State Sen. Corey Palumbo (D-Kanawha) explains the Governor’s Marcellus Shale bill. (Photo/Steven Allen Adams)

By Steven Allen Adams | West Virginia Watchdog

CHARLESTON — Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s Marcellus Shale bill has passed one chamber, but it still has a ways to go.

The West Virginia Senate passed the committee substitute for the Governor’s Marcellus Shale bill this morning unanimously, with state Sen. Karen Facemyer (R-Jackson) absent.

“I’m not shocked we passed it,” said Senate President Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall). “I felt that we would pass a bill and now we’ll see what happens on the House side.”

The bill was amended several times. First, a strike-and-insert amendment was passed, making technical changes to the bill. State Sen. Larry Edgell (D-Wetzel) sponsored four amendments that passed. Edgell’s amendments require operators to notify surface owners of planned entry of the property between seven and 45 days and exempting any agreement between surface owner and operator from the bill’s requirements.

Another amendment by Edgell makes surface owners and mineral rights owners equal. Several groups, including the West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization, were upset that the Governor’s bill eliminates protections passed in 1981 making surface owners and mineral owners equal. Prior to 1981, surface owners were servient to mineral rights owners.

Another issue that upset the surface owners was lack of requirements for operators to file notice of permit applications in local newspapers. Instead, the permit application notices would be published on a website maintained by the Department of Environmental Protection. An amendment, sponsored by Majority Leader John Unger (D-Berkeley) and Sen. Gregory Tucker (D-Nicholas), requires operators to have notifications published in the county newspapers with information about the DEP website.

“It will establish a regulatory framework that can be moved from area to area, from county to county, from region to region of the state,” Kessler said.

The Governor’s bill applies to any horizontal well that disturbs three or more acres and used over 210,000 gallons of water within 30 days. It sets a $10,000 permit fee for the first well and $5,000 for each additional well. Drillers would have to submit a water management plan detailing there their water comes from, expected volume, plans to dispose of the water, and require a listing of additives.

Companies would have to notify surface owners before filing a permit of their intent to survey between 72 hours and 45 days. Permits and filing would be published on a website maintained by the Department of Environmental Protection. Surface owners would get seven days notice before commencement of well work. The Bill establishes a 625-foot buffer zone between well sites and homes or agricultural structures.

After a nearly five-hour committee meeting yesterday, seven amendments were passed, requiring operators to notify surface owners by certified mail of intention to drill on the property, requiring the operator to find the physical address if the the address of record is a lien holder, requiring mineral owners be notified of intent to drill, requiring the DEP  to report any waiver of minimum requirements on a yearly basis, grandfathering in wells that already have a permit and well applications, and exempting them from the new bill.

Kessler said today’s action was a culmination of over two years of work. An interim committee studied Marcellus regulations for over two years. Last year the Senate considered a Marcellus bill last year and passed it. The the Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale studied the issue for several months before issuing draft legislation last month. The draft legislation provided the base for the Governor’s bill.

“It wasn’t a bill that was just sprung on us,” Kessler said. “It’s been a
topic that I think every member of this body is fully acquainted with
at this point.”

“Now everybody knows exactly the opportunities, the challenges, the unique characteristics of this industry,” he said.

The bill will now be considered by the House of Delegates. The House Judiciary Committee will review their version of the Governor’s bill at 1 p.m. today.

Listen to the full audio of Kessler’s remarks by clicking here.

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• West Virginia Marcellus Shale bill has busy day at the Legislature (video) (westvirginia.watchdog.org)
• West Virginia’s Marcellus Shale special session begins (audio) (westvirginia.watchdog.org)