Introduced Version - Originating in Committee
Senate Concurrent Resolution 57 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 57
(By Senators Hunter, Fanning, Green, Guills, Kessler, Sprouse,
Stollings and Wells)
[Originating in the Committee on Energy, Industry and Mining]
Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance study
the
administration and enforcement of oil and gas wells relating
to the rights of surface owners
.
Whereas, From 1994 to 2000, an average of 842 oil and gas
drilling "well work" permits were issued in West Virginia; and
Whereas, Between, 2001 to 2004, the average increased to 1,272
permits a year; and
Whereas, In 2005, the Office of Oil and Gas of the
Department
of Environmental Protection issued 2,660 permits and, in 2006, the
agency issued 3052 permits, a record, with the upward trend
continuing to the present; and
Whereas, The review and issuance of oil and gas well drilling
permits together with the enforcement of the down-hole drilling
requirements for protecting groundwater and other underground
resources, as well as the requirements for enforcement of the
reclamation of well sites, access roads and other surface uses, is
all carried out primarily by the Office of Oil and Gas of the
Department of Environmental Protection; and
Whereas, The Office of Oil and Gas has only 14 inspectors to
review the numerous permit applications and oversee all of this
drilling activity arising from the thousands of permits, and the
same inspectors are also responsible for 40,000 active oil and gas
wells and 25,000 inactive oil and gas wells; and
Whereas, A very large number of wells are drilled in which the
ownership of the oil and gas and the right to drill for the oil and
gas are severed from the ownership of the surface by private
citizens and have been for many decades; and
Whereas, Under the common law, when the severance of the oil
and gas and drilling rights from the surface occurred prior to
1983, the minerals are considered the "dominant estate" and the
surface is considered the "subservient estate;" and
Whereas, The law regarding the rights of the individual
surface owner versus the rights of the oil and gas owner and
driller are governed in the first instance by the common law
"fairly necessary" general rule which can only be determined and
enforced by the circuit court of the county at issue when a dispute
arises; and
Whereas, Surface owners rarely have the resources or enough
advance warning to take their grievances to circuit court when
drillers propose to do more than is "fairly necessary" to their
lands; and
Whereas, The rights of individual surface owners to compensation is governed by the West Virginia Oil and Gas
Production Compensation Act which has not been revised since 1983;
and
Whereas, The West Virginia statutes only give an individual
surface owner the right to receive a copy of the driller's
application for a permit to drill an oil and gas well 15 days
before the Office of Oil and Gas issues a drilling permit, which is
after the driller has already selected and surveyed the well site
and access road locations, and this statute has also not been
revised in that regard since 1983; and
Whereas, The surface owner can comment to the state solely on
how the access road and drill site is to be constructed, but not
generally with regard to where the access road and drilling site
are to be constructed. Additionally, the surface owner can only
make limited comments, and this statute has also not been revised
in that regard since 1983; and
Whereas, Protections for the varying interests of the
individual surface owner and, generally, of the environment and the
public are contained in the West Virginia Erosion and Sediment
Control Field Manual of the Office of Oil and Gas, which has not
been revised in many years; and
Whereas, A few surface owners have a right to gas from wells
on their property, and some drillers will sell surface owners
retail gas from wells on their property, but many drillers will not even agree to sell surface owners gas from gas wells placed on
their property; and
Whereas, Many surface owners have voiced their concerns that
their interests and the interests of the public are not adequately
addressed by the current state of the law and statutes or by the
State's current ability to carry out its duties;
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Joint Committee on Government and Finance is hereby
requested to study
the administration and enforcement of oil and
gas wells relating to the rights of surface owners
; and, be it
Further Resolved,
That the Joint Committee on Government and
Finance is hereby requested to
study the existing law and
regulation of oil and gas drilling by the State of West Virginia
and the laws providing for compensation of surface owners, and
whether the law should be updated or otherwise changed to improve
protection of the public interest and the varying interests of the
individual surface owners whose land is used for well sites, access
roads, pipelines and other purposes; and, be it
Further Resolved,
That the Joint Committee on Government and
Finance is hereby requested to
study the feasibility of requiring
free, wholesale or retail gas for surface owners upon whose land
well sites and access roads are or have been placed; and, be it
Further Resolved,
That the Joint Committee on Government and
Finance is hereby requested to
study other general changes in the law regarding the exploration for, drilling for and production of
oil and gas, including coal bed methane gas, in this state; and, be
it
Further Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Government and
Finance report to the regular session of the Legislature, 2009, on
its findings, conclusions and recommendations, together with drafts
of any legislation necessary to effectuate its recommendations;
and, be it
Further Resolved, That the expenses necessary to conduct this
study, to prepare a report and to draft necessary legislation be
paid from legislative appropriations to the Joint Committee on
Government and Finance.