Courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/deccgovuk/
Courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/deccgovuk/

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -€” A lawmaker says legislation that would have jump started hydraulic fracturing in Illinois doesn’t have enough votes to move forward.

State Rep. David Reis is a Willow Hill Republican. He made the comments at the state Capitol Wednesday.

The proposal to skip a rulemaking process by the Department of Natural Resources was filed last week near the one-year anniversary of the Legislature’s authorization of the oil and gas drilling method. The DNR has spent months holding hearings and gathering comments on the best way to regulate the drilling method.

The bill also would have established a moratorium on fracking in northern Illinois counties. Reis said the moratorium made the legislation problematic for some northern Illinois lawmakers.

Lawmakers are now asking the DNR to speed up the rulemaking process.

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)