reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 17. Underground Storage Tank Act › §22-17-19. Disclosures Required in Deeds and Leases

(a) The grantor in any deed or other instrument of conveyance or any lessor in any lease or other instrument whereby any real property is let for a period of time shall disclose in such deed, lease or other instrument the fact that such property, or the substrata of such property whether or not the grantor or lessor is at time of such conveyance or lease the owner of such substrata, contains an underground storage tank. The provisions of this subsection only apply to those grantors or lessors who owned or had an interest in the real property when the same or the substrata thereof contained an underground storage tank which was being actively used for storing any regulated substance or who have actual knowledge or reason to believe that such real property or the substrata thereof contains an underground storage tank.
(b) Any lessee of real estate or of any substratum underlying said real estate who intends to install an underground storage tank in the leased real estate or any substratum underlying the same shall disclose in writing at the time of such lease, or within thirty days prior to such installation, such fact to the lessor of such real estate or substratum. Such disclosure shall describe the proposed location upon said property where the tank is to be located and all other information required by the director.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 17. Underground Storage Tank Act › §22-17-20. Appropriation of Funds; Underground Storage Tank Administrative Fund

(a) The secretary shall collect annual registration fees from owners of underground storage tanks. The registration fee collected under this section may not exceed $65 per tank per year. All such registration fees and the net proceeds of all fines, penalties and forfeitures collected under this article including accrued interest shall be paid into the State Treasury into a special revenue fund designated the “Underground Storage Tank Administrative Fund” to be used to defray the cost of administering this article in accordance with rules promulgated pursuant to section six of this article. The secretary shall promulgate an emergency rule in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, implementing the increase in registration fees. This fee of up to $65 is effective for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004.
(b) The total fee assessed shall be sufficient to assure a balance in the fund not to exceed one million dollars at the beginning of each year.
(c) Any amount received pursuant to subsection (a) of this section which exceeds the annual balance required in subsection (b) of this section shall be deposited into the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Response Fund established pursuant to this article to be used for the purposes set forth for expenditure of moneys in the fund.
(d) The net proceeds of all fines, penalties and forfeitures collected under this article shall be appropriated as directed by article XII, section 5 of the Constitution of West Virginia. For the purposes of this section, the net proceeds of such fines, penalties and forfeitures are the proceeds remaining after deducting from the proceeds those sums appropriated by the Legislature for defraying the cost of administering this article. In making the appropriation for defraying the cost of administering this article, the Legislature shall first take into account the sums included in the special fund prior to deducting additional sums as may be needed from the civil fines, civil penalties and forfeitures collected pursuant to this article. At the end of each fiscal year any unexpended balance of the collected civil fines, civil penalties, forfeitures and registration fees shall not be transferred to the General Revenue Fund but shall remain in the fund.
(e) The secretary shall submit an annual report to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance on or before January 1 each year providing information as to the status of the Underground Storage Tank Fund, the registration fees or forfeitures collected and any fines and penalties assessed pursuant to this article, the amount of net proceeds of fines, penalties and forfeitures paid into the fund and information as to the progress of the underground storage tank program in the protection of human health and the environment.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-2. Declaration of Policy

(a) The Legislature finds that:
(1) Continuing technological progress and increases in the amount of manufacture and the abatement of air and water pollution have resulted in ever increasing quantities of hazardous wastes;
(2) The public health and safety and the environment are threatened where hazardous wastes are not managed in an environmentally sound manner;
(3) The knowledge and technology necessary for alleviating adverse health, environmental and aesthetic impacts resulting from current hazardous waste management and disposal practices are generally available;
(4) The manufacture, refinement, processing, treatment and use of coal, raw chemicals, ores, petroleum, gas and other natural and synthetic products are activities that make a significant contribution to the economy of this state; and
(5) The problem of managing hazardous wastes has become a matter of statewide concern.
(b) Therefore, it is hereby declared that the purposes of this article are:
(1) To protect the public health and safety and the environment from the effects of the improper, inadequate or unsound management of hazardous wastes;
(2) To establish a program of regulation over the storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes;
(3) To assure the safe and adequate management of hazardous wastes within this state; and
(4) To assume regulatory primacy through Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-4. Designation of Division of Environmental Protection as the State Hazardous Waste Management Lead Agency

