Introduced Version
House Bill 2136 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2136
(By Delegate Manypenny)
[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary the Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §22-6A-10 and §22-6A-11 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to providing
landowners of property adjacent to proposed well sites copies
of the application, the erosion and sediment control plan and
the well plat by personal service, registered mail or other
method requiring a receipt or signature confirmation; giving
notice to the public and those required to receive written
notice of a proposed permit of their option to request a
hearing on a proposed permit; requiring the secretary to
consider all comments submitted; and authorizing the secretary
to call and hold a public hearing.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §22-6A-10 and §22-6A-11 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6A. NATURAL GAS HORIZONTAL WELL CONTROL ACT.
§22-6A-10. Notice to property owners.
(a) Prior to filing a permit application, the operator shall
provide notice of planned entry on to the surface tract to conduct
any plat surveys required pursuant to this article. Such The notice
shall be provided at least seven days but no more than forty-five
days prior to such the entry to: (1) The surface owner of such the
tract; (2) to any owner or lessee of coal seams beneath such the
tract that has filed a declaration pursuant to section thirty-six,
article six, chapter twenty-two of this code; and (3) any owner of
minerals underlying such the tract in the county tax records. The
notice shall include a statement that copies of the state Erosion
and Sediment Control Manual and the statutes and rules related to
oil and gas exploration and production may be obtained from the
secretary, which statement shall include contact information,
including the address for a web page on the secretary's website, to
enable the surface owner to obtain copies from the secretary.
(b) No later than the filing date of the application, the
applicant for a permit for any well work or for a certificate of
approval for the construction of an impoundment or pit as required
by this article shall deliver, by personal service or by registered
mail or by any method of delivery that requires a receipt or
signature confirmation, copies of the application, the erosion and
sediment control plan required by section seven of this article,
and the well plat to each of the following persons:
(1) The owners of record of the surface of the tract on which
the well is or is proposed to be located;
(2) The owners of record of the surface tract or tracts
overlying the oil and gas leasehold being developed by the proposed
well work, if the surface tract is to be used for roads or other
land disturbance as described in the erosion and sediment control
plan submitted pursuant to subsection (c), section seven of this
article;
(3) The coal owner, operator or lessee, in the event the tract
of land on which the well proposed to be drilled is located is
known to be underlain by one or more coal seams;
(4) The owners of record of the surface tract or tracts
overlying the oil and gas leasehold being developed by the proposed
well work, if the surface tract is to be used for the placement,
construction, enlargement, alteration, repair, removal or
abandonment of any impoundment or pit as described in section nine
of this article;
(5) Any surface owner or water purveyor who is known to the
applicant to have a water well, spring or water supply source
located within one thousand five hundred feet of the center of the
well pad which is used to provide water for consumption by humans
or domestic animals; and
(6) The operator of any natural gas storage field within which
the proposed well work activity is to take place; and
_____(7) Adjacent landowners to those identified in subdivisions
(1), (2), (4) and (5) of this subsection.
(c) (1) If more than three tenants in common or other co-
owners of interests described in subsection (b) of this section
hold interests in the lands, the applicant may serve the documents
required upon the person described in the records of the sheriff
required to be maintained pursuant to section eight, article one,
chapter eleven-a of this code.
(2) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the
contrary, notice to a lien holder is not notice to a landowner,
unless the lien holder is the landowner.
(d) With respect to surface landowners identified in
subsection (b) or water purveyors identified in subdivision (5),
subsection (b) of this section, notification shall be made on forms
and in a manner prescribed by the secretary sufficient to identify,
for those persons, the rights afforded them under sections eleven
and twelve of this article, and the opportunity for testing their
water well.
(e) Prior to filing an application for a permit for a
horizontal well under this article, the applicant shall publish in
the county in which the well is located or is proposed to be
located a Class II legal advertisement as described in section two,
article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, containing notice
of the public website required to be established and maintained pursuant to section twenty-one of this article and language
indicating the ability of the public to submit written comments and
request a public hearing on the proposed permit, with the first
publication date being at least ten days prior to the filing of the
permit application. The secretary shall consider, in the same
manner required by subsection (f), section eight of this article
and subdivision one (1), subsection (c), section eleven of this
article, written comments submitted in response to the legal
advertisement received by the secretary within thirty days
following the last required publication date. Provided, That such
parties Parties submitting written comments pursuant to this
subsection are not entitled to participate in the processes and
proceedings that exist under sections fifteen, seventeen or forty,
article six of this chapter, as applicable and incorporated into
this article by section five of this article. The secretary may,
however, call and hold a public hearing at the request of parties
submitting comments pursuant to this subsection or at the request
of parties required to receive notice under subsection (b) of this
section.
