Senate Bill No. 287
(By Senators Wooton and Love)
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[Introduced February 8, 1995; referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources.]
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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; and
authorizing the promulgation of rules granting site specific
variances for water quality standards for coal remining
operations.
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 promulgate interpretive rules which
grant a site specific variance to numeric water quality standards
of pH, iron or manganese for coal mining operations which propose
to remine areas of the state where water quality has been
affected by previous mining and does not meet the existing
standards. 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 waters for domestic, agricultural,
industrial, recreational, scenic and other legitimate beneficial
uses thereof.
(b) 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.
(c) The board shall promulgate such legislative
and
interpretive rules 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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the
Environmental Quality Board to promulgate interpretive rules
setting site specific water quality standards for coal remining
operations.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
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