The Division of Environmental Protection is hereby designated as the hazardous waste management lead agency for this state for purposes of Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and is hereby authorized to take all action necessary or appropriate to secure to this state the benefits of said legislation. In carrying out the purposes of this article, the director is hereby authorized to cooperate with the federal environmental protection agency and other agencies of the federal government, this state and other states and other interested persons in all matters relating to hazardous waste management.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-5. Powers and Duties of Director; Integration With Other Acts; Establishment of Study of Hazardous Waste Management

(a) In addition to all other powers and duties prescribed in this article or otherwise by law, and unless otherwise specifically set forth in this article, the director shall perform any and all acts necessary to carry out the purposes and requirements of Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
(b) The director shall integrate all provisions of this article for purposes of administration and enforcement and shall avoid duplication to the maximum extent practicable, with the appropriate provisions of: The public health laws in chapter sixteen of this code; article sixteen-a, chapter nineteen of this code; this chapter; and chapters twenty-two-b and twenty-two-c of this code.
(c) The director may enter into any agreements, including reimbursement for services rendered, contracts or cooperative arrangements, under such terms and conditions as he or she deems appropriate, with other state agencies, educational institutions or other organizations and individuals as necessary to implement the provisions of this article.
(d) The director shall cooperate with and may receive and expend money from the federal government and other sources.
(e) The director shall: (1) Encourage, participate in and conduct an ongoing investigation and analysis of methods, incentives, technologies of source reduction, reuse, recycling or recovery of potentially hazardous waste and a strategy for encouraging the utilization or reduction of hazardous waste; and (2) investigate the feasibility of operating an information clearinghouse for hazardous wastes.
(f) The director shall provide for the continuing education and training of appropriate division personnel in matters of hazardous waste management.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-9. Corrective Action

(a) All permits issued after the date the state is delegated authority by the federal environmental protection agency to administer the portion of the federal hazardous waste program covered under the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 shall contain conditions requiring corrective action for all releases of hazardous waste or constituents from any solid waste management unit at a treatment, storage or disposal facility seeking a permit under this article regardless of the time at which waste was placed in such unit. Permits issued under this article shall contain schedules of compliance for such corrective action (where such corrective action cannot be completed prior to issuance of the permit) and assurances of financial responsibility for completing such corrective action.
(b) The director shall amend the standards under subdivision (4), subsection (a), section six of this article, regarding corrective action required at facilities for the treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous waste listed or identified in rules promulgated pursuant to subdivision (2), subsection (a), section six of this article, to require that corrective action be taken beyond the facility boundary where necessary to protect human health and the environment unless the owner or operator of the facility concerned demonstrates to the satisfaction of the director that, despite the owner or operator’s best efforts, the owner or operator was unable to obtain the necessary permission to undertake such action. Such rules shall take effect immediately upon promulgation, and shall apply to:
(1) All facilities operating under permits issued under subdivision (4), subsection (a), section six of this article; and
(2) All landfills, surface impoundments and waste pile units (including any new units, replacement of existing units or lateral expansions of existing units) which receive hazardous waste after July 26, 1982. Pending promulgation of such rules the director shall issue corrective action orders for facilities referred to in subdivisions (1) and (2) above on a case-by-case basis consistent with the purposes of this subsection.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-10. Public Participation in Permit Process

Before the issuing of a permit to any person with respect to any facility for the treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous waste under sections seven or eight of this article, the director or other permit issuing authority shall:
(a) Cause to be published as a Class I-0 legal advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation, and the publication area is the county wherein the real estate or greater portion thereof is situate, and broadcast over local radio stations notice of the director's or other permit issuing authority's intention to issue such permit; and
(b) Transmit written notice of the director's or other permit issuing authority's intention to issue such permit to each unit of local government having jurisdiction over the area in which such facility is proposed to be located and to each state agency having any authority under state law with respect to the construction or operation of such facility.
If within forty-five days the director or other permit issuing authority receives written notice of opposition to the director's or other permit issuing authority's intention to issue such permit and a request for a hearing, or if the director or other permit issuing authority determines on his or her own initiative, to have a hearing he or she shall hold an informal public hearing (including an opportunity for presentation of written and oral views) on whether he or she should issue a permit for the proposed facility. Whenever possible the director or other permit issuing authority shall schedule such hearing at a location convenient to the nearest population center to such proposed facility and give notice in the aforementioned manner of the date, time and subject matter of such hearing.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-11. Transition Program for Existing Facilities

