Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB2889%20SUB.htm&yr=2005&sesstype=RS&i=2889
Timestamp: 2018-04-26 02:32:49
Document Index: 677934690

Matched Legal Cases: ['§22', '§22', '§22', '§22', '§22', '§22', '§22', '§22']

HB2889 SUB
( By Delegates Williams, Stemple, Michael, Cann and Anderson )
A BILL to amend and reenact §22-11-7b of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; that §22-12-4 of said code be amended and reenacted; to repeal §22B-3-4 of said code; and to amend and reenact §22B-3-2 of said code, all relating to water quality standards generally; transferring authority to propose rules relating to water quality standards from the Environmental Quality Board to the Department of Environmental Protection; providing that the current rule remains in force and effect until amended by the Department of Environmental Protection; establishing some requirements for water protection; providing that meetings to develop water quality standards be open with certain exceptions; authorizing the Secretary to promulgate standards of purity and quality for groundwater; establishing the maximum containment levels permitted for groundwater; providing that the current ground water standard remains in effect until modified by the Secretary; and continuing the authority of the Environmental Quality Board to issue remining variances.
That §22-11-7b of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that §22-12-4 of said code be amended and reenacted; that §22B-3-4 of said code be repealed; and that §22B-3-2 be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
(a) All authority to promulgate rules and implement water quality standards vested in the Environmental Quality Board is hereby transferred from the Environmental Quality Board to the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection as of the effective date of the amendment and reenactment of this section during the two thousand five session of the Legislature: Provided, That the legislative rule "Requirements Governing Water Quality Standards, 46 CSR 1" authorized by legislative enactment during the two thousand five session of the Legislature shall remain in force and effect until the Secretary amends the rule in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. Any proceedings, including notices of proposed rule making pending before the Environmental Quality Board, and any other functions, actions or authority transferred to the Secretary shall continue in effect as actions of the Secretary.
(c) In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the Secretary shall promulgate legislative rules in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code setting standards of water quality applicable to both the surface waters and groundwaters of this state. Standards of quality with respect to surface waters shall protect the public health and welfare, wildlife, fish and aquatic life and the present and prospective future uses of the water for domestic, agricultural, industrial, recreational, scenic and other legitimate beneficial uses thereof. No rule of the Secretary may specify the design of equipment, type of construction or particular method which a person shall use to reduce the discharge of a pollutant.
(d) The Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection shall establish the antidegradation implementation procedures as required by 40 C. F. R. 131.12(a) which apply to regulated activities that have the potential to affect water quality. The Secretary shall propose for legislative approval pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of the code, legislative rules to establish implementation procedures which include specifics of the review depending upon the existing uses of the water body segment that would be affected, the level of protection "tier" assigned to the applicable water body segment, the nature of the activity and the extent to which existing water quality would be degraded.
(e) All remining variances shall be applied for and considered by the Secretary. At a minimum, the procedures for granting or denying a remining variance will include the following: A description of the data and information to be submitted to the board by the applicant for such variance; the criteria to be employed by the Secretary in its decision; and provisions for a public comment period and public hearing prior to the board's decision. The Secretary may not grant a variance without requiring the applicant to improve the instream water quality as much as is reasonably possible by applying best available technology economically achievable using best professional judgment which requirement will be included as a permit condition. The Secretary may not grant a variance without a demonstration by the applicant that the coal remining operation will result in the potential for improved instream water quality as a result of the remining operation. The Secretary may not grant a variance where the board determines that degradation of the instream water quality will result from the remining operation.
(b) Such These standards shall establish the maximum contaminant levels permitted for groundwater, but in no event shall the standards allow contaminant levels in groundwater to exceed the maximum contaminant levels adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The board Secretary may set standards more restrictive than the maximum contaminant levels where it finds that such standards are necessary to protect drinking water use where scientifically supportable evidence reflects factors unique to West Virginia or some area thereof, or to protect other beneficial uses of the groundwater. For contaminants not regulated by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, standards for such contaminants shall be established by the board Secretary to be no less stringent than may be reasonable and prudent to protect drinking water or any other beneficial use. Where the concentration of a certain constituent exceeds such standards due to natural conditions, the natural concentration is the standard for that constituent. Where the concentration of a certain constituent exceeds such standard due to human-induced contamination, no further contamination by that constituent is allowed, and every reasonable effort shall be made to identify, remove or mitigate the source of such contamination, and to strive where practical to reduce the level of contamination over time to support drinking water use.
(d) In the promulgation of such standards the board Secretary shall consult with the division of environmental protection, Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Public Health, as appropriate.
(e) Any groundwater standard of the board Secretary that is in effect on the effective date of this article shall remain in effect until modified by the board Secretary . Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code to the contrary, the authority of the board Secretary to adopt standards of purity and quality for groundwater granted by the provisions of this article is exclusive, and to the extent that any other provisions of this code grant such authority to any person, body, agency or entity other than the board Secretary , those other provisions are void.
(a) In addition to all other powers and duties of the Environmental Quality Board, as prescribed in this chapter or elsewhere by law, the Board has and may; exercise the powers and authorities: