Senate Bill No. 594

(By Senators Kessler (Mr. President), Unger and Cann)

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[Introduced February 14, 2014; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §22-15-24, relating to allowing the disposal of drill cuttings and associated drilling waste in commercial solid waste facilities; requiring solid waste authority, Public Service Commission and Department of Environmental Protection approval; requiring siting plan or an amendment to an existing siting plan; requiring a certificate of need or an amendment to an existing certificate of need; authorizing solid waste facilities currently receiving drilling wastes to continue under certain circumstances; and requiring Department of Environmental Protection to set standards, by rule, for cell liners, leachate systems, leachate management and treatment.

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 §22-15-24, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 15. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT.

§22-15-24. Authorizing drill cuttings and waste be deposited in solid waste facilities; conditions; rulemaking.

    (a) A commercial solid waste facility may lawfully receive drill cuttings and associated drilling waste generated from horizontal well sites only if the following conditions are met:

    (1) The drill cuttings and associated drilling waste are placed in a separate cell dedicated solely to the disposal of drilling waste;

    (2) The cell is specifically authorized at the location of the facility by the local commercial solid waste facility siting plan, or an amendment thereto, promulgated in accordance with section twenty-four, article four, chapter twenty-two-c of this code and its implementing rules, regardless of whether that section would otherwise require the siting plan to specifically address the cell;

    (3) The cell is specifically authorized by a certificate of need, or an amendment to an existing certificate of need, issued by the Public Service Commission as provided in section one-c, article two, chapter twenty-four of this code; and

    (4) The cell for drilling waste meets the standards established by the Department of Environmental Protection as provided in subsection (e) of this section.

    (b) Any Class A solid waste facility that has obtained a certificate of need for the operation of a separate cell for drill cuttings and associated waste at the time of the enactment of the amendments to this section has met the requirements of subdivision (4), subsection (a) of this section.

    (c) Any Class A facility that was, at the time of the enactment of this section, accepting drill cuttings and associated waste may, with the consent of the Department of Environmental Protection, continue to accept the waste until the first occurring of the following:

    (1) September 30, 2014;

    (2) The applicable solid waste authority’s denial of the facility’s request to amend the local commercial solid waste facility siting plan; or

    (3) The Public Service Commission’s denial of the facility’s application for a certificate of need.

    (d) A permit or certificate of need authorizing the construction or operation of a separate cell for drill cuttings and associated waste may authorize a solid waste facility to accept more solid waste per month than would otherwise be allowed for that facility by sections eight and nine of this article, but only by that amount necessary to allow the separate cell to accept the quantity of drill cutting waste authorized by the applicable commercial solid waste facility siting plan. Any siting plan authorizing a separate cell for drill cuttings and associated waste shall specify the maximum quantity of the waste, in tons per month, that may be accepted at the separate cell. Any siting plan authorizing a separate cell for drilling waste that does not specify a maximum quantity authorizes only the quantity the facility could otherwise accept within the limits imposed by said sections eight and nine. As used in this section, the term "solid waste" has the same meaning given to it in section two, article four, chapter twenty-two-c of this code and includes drill cuttings and associated waste that are disposed of in a separate cell.

    (e) The Department of Environmental Protection shall propose emergency and legislative rules to establish standards for cell liners, leachate systems, leachate treatment and continued leachate testing for new solid waste facility cells for drill cuttings and associated wastes, which are sufficient to protect human health and the environment.

    NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow the disposal of drill cuttings and associated drilling waste generated from horizontal well sites in commercial solid waste facilities upon approval of the local or regional solid waste authority, PSC and DEP.

    DEP has authorized solid waste facilities to accept drill cuttings and associated waste in excess of current tonnage caps established by local solid waste authorities in siting plans. DEP has not established standards for cell liners or leachate control or monitoring.

    The bill allows those Class A landfills that are taking the drill cutting and associated waste to continue to accept them under certain conditions. The bill requires disposal in a separate cell dedicated solely for those wastes. It requires DEP to establish standards for cell liners, leachate systems, leachate treatment and continued leachate testing, by rule, that will protect human health and the environment.

    This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.