reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
WV Code § 22-21-12 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-12. Review of Application; Issuance of Permit in the Absence of Objections; Copy of Permits to County Assessor

The chief shall review each application for a permit and shall determine whether or not a permit shall be issued.No permit shall be issued less than fifteen days after the filing date of the application for any well work except plugging or replugging; and no permit for plugging or replugging shall be issued less than five days after the filing date of the application except a permit for plugging or replugging a dry hole: Provided, That if the applicant certifies that all persons entitled to notice of the application under the provisions of this article have been served in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, with a copy of the permit application, including the erosion and sediment control plan, if required, and the plat required by section six of this article, and further files written statements of no objection by all such persons, the chief may issue the permit at any time.The chief may cause such inspections to be made of the proposed location as to assure adequate review of the application. The permit shall not be issued, or shall be conditioned, including conditions with respect to the location of the well and access roads, prior to issuance if the chief determines that:(1) The proposed well work will constitute a hazard to the safety of persons; or(2) The plan for soil erosion and sediment control is not adequate or effective; or(3) Damage would occur to publicly owned lands or resources; or(4) The proposed well work fails to protect fresh water sources or supplies. Upon the issuance of any permit pursuant to the provisions of this article, the chief shall transmit a copy of such permit to the office of the assessor for the county in which the well is located.
WV Code § 22-21-15 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-15. Drilling Units and Pooling of Interests

(a) In the absence of a voluntary agreement, an operator, owner or other party claiming an ownership interest in the coalbed methane may file an application with the chief to pool: (i) Separately owned interests in a single tract; (ii) separately owned tracts; (iii) separately owned interests in any tract; and (iv) any combination of (i), (ii) and (iii) to form a drilling unit for the production of coalbed methane from one or more coalbed methane wells.(b) The application for a drilling unit may accompany the application for a permit for a coalbed methane well or be filed as a supplement to the permit application. Such application shall be verified by the applicant and contain the following information for the proposed unit:(1) The identity of each well and operator as set out in the well permit application;(2) Each well number, if one has been assigned;(3) The acreage of the proposed unit, the identity and acreage of each separate tract to be included in the proposed unit and, where parts of tracts are included, the acreage of such parts;(4) The district and county in which the unit is located;(5) The names and addresses of all persons to whom notice must be provided under subsection (a), section sixteen of this article known to the applicant. When any coal seam is separately owned, the list of names shall identify such separate ownership giving the names of the separately owned seams;(6) A statement describing the actions taken by the applicant to obtain a voluntary agreement from each interest owner or claimant named in the application to whom notice must be provided under subsection (a), section sixteen of this article or any other owner or claimant who has notified the applicant of a claim from which agreement has not been obtained;(7) Other pertinent and relevant information as the chief may prescribe by rules.(c) The application for a drilling unit shall be accompanied with the following:(1) A plat prepared by a licensed land surveyor or registered professional engineer showing the location of the coalbed methane well or wells, or proposed well or wells, the boundary and acreage of the proposed drilling unit, the boundary and acreage of each tract contained in the unit and, where parts of tracts are included, the boundary and acreage of such parts, a name identification of each tract and the district and county in which the unit is located. All boundaries must be shown with courses and distances;(2) A permit application fee of $250;(3) A certificate by the applicant that the notice requirements of section sixteen of this article were satisfied by the applicant. Such certification may be by affidavit of personal service, or the return receipt card, or other postal receipt, for certified mailing;(4) An estimate of the cost, or the actual cost if known, of drilling, completing and equipping, operating, plugging and abandoning any well or wells in the proposed unit.
WV Code § 22-21-16 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-16. Notice to Owners

(a) At least thirty days prior to the date set for hearing under section seventeen of this article, the applicant shall deliver by personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, notice to the following:(1) Each coal owner of record and coal operator of record of any coal seam underlying any tract or portion thereof which is proposed to be included in the unit;(2) Each owner and lessee of record and each operator of natural gas surrounding the well bore and existing in formations above the top of the uppermost member of the "Onondaga Group" or at a depth less than six thousand feet, whichever is shallower. Notices to gas operators shall be sufficient if served upon the agent of record with the Office of Oil and Gas; and(3) Any coalbed methane owner to the extent not otherwise named which interest arises from a deed, lease, contract, will, inheritance or other instrument of record wherein a person or entity identified in subdivision (1) or (2), subsection (a) of this section or the predecessor in title to such person or entity, expressly granted, leased, reserved or conveyed coalbed methane.(b) At least thirty days prior to the date set for the hearing under section seventeen of this article, the applicant shall publish a notice by a Class II legal advertisement in the county or counties in which the well unit is to be located. The legal advertisement shall contain the information required by subsection (c) and any other information as the chief shall prescribe by rule.(c) The notice required by this section shall specify a time and place for a conference and a hearing on this application, shall advise the persons notified that the applicant has filed an application for a drilling unit for the production of coalbed methane, that they may be present and object or offer comments to the formation of the proposed unit and shall be accompanied with copies of: (i) The permit application for the coalbed methane well; (ii) the permit application for the drilling unit; and (iii) the plat of the drilling unit. However, in the case of the notice required by subsection (b) of this section, only the address of where an interested party can obtain such copies is required to be published.(d) Notice by the applicant to all persons to whom notice must be provided under subsection (a) of this section and notice by publication as provided by subsection (b) of this section shall be deemed to include, and shall be deemed to be sufficient notice to, all potential claimants to ownership of the coalbed methane.
WV Code § 22-21-18 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-18. Operation on Drilling Units

