Introduced Version
House Bill 2114 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2114
(By Delegate Manypenny)
[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §22-6A-7 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to revocation of current and future
horizontal well permits when a driller or well operators
violates conditions or road bonds or other well pad and site
operating requirements.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §22-6A-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6A. NATURAL GAS HORIZONTAL WELL CONTROL ACT.
§22-6A-7. Horizontal well permit required; permit fee;
application; soil erosion control plan; well site
safety plan; site construction plan; water management
plan; permit fee; installation of permit number;
suspension revocation and denial of a permit.
(a) It is unlawful for any a person to commence any well work,
including site preparation work which involves any disturbance of
land, for a horizontal well without first securing from the
secretary a well work permit pursuant to this article.
(b) Every permit application filed under this section shall be
on a form as may be prescribed by the secretary, shall be verified
and shall contain the following information:
(1) The names and addresses of: (i) The well operator; (ii)
the agent required to be designated under subsection (h) of this
section; and (iii) every person whom the applicant shall notify
under any a section of this article, together with a certification
and evidence that a copy of the application and all other required
documentation has been delivered to all such persons;
(2) The names and addresses of every coal operator operating
coal seams under the tract of land on which the well is or may be
located, and the coal seam owner of record and lessee of record
required to be given notice by subdivision (6), subsection (a),
section five of this article, if any, if said owner or lessee is
not yet operating said coal seams;
(3) The number of the well or such other identification as the
secretary may require; other identification required by the
secretary.
(4) The well work for which a permit is requested;
(5) The approximate total depth to which the well is to be drilled or deepened, or the actual depth if the well has been
drilled; the proposed angle and direction of the well; the actual
depth or the approximate depth at which the well to be drilled
deviates from vertical, the angle and direction of the nonvertical
well bore until the well reaches its total target depth or its
actual final depth and the length and direction of any actual or
proposed horizontal lateral or well bore;
(6) Each formation in which the well will be completed if
applicable;
(7) A description of any means used to stimulate the well;
(8) If the proposed well work will require casing or tubing to
be set, the entire casing program for the well, including the size
of each string of pipe, the starting point and depth to which each
string is to be set and the extent to which each such string is to
be cemented;
(9) If the proposed well work is to convert an existing well,
all information required by this section, all formations from which
production is anticipated and any plans to plug any portion of the
well;
(10) If the proposed well work is to plug or replug the well,
all information necessary to demonstrate compliance with the
legislative rules promulgated by the secretary in accordance with
section thirteen of this article;
(11) If the proposed well work is to stimulate a horizontal well, all information necessary to demonstrate compliance with the
requirements of subdivision (7), subsection (a), section five of
this article;
(12) The erosion and sediment control plan required under
subsection (c) of this section for applications for permits to
drill;
(13) A well site safety plan to address proper safety measures
to be employed for the protection of persons on the site as well as
the general public. The plan shall encompass all aspects of the
operation, including the actual well work for which the permit was
obtained, completion activities and production activities and shall
provide an emergency point of contact for the well operator. The
well operator shall provide a copy of the well site safety plan to
the local emergency planning committee established pursuant to
section seven, article five-a, chapter fifteen of this code, for
the emergency planning district in which the well work will occur
at least seven days before commencement of well work or site
preparation work that involves any disturbance of land;
(14) A certification from the operator that: (i) It has
provided the owners of the surface described in subdivisions (1),
(2) and (4), subsection (b), section ten of this article, the
information required by subsections (b) and (c), section sixteen of
this article; (ii) that the requirement was deemed satisfied as a
result of giving the surface owner notice of entry to survey pursuant to subsection (a), section ten of this article; or (iii)
the notice requirements of subsection (b), section sixteen of this
article were waived in writing by the surface owner; and
(15) Any other relevant information which the secretary may
reasonably require.
(c) (1) An erosion and sediment control plan shall accompany
each application for a well work permit under this article. The
plan shall contain methods of stabilization and drainage, including
a map of the project area indicating the amount of acreage
disturbed. The erosion and sediment control plan shall meet the
minimum requirements of the West Virginia Erosion and Sediment
Control Manual as adopted and from time to time amended by the
department. The erosion and sediment control plan shall become
part of the terms and conditions of any well work permit that is
issued pursuant to this article and the provisions of the plan
shall be carried out where applicable in the operation. The
erosion and sediment control plan shall set out the proposed method
of reclamation which shall comply with the requirements of section
fourteen of this article.
(2) For well sites that disturb three acres or more of
surface, excluding pipelines, gathering lines and roads, the
erosion and sediment control plan submitted in accordance with this
section shall be certified by a registered professional engineer.
(d) For well sites that disturb three acres or more of surface, excluding pipelines, gathering lines and roads, the
operator shall submit a site construction plan, that shall be
certified by a registered professional engineer and that contains
information that the secretary may require by rule.
