Committee Substitute
House Bill 2902 History
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COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2902
(By Delegates Craig, Morgan and Campbell)
(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)
[February 20, 2003]
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-v,
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; setting forth exceptions to confidentiality;
providing that confidentiality of such information does not
prohibit publication or release of summary statistical
information derived from oil and gas combined reporting forms;
authorizing disclosure of oil and gas combined reporting form
information to county assessors, department of environmental
protection and public service commission; relating to the
confidentiality and nondisclosure of other information
reported under article thirteen-a of said chapter eleven; and,
establishing criminal penalties for the unlawful disclosure of
confidential information obtained from the oil and gas combined reporting form.
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-v, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 10. PROCEDURE AND ADMINISTRATION.
§11-10-5v. 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
department 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 natural resources account number (NRA);
(2) Total gross revenue for oil or gas or both;
(3) Working interest revenue for oil or gas or both;
(4) The name and address of the owner of a working interest or
override royalty interest in the well;
(5) The ownership interest held by the owner of a working interest or override royalty interest in the well, expressed as a
percentage or decimal equivalent, of total ownership of each listed
owner; and
(6) 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, department 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
department 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.
(c) Release and publication of information. --
(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 department 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 department of environmental
protection or the West Virginia public service commission), who
violates this section by making an unlawful or unauthorized
disclosure of confidential information that is reported on the oil
and gas combined reporting form 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.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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