All operations including, but not limited to, the commencement, drilling or operation of a well upon a drilling unit for which a pooling order has been entered, are hereby deemed to be operations on each separately owned tract in the drilling unit by the several owners. That portion of the production allocated to a separately owned tract included in a drilling unit is hereby deemed to be produced from that tract.
WV Code § 22-21-19 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-19. Validity of Unit Agreements

No agreement between or among coalbed methane operators or owners entered into for the development of coalbed methane or forming drilling units therefor may be held to violate the statutory or common law of this state prohibiting monopolies or acts, arrangements, contracts, combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade or commerce.
WV Code § 22-21-20 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-20. Spacing

No coalbed methane well may be drilled closer than one hundred feet of the outermost boundary of the coalbed methane tract, leased premises, or unit from which coalbed methane is or will be produced or within one thousand six hundred linear feet of the location of an existing well or a proposed well for which a permit application is on file, unless all owners and operators of any affected workable coal seams agree in writing. Affected workable coal seams for purposes of this section shall be those which will be penetrated or those seams more than twenty-eight inches in thickness from which production is targeted. Spacing shall otherwise be as provided in a pooling order issued by the chief, an order establishing special field rules or an order issued by the review board.
WV Code § 22-21-21 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-21. Dry or Abandoned Wells

Any coalbed methane well which is completed as a dry hole or which has not produced coalbed methane in paying quantities for a period of twelve consecutive months shall be presumed to have been abandoned and the operator shall promptly plug the well and reclaim all surface land affected by the well in accordance with the provisions of this article, unless the operator furnishes satisfactory proof to the chief that there is a bona fide future use for such well in accordance with the rules promulgated under article six of this chapter.
WV Code § 22-21-22 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-22. Notice of Plugging and Reclamation of Well; Right to Take Well; Objection; Plugging Order; Plugging for Mine-Through

(a) Prior to the commencement of plugging operations the operator shall give thirty days' advance notice to the chief and to all coal owners and operators whose names and addresses would be required for a permit application under subdivision (2), subsection (b), section six of this article as of the date of the notice. Such notice shall set out the number and other identification of the well, a copy of the well plat, the date plugging will commence, and the manner and method of plugging.(b) Any coal owner or operator whose coal seam is affected by such well shall have the following rights:(1) To convert the well to a vent hole or otherwise take the well. In such event the chief, upon determination that the coal owner or operator has placed the well under a mining permit, shall release the well operator's bond and the well operator shall be relieved of further responsibility for the well; and(2) To file comment or objection with the chief, within fifteen days after receipt of notice of intent to plug, with respect to the proposed manner or method of plugging. The chief shall consider any such comment or objection and issue an order specifying the manner and method of plugging and reclamation.(c) Whenever any coalbed methane well is located in that portion of a coal seam which will be mined within six months, the well operator shall, within sixty days after notice from the coal owner or coal operator that the well is to be mined through, plug the well in such manner that the well can be safely mined through.
WV Code § 22-21-23 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-23. Method of Plugging

All coalbed methane wells shall be plugged in such a manner that any workable coal seam surrounding the well can be safely mined and that the well can be mined through. The chief shall promulgate rules specifying the manner and method of plugging coalbed methane wells and in doing so, or in entering any order for such plugging and reclamation, shall give special consideration to the ability to mine any affected coal seam safely and the protection of any affected coal seam for future mining.
WV Code § 22-21-24 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-24. Existing Mining Rights

Nothing in this article shall be construed to affect the mining and other property rights of any coal owner nor shall any provision of this article be construed to preclude a coal operator from removing support of the surface and any structure or facilities thereon and other strata as such rights may exist in any severance deed or other contract.
WV Code § 22-21-25 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-25. Judicial Review; Appeal to Supreme Court of Appeals; Legal Representation for Review Board

(a) Any person adversely affected by an order of the chief or review board is entitled to judicial review. All of the pertinent provisions of section four, article five, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code apply to and govern the judicial review.(b) The judgment of the circuit court is final unless reversed, vacated or modified on appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals in accordance with the provisions of section one, article six, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.(c) Legal counsel and services for the chief or review board in all appeal proceedings in any circuit court and the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be provided by the Attorney General or his or her assistants and in any circuit court by the prosecuting attorney of the county, all without additional compensation. The chief or review board, with the written approval of the Attorney General, may employ special counsel to represent the chief or review board at any appeal proceedings.
WV Code § 22-21-26 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-26. Limitation on Actions in Trespass