Any person who owns or operates a facility required to have any permit under this article, which facility was in existence on July 9, 1981, shall be treated as having been issued such permit until such time as final administrative disposition is made with respect to an application for such permit: Provided, That on said date such facility is operating and continues to operate in compliance with the interim status requirement of the federal environmental protection agency established pursuant to section 3005 of the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended, if applicable, and in such a manner as will not cause or create a substantial risk of a health hazard or public nuisance or a significant adverse effect upon the environment: Provided, however, That the owner or operator of such facility shall make a timely and complete application for such permit in accordance with rules promulgated pursuant to this article specifying procedures and requirements for obtaining such permit.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-12. Confidential Information

Information obtained by any agency under this article shall be available to the public unless the director certifies such information to be confidential. The director may make such certification where any person shows, to the satisfaction of the director, that the information or parts thereof, if made public, would divulge methods, processes or activities entitled to protection as trade secrets. Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the disclosure of information by the division to any officer, employee or authorized representative of the state or federal government concerned with effecting the purposes of this article.
Any person who knowingly and willfully divulges or discloses any information entitled to protection under this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned in the county jail for not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-15. Enforcement Orders; Hearings

(a) If the director, upon inspection, investigation or through other means observes, discovers or learns of a violation of the provisions of this article, any permit, order or rules issued or promulgated hereunder, he or she may:
(1) Issue an order stating with reasonable specificity the nature of the violation and requiring compliance immediately or within a specified time. An order under this section includes, but is not limited to, any or all of the following: Orders suspending, revoking or modifying permits, orders requiring a person to take remedial action or cease and desist orders;
(2) Seek an injunction in accordance with subsection (c) of section seventeen of this article;
(3) Institute a civil action in accordance with subsection (c) of section seventeen of this article; or
(4) Request the Attorney General, or the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the alleged violation occurred, to bring a criminal action in accordance with section sixteen of this article.
(b) Any person issued a cease and desist order may file a notice of request for reconsideration with the director not more than seven days from the issuance of such order and shall have a hearing before the director contesting the terms and conditions of such order within ten days of the filing of such notice of a request for reconsideration. The filing of a notice of request for reconsideration does not stay or suspend the execution or enforcement of such cease and desist order.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-18. Imminent and Substantial Hazards; Orders; Penalties; Hearings

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary, the director, upon receipt of information, or upon observation or discovery that the handling, storage, transportation, treatment or disposal of any hazardous waste may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health, safety or the environment, may:
(1) Request the Attorney General or the appropriate prosecuting attorney to commence an action in the circuit court of the county in which the hazardous condition exists to immediately restrain any person contributing to such handling, storage, transportation, treatment or disposal to stop such handling, storage, transportation, treatment or disposal or to take such other action as may be necessary; or
(2) Take other action under this section including, but not limited to, issuing such orders as may be necessary to protect public health and the environment.
(b) Any person who willfully violates, or fails or refuses to comply with, any order of the director under subsection (a) of this section may, in an action brought in the appropriate circuit court to enforce such orders, be fined not more than $5,000 for each day in which such violation occurs or such failure to comply continues.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-19. Citizen Suits; Petitions for Rulemaking; Intervention

(a) Any person may commence a civil action on his or her own behalf against any person who is alleged to be in violation of any provision of this article or any condition of a permit issued or rules promulgated hereunder, except that no action may be commenced under this section prior to sixty days after the plaintiff has given notice to the appropriate enforcement, permit issuing or rule-making authority and to the person against whom the action will be commenced, or if the state has commenced and is diligently prosecuting a civil or criminal action pursuant to this article: Provided, That such person may commence a civil action immediately upon notification in the case of an action under subsection (b) of this section. Such actions may be brought in the circuit court in the county in which the alleged violation occurs or in the circuit court of Kanawha County.
(b) Any person may commence a civil action against the appropriate enforcement, permit issuing or rule-making authority where there is alleged a failure of such authority to perform any nondiscretionary duty or act under this article. Such actions may be brought only in the circuit court of Kanawha County.
(c) Any person may petition the appropriate rule-making authority for rule-making on an issue arising under this article. The appropriate rule-making authority, if it believes such issue to merit rule making, may commence any studies and investigations necessary to issue rules. A decision by the appropriate rule-making authority not to pursue rule making must be set forth in writing with substantial reasons for refusing to do so.
(d) Nothing in this article restricts any rights of any person or class of persons under statute or common law.
(e) In issuing any final order in any action brought pursuant to this section any court with jurisdiction may award costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney's fees and expert witnesses fees, to any party whenever the court determines such award to be appropriate.
(f) Any enforcement, permit issuing or rule-making authority may intervene as a matter of right in any suit brought under this section.
(g) Any person may intervene as a matter of right in any civil action or administrative action instituted under this article.
(h) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary, any person may maintain an action to enjoin a nuisance against any permit holder or other person subject to the provisions of this article and may seek damages in said action, all to the same extent and for all intents and purposes as if this article were not enacted, if such person maintaining such action and seeking such damages would otherwise have standing to maintain such action and be entitled to damages by any other rule of law.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-20. Appeal to Environmental Quality Board