(f) Materials served upon persons described in subsection (b)
of this section shall contain a statement of the time limits for
filing written comments, who may file written comments, the name
and address of the secretary for the purpose of filing the comments
and obtaining additional information, and a statement that the persons may request, at the time of submitting written comments,
notice of the permit decision and a list of persons qualified to
test water.
(g) Any person entitled to submit written comments to the
secretary pursuant to subsection (a), section eleven of this
article and subsection (e) of this section shall also be entitled
to request a public hearing and to receive from the secretary a
copy of the permit as issued or a copy of the order modifying or
denying the permit if the person requests receipt of them as a part
of the written comments submitted concerning the permit
application.
(h) The surface owners described in subdivisions (1), (2), and
(4), (5) and (7), subsection (b) of this section, and the coal
owner, operator or lessee described in subdivision (3) of that
subsection is also entitled to receive notice within seven days
but no less than two days before commencement that well work or
site preparation work that involves any disturbance of land is
expected to commence.
(i) Persons entitled to notice pursuant to subsection (b) of
this section may contact the department to ascertain the names and
locations of water testing laboratories in the subject area capable
and qualified to test water supplies in accordance with standard
accepted methods. In compiling that list of names the department
shall consult with the state Bureau for Public Health and local health departments.
(j) (1) Prior to conducting any seismic activity for seismic
exploration for natural gas to be extracted using horizontal
drilling methods, the company or person performing the activity
shall provide notice to Miss Utility of West Virginia Inc. and to
all surface owners, coal owners and lessees, and natural gas
storage field operators on whose property blasting, percussion or
other seismic-related activities will occur. This notice shall
also be provided to surface owners whose property is adjacent to
property where blasting, percussion or other seismic-related
activities will occur.
(2) The notice shall be provided at least three days prior to
commencement of the seismic activity.
(3) The notice shall also include a reclamation plan in
accordance with the erosion and sediment control manual that
provides for the reclamation of any areas disturbed as a result of
the seismic activity, including filling of shotholes used for
blasting.
(4) Nothing in this subsection decides questions as to whether
seismic activity may be secured by mineral owners, surface owners
or other ownership interests.
§22-6A-11. Procedure for filing written comments; procedures for
considering objections and comments; issues to be
considered; and newspaper notice.
(a) All persons described in subsection (b) subsections (b)
and (e), section ten of this article may file written comments with
the secretary as to the location or construction of the applicant's
proposed well work within thirty days after the application is
filed with the secretary.
(b) The applicant shall tender proof of and certify to the
secretary that the notice requirements of section ten of this
article have been completed by the applicant. The certification of
notice to the person may be made by affidavit of personal service,
the return receipt card or other postal receipt for certified
mailing.
(c) (1) The secretary shall promptly review all written
comments filed by the persons entitled to notice under subsection
(b), section ten of this article and persons filing comments under
subsection (e), section ten of this article. The secretary may
call and hold a public hearing if requested. The secretary shall
notify the applicant of the character of the written comments
submitted no later than fifteen days after the close of the comment
period and notify the applicant if a public hearing has been
called.
(2) Any objections of the affected coal operators and coal
seam owners and lessees shall be addressed through the processes
and procedures that exist under sections fifteen, seventeen and
forty, article six of this chapter, as applicable and as incorporated into this article by section five of this article.
The written comments filed by the parties entitled to notice under
subdivisions (1), (2), (4), (5), and (6) and (7), subsection (b),
section ten of this article and comments filed by persons described
in subsection (e), section ten of this article shall be considered
by the secretary in the permit issuance process but the parties are
not entitled to participate in the processes and proceedings that
exist under sections fifteen, seventeen or forty, article six of
this chapter, as applicable and as incorporated into this article
by section five of this article.
(3) The secretary shall retain all applications, plats and
other documents filed with the secretary, any proposed revisions
thereto, all notices given and proof of service thereof and all
orders issued and all permits issued. Subject to the provisions of
article one, chapter twenty-nine-b of this code, the record
prepared by the secretary is open to inspection by the public.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide landowners of
property adjacent to proposed well sites copies of the application,
the erosion and sediment control plan and the well plat by personal
service, registered mail or other method requiring a receipt or
signature confirmation; to provide notice to the public and those
required to receive written notice of a proposed permit of their
option to request a hearing on a proposed permit; to require the
secretary to consider all comments submitted; and to authorize the
secretary to call and hold a public hearing in response to hearing
requests or comments.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.