HB 2902 Text

H. B. 2902

(By Delegates Craig, Morgan and Campbell)

[Introduced February 7, 2003; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]

A BILL to amend article ten, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section five-w, relating to confidentiality and disclosure of information set forth in oil and gas combined reporting form specified in subsection (d), section three-a, article thirteen-a, of said chapter eleven, specifying confidentiality of certain information reported on oil and gas combined reporting form, specifying exceptions to confidentiality, specifying section not to be construed to prohibit publication or release of summary statistical information derived from oil and gas combined reporting form, authorizing disclosure of oil and gas combined reporting form information to county assessors, division of environmental protection and public service commission, specifying confidentiality and non-disclosure of other information reported under article thirteen-a of said chapter eleven, specifying criminal penalty for unlawful disclosure of confidential information.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article ten, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section five-w, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. PROCEDURE AND ADMINISTRATION.

§11-10-5w. Confidentiality and disclosure of information set forth in the oil and gas combined reporting form specified in subsection (d), section three-a, article thirteen-a of this chapter to county assessors, the division of environmental protection and to the public service commission; offenses; penalties.

(a) Confidentiality of certain information reported on the oil and gas combined reporting form, exception. -- The following information provided by or on behalf of any person or entity on the oil and gas combined reporting form specified in subsection (d), section three-a, article thirteen-a of this chapter is confidential:

(1) The location of an oil or natural gas well by county, and district or municipality name reported for property tax purposes;

(2) The natural resources account number (NRA);

(3) The land book acreage;

(4) The lease acreage;

(5) The well status as to active, shut-in, plugged or enhanced status;

(6) Total gross revenue for oil or gas or both;

(7) Working interest revenue for oil or gas or both;

(8) The owner's name, the owner's address, the type of interest owned (working interest, royalty interest, override royalty interest or flat rate royalty interest);

(9) The ownership interest of any owner, expressed as a percentage or decimal equivalent, of total ownership of each listed owner; and

(10) The income of any owner.

Such information is exempt from disclosure under section four, article one, chapter twenty-nine-b of this code, and shall be kept, held and maintained as confidential except to the extent the information is disclosable under subsections (b) and (c) of this section.

(b) Disclosure to county assessors, division of environmental protection and public service commission authorized. -- Notwithstanding the provisions of section five-d, article ten of this chapter to the contrary, and notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, the tax commissioner may disclose the oil and gas combined reporting form specified in subsection (d), section three-a, article thirteen-a of this chapter, and information set forth thereon to county assessors, the division of environmental protection and the public service commission for the purpose of administering and implementing the assessment, administrative, oversight and regulatory functions and responsibilities with which they are charged by law.

(1) Statistical and aggregate information. -- This section shall not be construed to prohibit the publication or release of summary statistical information derived from the oil and gas combined reporting form, including summary statistical information derived from the items specified in subsection (a) of this section. Publication or release of such summary statistical information is authorized in the form of aggregated statistics, maps, articles, reports or professional talks, or in other forms, provided it is presented in accordance with generally accepted practices and in a manner so as to preclude the identification of particular oil and gas combined report filers and to preclude derivation or determination of information specified in subsection (a) of this section about particular oil and gas combined report filers.

(2) Release and publication of certain information. -- Notwithstanding the provisions of this section to the contrary and notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, the tax commissioner, county assessors, the division of environmental protection, and the public service commission may publish or publicly release information provided by or on behalf of any person or entity in the oil and gas combined reporting form except for the information specified as confidential in subsection (a) of this section.

(d) Penalty of unlawful disclosure. -- Any state, county or governmental subdivision employee or representative (including, but not limited to, any county assessor or any employee or representative of the West Virginia division of environmental protection or the West Virginia public service commission), who violates this section by making an unlawful or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or confined in the county or regional jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined, and shall be assessed the cost of prosecution. As used in this section, the term "state, county or governmental subdivision employee or representative" includes, but is not limited to, any current or former state, county or municipal employee, officer, or commission or board member, and any state, county or municipal agency, institution, organization, contractor or subcontractor and any principal, officer, agent or employee thereof.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to specify that certain information reported on the oil and gas combined reporting form required by W. Va. Code §11-13A-3a(d) is confidential, and to authorize the Tax Commissioner to disclose all information set forth on the form, and the form itself, to County Assessors, the Division of Environmental Protection and the Public Service Commission for official use. The bill allows the release or publication of certain information shown on the form, and allows the release or publication of statistical information derived from the confidential items reported on the form, where the release or publication does not identify a specific oil and gas combined reporting form filer or disclose the designated confidential information about any particular filer. The bill provides a penalty for unlawful disclosure of confidential information shown on the oil and gas combined reporting form.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.

Print On Demand