Any person aggrieved or adversely affected by an order of the director made and entered in accordance with the provisions of this article, or by the failure or refusal of the director to act within a reasonable time on an application for a permit or by the issuance or denial of or by the terms and conditions of a permit granted by the director under the provisions of this article, may appeal to the environmental quality board, in accordance with the provisions of article one, chapter twenty-two-b of this code.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-21. Disclosures Required in Deeds and Leases

(a) The grantor in any deed or other instrument of conveyance or any lessor in any lease or other instrument whereby any real property is let for a period of time shall disclose in such deed, lease or other instrument the fact that such property or the subsurface of such property, (whether or not the grantor or lessor is at the time of such conveyance or lease the owner of such subsurface) was used for the storage, treatment or disposal of hazardous waste. The provisions of this subsection only apply to those grantors or lessors who owned or had an interest in the real property when the same or the subsurface thereof was used for the purpose of storage, treatment or disposal of hazardous waste or who have actual knowledge that such real property or the subsurface thereof was used for such purpose or purposes at any time prior thereto.
(b) Any grantee of real estate or of any substrata underlying said real estate or any lessee for a term who intends to use the real estate conveyed or let or any substrata underlying the same for the purpose of storing, treating or disposing of hazardous waste shall disclose in writing at the time of such conveyance or lease or within thirty days prior thereto such fact to the grantor or lessor of such real estate or substrata. Such disclosure shall describe the proposed location upon said property of the site to be used for the storage, treatment or disposal of hazardous waste, the identity of such waste, the proposed method of storage, treatment or disposal to be used with respect to such waste and any and all other information required by rules of the director.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 18. Hazardous Waste Management Act › §22-18-25. Financial Responsibility Provisions

(1) Financial responsibility required by subdivision (4), subsection (a), section six of this article may be established in accordance with rules promulgated by the director by any one, or any combination, of the following: Insurance, guarantee, surety bond, letter of credit or qualification as a self-insurer. In promulgating requirements under this section, the director is authorized to specify policy or other contractual terms, conditions or defenses which are necessary or are unacceptable in establishing such evidence of financial responsibility in order to effectuate the purposes of this article.
(2) In any case where the owner or operator is in bankruptcy reorganization, or arrangement pursuant to the federal bankruptcy code or where (with reasonable diligence) jurisdiction in any state court or any federal court cannot be obtained over an owner or operator likely to be solvent at the time of judgment, any claim arising from conduct for which evidence of financial responsibility must be provided under this section may be asserted directly against the guarantor providing such evidence of financial responsibility. In the case of any action pursuant to this subsection, such guarantor is entitled to invoke all rights and defenses which would have been available to the owner or operator if any action had been brought against the owner or operator by the claimant and which would have been available to the guarantor if an action had been brought against the guarantor by the owner or operator.
(3) The total liability of any guarantor is limited to the aggregate amount which the guarantor has provided as evidence of financial responsibility to the owner or operator under this article. Nothing in this subsection limits any other state or federal statutory contractual or common law liability of a guarantor to its owner or operator including, but not limited to, the liability of such guarantor for bad faith either in negotiating or in failing to negotiate the settlement of any claim. Nothing in this subsection diminishes the liability of any person under section 107 or 111 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 or other applicable law.
(4) For the purposes of this section, the term "guarantor" means any person other than the owner or operator who provides evidence of financial responsibility for an owner or operator under this section.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 19. Hazardous Waste Emergency Response Fund › §22-19-1. Findings; Purpose

