HB2597 HEIL AM 3-20

    Delegates J Nelson and R Phillips move to amend the bill on page six, following section four, by inserting the following:

“ARTICLE 1C. ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION OF OIL AND NATURAL GAS     PRODUCED AND USED WITHIN THE STATE.

§22-1C-1. Short title.

    This article may be cited as the “Intrastate Oil and Natural Gas and Use Act."

§22-1C-2. Authority.

    The Legislature declares that the authority for this article is as follows:

    (1) The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the Constitution and reserves to the state and people of West Virginia certain powers as they were understood at the time that West Virginia was admitted to statehood in 1863. The guaranty of those powers is a matter of contract between the state and people of West Virginia and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by West Virginia and the United States in 1863.

    (2) The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees to the people rights not granted in the Constitution and reserves to the people of West Virginia certain rights as they were understood at the time that West Virginia was admitted to statehood in 1863. The guaranty of those rights is a matter of contract between the state and people of West Virginia and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by West Virginia and the United States in 1863.

    (3) Section two, Article I of the West Virginia Constitution, states: “The government of the United States is a government of enumerated powers, and all powers not delegated to it, nor inhibited to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people thereof.” Specifically enumerated among those “powers so reserved to the states is the exclusive regulation of their own internal government and police; and it is the high and solemn duty of the several departments of government, created by this Constitution, to guard and protect the people of this state from all encroachments upon the rights so reserved.”

    (4) The regulation of intrastate commerce, including the natural environment as affected by intrastate business, is vested in the states under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and is specifically retained by the State of West Virginia according to Section 2, Article I of the West Virginia Constitution.

§22-1C-3. Definitions.

    As used in this article, the following definitions apply:

    (1) "Borders of West Virginia” means the boundaries of the State of West Virginia described in Section 1, Article II of the West Virginia Constitution.

    (2) The term "gas well" means those operations and facilities producing natural gas from the substrata of real property.

    (3) The term "oil well" means those operations and facilities producing oil from the substrata of real property.

§22-1C-4. Requirements.

    (a) In light of the above findings, environmental regulation in West Virginia for all purposes of regulating business activity performed in West Virginia, when the products of such business activities are held, maintained, or retained within the borders of West Virginia, is the principal responsibility of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

    (b) Any West Virginia oil or gas well producing oil or natural gas which is used commercially or privately in West Virginia and which is consumed or otherwise remains within the borders of West Virginia shall be issued a permit to operate by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection once the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has certified that the oil or gas well and any associated facilities are compliant with all applicable state and federal laws or state and federal regulation.    (c) The Legislature declares that the United States Environmental Protection Agency, acting under the color of authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce, lacks the authority to deny permits of operation to these oil and gas wells and facilities as the products of these wells and facilities have not traveled in interstate commerce.

    (d) This article applies to oil and natural gas produced in West Virginia.

    (e) This article applies only to the issuance of a permit of operation to an oil or gas well, the issuance of which permit is required by the Clean Water Act or by another equivalent state or federal statute or regulation. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the effect of any other state or federal statute or regulation.”;

    And by striking out the enacting section in its entirety and and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

    “That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §22-1B-1, §22-1B-2, §22-1B-3 and §22-1B-4; and that said code be amended by adding ther to a new article, designated §22-1C-1, §22-1C-2, §22-1C-3 and §22-1C-4, all to read as follows:”.