of unconventional natural gas has increased rapidly over the last decade, and triggered public concerns about a variety of related risks. This analysis develops a framework for comparing states based on how intensely they regulate unconventional gas development. The results indicate that, even though there is significant heterogeneity in state regulatory systems, there exist clusters of states that are consistently ranked at the top or the bottom along a continuum of regulatory stringency. States such as West Virginia, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico and Pennsylvania are found at the top of this scale, while at the lower end we find California, Tennessee, Mississippi and Montana.