Rules were issued last week by the Interior Department to set standards for hydraulic fracturing. The new rules are aimed at strengthening protections for human health and the environment.

The reactions to the new rules were predictable: some environmentalists said they weren’t strict enough while the oil and gas industry immediately filed a lawsuit, saying the rules were burdensome.

On their own, the new rules would seem to have a relatively small impact because they apply only to oil and gas fracking on federal lands, which represents only about 10 percent of the fracking activity in the United States.

The new rules address several areas often targeted by opponents of fracking. One part would require toxic fluids from fracking wastewater be stored in covered tanks, as opposed to the more common method of storing wastewater in open pits. Another part of the rules would require inspection of the concrete casings used in wells to ensure adequate installation. The idea is that competent concrete work reduces the chance of fluids leaking into groundwater.

Another part of the new rules will require that a listing of the chemicals mixed with the water and sand used in fracking fluid.

For years, the oil and gas industry has fought disclosure of the chemicals they use in fracking mixtures, claiming it’s proprietary. But that claim is met with skepticism — and the commonsense belief that health officials and water treatment plant operators should know what they could be dealing with in the event of an accident or spill.

Even if the industry has grounds for seeking minor changes to the proposed rules, the new rules do address a need and could serve as a foundation for national standards.

The limited reach of the Interior Department’s new rule, controlling only the small percentage drilling on federal land, should evolve into a de facto national standard. Rather than state lawmakers in a dozen or more states doing their own research and setting their own standards, the idea of national standards makes sense.

The oil and gas industry, despite its lawsuit, might actually be better off with national standards for fracking. This is especially true for the larger companies with gas and oil operations in multiple states. It should be simpler and less costly for them to conform to one national set of rules rather than adjust operations for each of the different states in which they operate.

The new rules’ impact on costs should be minimal. The Interior Department estimates the new regulations would add about $5,500 to the cost of each fracked well. That is a small percentage of the total cost of drilling a well.

By following federal standards, the gas and oil industry could improve its public image, which is clouded by news-making accidents, spills and claims of water contamination.

The federal rules are the result of several years of work, involving consultaations with oil and gas companies, and discussions with conservationists. Some 1.5 million public comments were also viewed as part of the process.

As head of the Interior Department, Sally Jewell brings credibility as a mechanical engineer who spent several years working in the oil fields of Oklahoma.

Jewell was right when she noted that existing regulations for oil and gas production are decades old and have not been updated to reflect the latest technologies of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, which have fueled the current oil and gas boom in the United States.

Small adjustments to the rules might be warranted, but ultimately the industry should accept the federal rules as a foundation for national standards to make oil and gas fracking safer and to reverse the negative publicity tied to well-site accidents and spills.