Senate Bill No. 482
(By Senators Kessler and Stollings)
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[Introduced March 5, 2009; referred to the Committee on Energy,
Industry and Mining; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §5A-11-6 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §5B-2A-6 of said
code, all relating to prohibiting mining on cemetery land; and
including surface mining on cemeteries in community impact
statements.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5A-11-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §5B-2A-6 of said code be amended
and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 5A. DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION.
ARTICLE 11. PUBLIC LAND CORPORATION.
§5A-11-6. Competitive bidding and notice requirements before the
development or extraction of minerals on certain
lands; related standards.
(a) The corporation may enter into a lease or contract for the
development of minerals, including, but not limited to, coal, gas,
oil, sand or gravel on or under lands in which the corporation holds any right, title or interest.
Provided, That However, no
lease or contract may be entered into for the extraction and
removal of minerals by surface mining or auger mining of coal.
(b) With the exception of deep mining operations which are
already in progress and permitted as of July 5, 1989, the
extraction of coal by deep mining methods under state forests or
wildlife refuges may be permitted only if the lease or contract
provides that no entries, portals, air shafts or other incursions
upon and into the land incident to the mining operations may be
placed
or constructed upon the lands or within three thousand feet
of its boundary.
(c) Any lease or contract entered into by the corporation for
the development of minerals shall reserve to the state all rights
to subjacent surface support
with which the state
is seized or
possessed at the time of such lease or contract.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of the code to the
contrary, nothing herein may be construed to permit extraction of
minerals by any method from, on or under any state park or state
recreation area, nor the extraction of minerals by strip or auger
mining upon any state forest or wildlife refuge.
(e) The corporation may enter into a lease or contract for the
development of minerals where the lease or contract is not
prohibited by any other provisions of this code, only after
receiving sealed bids therefor, after notice by publication as a
Class II legal advertisement in compliance with
the provisions of
article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code. The area for publication shall be each county in which the minerals are located.
(f) The minerals so advertised may be leased or contracted for
development at not less than the fair market value, as determined
by an appraisal made by an independent person or firm chosen by the
corporation, to the highest responsible bidder, who shall give bond
for the proper performance of the contract or lease as the
corporation designates.
Provided, That However, the corporation
may reject any and all bids and to readvertise for bids.
(g) If
the provisions of this section
have has been complied
with, and no bid equal to or in excess of the fair market value is
received, the corporation may, at any time during a period of six
months after the opening of the bids, lease or contract for the
development of the minerals, but the
lease or contract price may
not be less than the fair market value.
(h) Any
lease or contract for the development of minerals
entered into after the effective date of this section shall be made
in accordance with
the provisions of this section and section five
of this article.
(i) The corporation will consult with the office of the
Attorney General to assist the corporation in carrying out the
provisions of this section.
(j) The corporation shall consult with an independent mineral
consultant and any other competent third parties with experience
and expertise in the leasing of minerals, to assist the corporation
in carrying out the provisions of this section, including
determining fair market value and negotiating terms and conditions of mineral leases.
(k) Once the lessee commences the production of minerals and
royalties become due and are paid to the Public Land Corporation,
the Public Land Corporation shall hire an independent auditing firm
to periodically review the lessee's books and accounts for
compliance of payment of appropriate royalties due the Public Land
Corporation for its minerals as produced under the lease agreement.
(l) Notwithstanding any other provisions of the code to the
contrary, nothing herein may be construed to permit extraction of
minerals by any method from, on or under any cemetery.
CHAPTER 5B. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1985.
ARTICLE 2A. OFFICE OF COALFIELD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
§5B-2A-6. Community impact statement.
(a)(1) The operator shall develop a community impact statement
as described in this section, which shall be submitted to the
office within sixty days of the filing of a surface-mining
application pursuant to
the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-two of this code. Failure to submit a community impact
statement to the office shall be considered a violation
under the
provisions of section seventeen, article three, chapter twenty-two
of this code; and
(2) The operator shall provide copies of the community impact
statement to the division's office of mining reclamation and office
of explosives and blasting and to the county commissions, county
clerks' offices and local or regional economic development
authorities of the areas to be affected by the surface-mining operations.
(b) The community impact statement, where practicable, shall
not be a highly technical or legalistic document, but shall be
written in a clear and concise manner understandable to all
citizens. The community impact statement shall include the
following:
(1) The amount and location of land to be mined or used in the
actual mining operations;
(2) The expected duration of the mining operations in each
area of the community;
(3) The extent of
known or knowable anticipated mining-related
property acquisitions;
to the extent that such acquisitions are
known or knowable
(4) The
known or knowable intentions of the surface and
mineral owners relative to the acquired property;
to the extent
that such intentions are known or knowable
(5) A statement of the post-mining land use for all land
within the permit boundary;
(6) The intended blasting plan and the expected time and
duration it will affect each community;
(7) Information concerning the extent and nature of valley
fills and the watersheds to be affected;
and
(8) Economic information, such as the number of jobs created
and annual coal production resulting from the surface-mining
operation, the anticipated life of the mining operation and
such
other
information as may be deemed appropriate information; and
(9) The effects of surface mining on cemetery lands which are
in close proximity to or included within the mining site.
(c) Where the operator makes any significant revision to the
permit application under section eighteen, article three, chapter
twenty-two of this code,
which revision that substantially affects
any of the information provided in subsection (b) of this section,
the operator shall revise the affected provisions of its community
impact statement and shall submit such revisions as set forth in
subsection (a) of this section.
(d)
The provisions of This section shall apply as follows:
(1) To all surface-mining permits granted after the effective
date of this article; and
(2) At the first renewal date of all previously issued
permits.
Provided, That However, the permittee shall be afforded
ninety days from said date to comply with
the provisions of this
section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require operators of
mining sites to include the affects mining will have on cemeteries
in close proximity to or included on the mining site.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.