"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday it will develop rules for the booming shale gas industry to dispose of its wastewater, which has been linked to polluted surface water.

The move is one of several that signal the Obama administration plans to push ahead with regulating whatever aspects of shale gas production fall under its authority.

'Where we know problems exist, the EPA will not hesitate to protect Americans whose health may be at risk,' said Cynthia Dougherty, a water regulator with the EPA, at a congressional hearing on water resources and shale gas production.

The EPA said it would propose rules for shale gas wastewater in 2014, while regulations for the disposal of coal-bed methane wastewater would come a year earlier in 2013."

Ayesha Rascoe reports for Reuters October 11, 2011. [2]