Senate Bill No. 777
(By Senators Kessler, Dempsey, Fanning, Foster, Hunter,
Jenkins, Minard, Oliverio, White, Barnes, Caruth,
Deem, Lanham, McKenzie and Weeks)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 23, 2006.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §22-21-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to replacement of underground water
supplies and drinking water damaged by coalbed methane
exploration or production; and requiring legislative rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §22-21-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 21. COALBED METHANE WELLS AND UNITS.
§22-21-3. Application of article; exclusions; application of
chapter twenty-two-b to coalbed methane wells; water
replacement.
(a) The provisions of this article apply to: (1) All lands in
this state under which a coalbed is located, including any lands
owned or administered by the state or any agency or subdivision
thereof; and (2) any coalbed methane well.
(b) This article does not apply to or affect: (1) Any well
otherwise permitted, approved or regulated under article six,
seven, eight, nine or ten of this chapter or article eight, chapter
twenty-two-c of this code; (2) any ventilation fan, vent hole,
mining apparatus or other facility utilized solely for the purpose
of venting any mine or mine area; or (3) the ventilation of any
mine or mine area or degasification of any coal seam for the mining
of coal.
(c) This article does not apply to or affect subsurface
boreholes drilled from the mine face of an underground mine, except
that the provisions of sections fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,
eighteen and nineteen shall apply.
(d) To the extent that coalbed methane wells are similar to
wells, as defined in section one, article six of this chapter, and
the production of coalbed methane is similar to the production of
natural gas, coalbed methane wells shall be treated as wells and
coalbed methane treated as natural gas and subject to the following
sections of article six of this chapter:
(1) The provisions of section three pertaining to the findings
and orders of inspectors concerning violations, determination of
reasonable time for abatement, extensions of time for abatement,
special inspections, notice of findings and orders;
(2) The provisions of section four providing for the review of
findings and orders by the chief, special inspection, annulment, revision of order and notice;
(3) The provisions of section five providing for the
requirements of findings, orders and notices; posting of findings
and orders; and judicial review of final orders of the chief;
(4) The provisions of section twenty-one providing for
protective devices--installation of freshwater casings;
(5) The provisions of section twenty-two providing for a well
log to be filed, contents, and authority to promulgate regulations.
In addition to the requirements of such section, the operator shall
certify that the well was drilled and completed as shown on the
well plat required for a coalbed methane well, or in the
alternative, file a revised well plat showing the actual location
of the well and the coal seams in which the well is completed for
production. Such log and certificate shall be served on all coal
owners and operators who must be named in the permit application
under section six of this article;
(6) The provisions of section twenty-eight providing for
supervision by the chief over drilling and reclamation operations,
complaints, hearings and appeals;
(7) The provisions of section twenty-nine providing for
special reclamation funds and fees;
(8) The provisions of section thirty providing for reclamation
requirements;
(9) The provisions of section thirty-one providing for preventing waste of gas, plan of operation required for wasting gas
in process of producing oil and rejection thereof;
(10) The provisions of section thirty-two providing for the
right of adjacent owner or operator to prevent waste of gas and
recovery of costs;
(11) The provisions of section thirty-three providing for
restraining waste;
(12) The provisions of section thirty-four providing for
offenses and penalties;
(13) The provisions of section thirty-five providing for civil
action for contamination or deprivation of freshwater source or
supply and presumption;
(14) The provisions of section thirty-six providing for
declaration of notice by owners and lessees of coal seams and
setting out the form of such declaration; and
(15) The provisions of section thirty-nine providing for
injunctive relief.
(e) In addition to the foregoing and subject to the same
qualifications, the provisions of article ten of this chapter shall
apply to coalbed methane wells. Any well which is abandoned or
presumed to be abandoned under the provisions of this article shall
be treated as an abandoned well under article ten of this chapter.
In addition, the provisions of article seven of this chapter shall
apply to permits issued pursuant to this article.
(f) The water replacement provisions of section twenty-four,
article three of this chapter apply to all wells permitted under
the provisions of this article. The department shall propose
emergency and legislative rules to effectuate the provisions of
this subsection.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require coalbed methane
well owners and operators to follow the same standards for
replacement of underground water supplies as coal mine owners and
operators.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)