(e) In addition to the other requirements of this section, if
the drilling, fracturing or stimulating of the horizontal well
requires the use of water obtained by withdrawals from waters of
this state in amounts that exceed two hundred ten thousand gallons
during any thirty day period, the application for a well work
permit shall include a water management plan, which may be
submitted on an individual well basis or on a watershed basis, and
which shall include the following information:
(1) The type of water source, such as surface or groundwater,
the county of each source to be used by the operation for water
withdrawals, and the latitude and longitude of each anticipated
withdrawal location;
(2) The anticipated volume of each water withdrawal;
(3) The anticipated months when water withdrawals will be
made;
(4) The planned management and disposition of wastewater after
completion from fracturing, refracturing, stimulation and
production activities;
(5) A listing of the anticipated additives that may be used in
water utilized for fracturing or stimulating the well. Upon well completion, a listing of the additives that were actually used in
the fracturing or stimulating of the well shall be submitted as
part of the completion log or report required by subdivision (14),
subsection (a), section five of this article;
(6) For all surface water withdrawals, a water management plan
that includes the information requested in subdivisions (1) through
(5) of this subsection and the following:
(A) Identification of the current designated and existing
water uses, including any public water intakes within one mile
downstream of the withdrawal location;
(B) For surface waters, a demonstration, using methods
acceptable to the secretary, that sufficient in-stream flow will be
available immediately downstream of the point of withdrawal. A
sufficient in-stream flow is maintained when a pass-by flow that is
protective of the identified use of the stream is preserved
immediately downstream of the point of withdrawal; and
(C) Methods to be used for surface water withdrawal to
minimize adverse impact to aquatic life; and
(7) This subsection is intended to be consistent with and does
not supersede, revise, repeal or otherwise modify articles eleven,
twelve or twenty-six of this chapter and does not revise, repeal or
otherwise modify the common law doctrine of riparian rights in West
Virginia law.
(f) An application may propose and a permit may approve two or more activities defined as well work, however, a separate permit
shall be obtained for each horizontal well drilled.
(g) The application for a permit under this section shall be
accompanied by the applicable bond as required by section fifteen
of this article, the applicable plat required by subdivision (6),
subsection (a), section five of this article and a permit fee of
$10,000 for the initial horizontal well drilled at a location and
a permit fee of $5,000 for each additional horizontal well drilled
on a single well pad at the same location.
(h) The well operator named in the application shall designate
the name and address of an agent for the operator who is the
attorney-in-fact for the operator and who is a resident of the
State of West Virginia upon whom notices, orders or other
communications issued pursuant to this article or article eleven of
this chapter may be served, and upon whom process may be served.
Every well operator required to designate an agent under this
section shall, within five days after the termination of the
designation, notify the secretary of the termination and designate
a new agent.
(i) The well owner or operator shall install the permit number
as issued by the secretary and a contact telephone number for the
operator in a legible and permanent manner to the well upon
completion of any permitted work. The dimensions, specifications,
and manner of installation shall be in accordance with the rules of the secretary.
(j) The secretary may waive the requirements of this section
and sections eight, ten, eleven and twenty-four of this article in
any emergency situation, if the secretary deems the action
necessary. In such case the secretary may issue an emergency
permit which is effective for not more than thirty days, unless
reissued by the secretary.
(k) The secretary shall deny the issuance of a permit if the
secretary determines that the applicant has committed a substantial
violation of violated a condition of a previously posted road bond
or a requirement of a previously issued permit for a horizontal
well, including the applicable erosion and sediment control plan
associated with the previously issued permit, or a substantial
violation of one or more of the rules promulgated under this
article, and in each instance has failed to abate or seek review of
the violation within the time prescribed by the secretary pursuant
to the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2), subsection (a),
section five of this article and the rules promulgated hereunder,
which time may not be unreasonable.
(l) In the event the secretary finds that a substantial
violation has occurred and that the operator has failed to abate or
seek review of the violation in the time prescribed, the secretary
may suspend the permit on which said violation exists, after which
suspension the operator shall forthwith cease all well work being conducted under the permit. However, the secretary may reinstate
the permit without further notice, at which time the well work may
be continued. If a driller or well operator violates conditions of
a road bond or other well pad or site operating requirements, the
secretary shall revoke the current permit and deny all future
permits. The secretary shall make written findings of any such
suspension revocation or denial and may enforce the same in the
circuit courts of this state. The operator may appeal a suspension
revocation or denial pursuant to the provisions of subdivision
(23), subsection (a), section five of this article. The secretary
shall make a written finding of any such determination.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require revocation of
permit and denial of future permits in the event a driller or well
operator violates conditions of a road bond or well pad or site
operating requirements.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.