In any case where title to subsurface minerals has been severed in such a way that title to natural gas underlying such tract and title to coal underlying such tract are in different persons, it shall be an affirmative defense to any action for willful trespass arising from the drilling and commercial production of methane from any coal seam underlying such tract, that the operator of such well permitted, drilled and completed such well under color of title of any instrument, deed, or lease for oil and gas purposes from the gas owner, or an instrument, deed or lease for coal mining purposes from the coal owner.
WV Code § 22-21-28 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-28. Penalties

(a) Any person who violates any term or condition of a permit issued under this article, and the violation is found by the chief or review board to have rendered unmineable all or a portion of a workable coal seam, is subject to civil penalties, to be imposed and collected by the chief or review board in an amount not to exceed the reasonably expected net profit lost to the coal owner as a result. All penalties collected shall be transferred to the special reclamation fund as provided by section twenty-nine, article six of this chapter.(b) Any person who violates any provision of this article, any of the rules promulgated by the chief or review board or any order of the chief or review board other than a violation governed by the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000.(c) Any person who, with the intention of evading any provision of this article, any of the rules promulgated by the chief or any order of the chief or review board, who makes or causes to be made any false entry or statement in any application or other document permitted or required to be filed under the provisions of this article, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned.(d) Any person who knowingly aids or abets any other person in the violation of any provision of this article, any of the rules promulgated hereunder or any order or final decision of the chief or review board or director, shall be subject to the same penalty as that prescribed in this article for the violation by such other person.
WV Code § 22-21-29 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units|§22-21-29. Construction

This article shall be liberally construed so as to effectuate the declaration of public policy set forth in section one of this article.
WV Code § 22-22-1 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 22. Voluntary Remediation and Redevelopment Act|§22-22-1. Legislative Findings; Legislative Statement of Purpose

(a) The Legislature finds there is property in West Virginia that is not being put to its highest productive use because it is contaminated or it is perceived to be contaminated as a result of past activity on the property. (b) The Legislature further finds that abandonment or under use of contaminated or potentially contaminated industrial sites results in inefficient use of public facilities and services and increases the pressure for development of uncontaminated pristine land. Since existing industrial areas frequently have transportation networks, utilities and an existing infrastructure, it can be less costly to society to redevelop existing industrial areas than to relocate amenities for industrial areas at pristine sites. (c) The Legislature further finds that the existing legal structure creates uncertainty regarding the legal effect of remediation upon liability. Legal uncertainty serves as a further disincentive to productive redevelopment of brownfields. Therefore, incentives should be put in place to encourage voluntary redevelopment of contaminated or potentially contaminated sites.(d) The Legislature further finds that an administrative program should be established to encourage persons to voluntarily develop and implement remedial plans without the need for enforcement action by the Division of Environmental Protection. Therefore, it is the purpose of this article to: (1) Establish an administrative program to facilitate voluntary remediation activities and brownfield revitalization; (2) Provide financial incentives to entice investment at brownfield sites; and(3) Establish limitations on liability under environmental laws and rules for those persons who remediate sites in accordance with applicable standards established under this article.
WV Code § 22-22-5 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 22. Voluntary Remediation and Redevelopment Act|§22-22-5. Brownfield Application; Remediation Process; Brownfield Remediation; Eligibility; Application; Remediation Loan; and Obtaining Information From Director

(a) For brownfield property, any environmental remediation undertaken pursuant to this article, by a development authority or any person who did not cause or contribute to the contamination on the property shall comply with the appropriate standards established by the director pursuant to this article and rules promulgated hereunder. After conferring with the director, the person may apply to the director for a site assessment loan under section six of this article. A site assessment must be conducted to establish existing contamination of the site. An application for brownfield remediation must be submitted along with the application fee. The procedures established for voluntary remediation set forth in section four must be followed. The director shall establish a reasonable application fee. (b) Brownfield sites being remediated by persons who did not cause or contribute to the contamination of the site are eligible for consideration for remediation loans established under article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of this code.(c) Persons undertaking brownfield remediation, who did not cause or contribute to the contamination of the brownfield site, may obtain all information relating to contamination at the site in the possession of the director prior to engaging in a site assessment.
WV Code § 22-22-8 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 22. Voluntary Remediation and Redevelopment Act|§22-22-8. Voluntary Remediation Work Plans and Reports

After signing a voluntary remediation agreement, the person undertaking remediation shall prepare and submit the appropriate work plans and reports to the director. The director shall review and evaluate the work plans and reports for accuracy, quality and completeness. The director may approve a voluntary remediation work plan or report or disapprove and notify the person of additional information needed to obtain approval.
WV Code § 22-22-9 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 22. Voluntary Remediation and Redevelopment Act|§22-22-9. Termination of Agreement; Cost of Recovery; Legal Actions

The person undertaking remediation may, in their sole discretion, terminate the agreement as provided by the terms of the agreement and by giving fifteen days advance written notice of termination. Only those costs incurred or obligated by the director before notice of termination of the agreement are recoverable, if the agreement is terminated. The termination of the agreement does not affect any right the director may have under any other law to recover costs. The person undertaking the remediation must pay the division's costs associated with the voluntary remediation within thirty-one days after receiving notice that the costs are due and owing. The director may bring an action in Kanawha County circuit court or in the circuit court in the county wherein the property is situated to recover the amount owed to the division and reasonable legal expenses.