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Introduced Version House Bill 3051 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 3051


          (By Delegate Boggs)
          [Introduced March 22, 2013; referred to the
          Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]




A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §22-6-42, relating to fees charged for natural gas drilling waste fluids injected into underground injection control well s; requiring record keeping; defining a term; providing criminal penalties; setting forth how the proceeds from the fees may be used; and authorizing rulemaking.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
     That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §22-6-42, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. OFFICE OF OIL AND GAS; OIL AND GAS WELLS; ADMINISTRATION; ENFORCEMENT.
§22-6-42. Underground injection control well waste assessment __fee; penalties.
_(a)
Imposition of fee. -- An underground injection control well fee is levied and imposed upon the disposal of waste from natural gas drilling operations at any underground injection control well in this state in the amount of:
_(1) Five cents per forty-two gallon barrel, or like ratio of any part of a barrel, of waste that is delivered to a well to be injected in the well when the waste is produced within the state, except as provided in subsection (e) of this section; and
_(2) Twenty cents per forty-two gallon barrel, or like ratio of any part of a barrel, of waste that is delivered to a well to be injected in the well when the waste is produced outside the state, except as provided in subsection (e) of this section.
_The fee imposed by this section is in addition to all other fees and taxes levied by law and shall be added to and constitute part of any other fee charged by the operator or owner of the underground injection control well.
_(b)
Collection, return, payment and records. -- The person or entity injecting the waste from natural gas drilling operations at the underground injection control well shall pay the fee imposed by this section, whether or not that person or entity owns the waste from natural gas drilling operations, to the Tax Commissioner:
_(1) The fee imposed by this section accrues at the time the waste is delivered to the underground injection control well;
_(2) The operator shall remit the fee imposed by this section to the Tax Commissioner on or before the fifteenth day of the month next succeeding the month in which the fee accrued. When remitting the fee, the operator shall file returns on forms and in the manner prescribed by the Tax Commissioner;
_(3) The operator shall account to the state for all fees collected under this section and shall hold them in trust for the state until they are remitted to the Tax Commissioner;
_(4) If any operator fails to collect the fee imposed by this section, he or she is personally liable for the amount he or she failed to collect, plus applicable additions to tax, penalties and interest imposed by article ten, chapter eleven of this code;
_(5) Whenever any operator fails to collect, truthfully account for, remit the fee or file returns with the fee as required in this section, the Tax Commissioner may serve written notice requiring the operator to collect the fees which become collectible after service of the notice, to deposit the fees in a bank approved by the Tax Commissioner, in a separate account, in trust for and payable to the Tax Commissioner, and to keep the amount of the fees in the account until remitted to the Tax Commissioner. The notice shall remain in effect until a notice of cancellation is served on the operator or owner by the Tax Commissioner;
_(6) Whenever the owner of an underground injection control well leases the underground injection control well to an operator, the operator is primarily liable for collection and remittance of the fee imposed by this section and the owner is secondarily liable for remittance of the fee imposed by this section. However, if the operator fails, in whole or in part, to discharge his or her obligations under this section, the owner and the operator of the underground injection control well are jointly and severally responsible and liable for compliance with this section;
_(7) If the operator or owner responsible for collecting the fee imposed by this section is an association or corporation, the officers of the association or corporation are liable, jointly and severally, for any default on the part of the association or corporation, and payment of the fee and any additions to tax, penalties and interest imposed by article ten, chapter eleven of this code may be enforced against them as against the association or corporation which they represent; and
_(8) Each person disposing of waste from natural gas drilling operations at an underground injection control well and each person required to collect the fee imposed by this section shall keep complete and accurate records in the form required by the Tax Commissioner in accordance with the rules of the Tax Commissioner.
_(c)
Definitions. -- For purposes of this section, the term "underground injection control well" means any shaft or hole sunk, drilled, bored or dug into the earth or into underground strata for the injection or placement of any liquid or gas, or any shaft or hole sunk or used in conjunction with such injection or placement. The term "well" does not include any shaft or hole sunk, drilled, bored or dug into the earth for the sole purpose of core drilling or pumping or extracting therefrom potable, fresh or usable water for household, domestic, industrial, agricultural or public use.
_(d)
Procedure and administration. -- Notwithstanding section three, article ten, chapter eleven of this code, all other provisions of the "West Virginia Tax Procedure and Administration Act" as set forth in article ten, chapter eleven of this code apply to the fee imposed by this section with like effect as if the act were applicable only to the fee imposed by this section and were set forth in extenso in this section.
_(e)
Criminal penalties. -- Notwithstanding section two, article nine, chapter eleven of this code, sections three through seventeen, article nine, chapter eleven of this code apply to the fee imposed by this section with like effect as if the sections were applicable only to the fee imposed by this section and were set forth in extenso in this section.
_(f)
Dedication of proceeds. -- The proceeds of the fees collected pursuant to this article from any underground injection control well pursuant shall be remitted, at least monthly, to the county commission in the county in which the underground injection control well is located. The county commission may use these proceeds only for infrastructure and/or recreation projects.
_(g)
Rule making. -- The secretary and Tax Commissioner are authorized to propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code necessary to effectuate this section.


 NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create an underground injection control well assessment fee for operators injecting waste from natural gas drilling operations. The bill requires record keeping, defines a term, provides criminal penalties and authorizes rule making. The bill requires the proceeds from the fee collected by the tax department to be remitted to the county commission of the county in which the underground injection control well is located. The bill permits the county commissions to use the proceeds from the fees for only infrastructure and/or recreation projects.


 This section is new; therefore, it has been completely underscored.
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