Hey welcome,
I have no idea either. It's very confusing so I'm not sure about it. The BAPE provides guidance, but it's up to the government to come up with the final decision.
I'm pretty positive that the industry will let the government know that they have to frac in order to get more information on the shale, and they won't be paying for studying it...the government isn't stupid and they'll find some common ground imo.