SB287 SUB1/cfb
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 287
(By Senators Wooton and Love)
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[Originating in the Committee on Natural Resources;
reported February 14, 1995.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article three, chapter
twenty-two-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the
environmental quality board; rule-making authority;
authorizing the promulgation of rules granting site specific
variances for water quality standards for coal remining
operations; definitions; procedures for granting of
variances; public comment; and public hearing.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article three, chapter twenty-two-b of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY BOARD.
§22B-3-4. Environmental quality board rule-making authority.
(a) In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter and
chapter twenty-two of this code, the board shall promulgate
legislative rules setting standards of water quality applicable
to both the surface waters and groundwaters of this state:
Provided, That the board may establish alternative rulemaking
procedures for granting a variance from numeric water quality
standards of pH, iron, and manganese for remined areas of coal
remining operations. "Coal remining operations" means coal
mining operations which began after the fourth day of February,
one thousand nine hundred eighty-seven, at sites on which coal
mining was conducted before the third day of August, one thousand
nine hundred seventy-seven. The board will grant or deny such a
variance from the standards in accordance with procedures which
will be incorporated into the board's procedural regulations for
the revision of water quality standards (46-CSR-6) on or before
the first day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five. At
a minimum, the procedures for granting or denying a remining
variance will describe the data and information to be submitted
to the board by the applicant for such variance, will include criteria employed by the board in its decision, and provide for
a public comment period and public hearing on the board's
decision. The board may not grant a variance without a
demonstration by the applicant that the coal remining operation
will result in the potential for improved instream water quality
as a result of the remining operation. The board may not grant
a variance where the board determines that degradation of the
instream water quality will result from the remining operation.
(b) Standards of quality with respect to surface waters
shall be such as to protect the public health and welfare,
wildlife, fish and aquatic life, and the present and prospective
future uses of such water for domestic, agricultural, industrial,
recreational, scenic and other legitimate beneficial uses
thereof.
(c) No rule of the board may specify the design of
equipment, type of construction or particular method which a
person shall use to reduce the discharge of a pollutant.
(d) Except for the alternate procedures provided for in
subsection (a) of this section, the board shall promulgate
legislative rules setting water quality standards in accordance
with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code and the declaration of policy set forth in section two,
article eleven, chapter twenty-two of this code.