ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 595
(Senators Helmick, Fanning, Love, Anderson and Ross, original sponsors)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 1, 2000.]
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AN ACT to amend chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article twenty-three-a,
relating to legislative findings regarding the coal industry
and requiring prior legislative approval of any policies
developed by or rules promulgated by the division of
environmental protection arising from recommendations from the
United States environmental protection agency or in response
to an environmental impact study participated in the year one
thousand nine hundred ninety-nine.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article twenty-three-a, to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 23A. Environmental Impact Statement.
§22-23A-1. Findings.
The Legislature finds:
(1) The coal industry is and has been for many years an
integral part of the economic and social fabric of the state;
(2) That whole communities in this state rely in large part,
if not completely, on the coal industry for their continuing
vitality;
(3) That over the last decade changes in the mining industry
have necessitated the development of diverse mining techniques;
(4) The coal industry remains essential to economic growth and
progress in West Virginia and the United States. Coal continues to
sustain our economy and provides the financial security as future
diversity and expansion of our job base is explored;
(5) The state of West Virginia, through the division of
environmental protection, entered into an agreement on the twenty-
third day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight,
which imposed additional controls and oversight on the states' mine
permitting process by the U. S. corps of engineers, U. S. environmental protection agency, U. S. office of surface mining and
the U. S. fish and wildlife service;
(6) The agreement of the twenty-third day of December, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight further authorized the division
of environmental protection, in conjunction with the U.S.
environmental protection agency, the U. S. fish and wildlife
service, the U. S. army corps of engineers and the U.S. office of
surface mining to undertake a two-year study of the effects of
mountaintop mining practices which remains incomplete as of the
effective date of this article;
(7) The state has committed significant funding and other
resources to the study;
(8) The study is unprecedented in this country in its purpose
and scope;
(9) The environmental impact statement which will be prepared
upon the completion of the study may give rise to consideration of
new or revised regulations, policies, guidelines or requirements
which are untried or untested anywhere in this country;
(10) It is imperative that balance be sought between state
rules designed to regulate and protect the environment and the
state regulations designed to enhance the ability of the state to
continue to market West Virginia coal throughout the nation and the
world; and
(11) Requiring West Virginia, through new or amended policies,
regulations, enforcement or permitting actions to meet requirements
more stringent than those otherwise applicable in other states by
the federal government and unnecessary for environmental protection
would unfairly affect interstate competition for new mining
development and employment opportunities.
Wherefore the Legislature finds that prior to the
implementation of any recommendation arising from the study that
the Legislature has an obligation to review the same to protect the
interests of the state and the citizens.
§22-23A-2. Requiring department of environmental protection to
refrain from implementing or adopting rules or making certain
commitments absent legislative approval; reporting required.
(a) The division of environmental protection may not enter
into any legally enforceable commitments related to the
implementation of any recommendation which results from the
mountaintop mining/valley fill environmental impact statement with
any agency of the federal government unless the terms of the
commitment are reported to the Legislature;
(b) The division of environmental protection may not adopt or
modify any rule, in whole or in part, to implement a recommendation
resulting from the mountaintop mining/valley fill environmental
impact statement except by legislative rule promulgated pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
(c) Within ninety days of receipt of any final recommendation
from any agency of the federal government related to the
mountaintop mining/valley fill environmental impact statement, the
director of the West Virginia division of environmental protection
shall forward such recommendation, embodied in a report, along with
all scientific facts or technical evidence relating to and
substantiating such recommendation, to the governor, president of
the Senate and the speaker of the House of Delegates.
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