The Legislature recognizes that large quantities of hazardous waste are generated within the state, and that emergency situations involving hazardous waste can and will arise which may present a hazard to human health, safety, or the environment. The Legislature also recognizes that some hazardous waste has been stored, treated or disposed of at sites in the state in a manner insufficient to protect human health, safety or the environment. The Legislature further recognizes that the federal government has enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, which provides for federal assistance to respond to hazardous substance emergencies and to remove and remedy the threat of damage to the public health or welfare or to the environment, and declares that West Virginia desires to produce revenue for matching the federal assistance provided under the federal acts. Therefore, the Legislature hereby creates a hazardous waste emergency fund to provide state funds for responding to hazardous waste emergencies, responding to releases of hazardous substances into the environment, matching federal financial assistance for restoring hazardous waste sites and other costs or expenses incurred in the administration of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 19. Hazardous Waste Emergency Response Fund › §22-19-2. Definitions

As used in this article, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning:
(1) "Cleanup" means such actions as may be necessary to monitor, assess and evaluate the threat of release of hazardous waste or hazardous substances, the containment, collection, control, identification, treatment, dispersal, removal or disposal of hazardous waste or other such actions as may be necessary to respond to hazardous waste or hazardous substance emergencies or to prevent, minimize or mitigate damage to the public health, safety, welfare or to the environment, and includes, where necessary, replacement of existing, or provision of alternative, drinking water supplies that have been contaminated with hazardous waste as a result of an emergency;
(2) "Cleanup costs" means all costs incurred by the director, or with the approval of the director, by any state agency or person participating in the cleanup of a hazardous waste or hazardous substance emergency or remedial action and also includes responding to emergencies that may contain petroleum products: Provided, That cleanup costs do not include expenditures for remediation of or responding to releases from underground storage tanks;
(3) "Generator" means any person, corporation, partnership, association or other legal entity, by site location, whose act or process produces hazardous waste as identified or listed by the director in rules promulgated pursuant to section six, article eighteen of this chapter, in an amount greater than five thousand kilograms per year.
All other terms have the meaning as prescribed in the rules promulgated by the director pursuant to the provisions of section six, article eighteen of this chapter.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 19. Hazardous Waste Emergency Response Fund › §22-19-3. Hazardous Waste Emergency Response Fund; Components of Fund

(a) The special fund designated the Hazardous Waste Emergency Response Fund, hereinafter referred to as "the fund", shall be continued in the state Treasury.
(b) All generator fee assessments, any interest or surcharge assessed and collected by the director, interest accruing on investments and deposits of the fund, and any other moneys designated shall be paid into the fund. Expenditures from the fund shall be for the purposes set forth in this article and are not authorized from collections but are to be made only in accordance with appropriation by the Legislature and in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twelve of this code and upon the fulfillment of the provisions set forth in article two, chapter five-a of this code: Provided, That for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000, expenditures are authorized from collections rather than pursuant to an appropriation by the Legislature. Amounts collected which are found from time to time to exceed the funds needed for purposes set forth in this article may be transferred to other accounts or funds and redesignated for other purposes by appropriation of the Legislature.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 19. Hazardous Waste Emergency Response Fund › §22-19-6. State Hazardous Waste Contingency Plan

The director shall promulgate rules in compliance with chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, establishing a state hazardous waste contingency plan which shall set forth procedures and standards for responding to hazardous waste emergencies, releases of hazardous substances, for conducting remedial cleanup and maintenance of hazardous waste sites and for making expenditures from the fund after the date of promulgation of the plan. The plan shall include:
(a) Methods for discovering, reporting and investigating sites at which hazardous waste or hazardous substances may present significant risk of harm to the public health and safety or to the environment;
(b) Methods and criteria for establishing priority responses and for determining the appropriate extent of cleanup, containment and other measures authorized by this article;
(c) Appropriate roles for governmental, interstate and nongovernmental entities in effectuating the plan;
(d) Methods for identifying, procuring, maintaining, and storing hazardous waste response equipment and supplies; and
(e) Methods to identify the most appropriate and cost-effective emergency and remedial actions in view of the relative risk or danger presented by each case or event.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 20. Environmental Advocate › §22-20-1. Appointment of Environmental Advocate; Powers and Duties; Salary

The director of the Division of Environmental Protection shall appoint a person to serve as the environmental advocate within the Division of Environmental Protection, and shall adopt and promulgate rules in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code governing and controlling the qualifications, powers and duties of the person to be appointed to the position of environmental advocate. The environmental advocate shall serve at the will and pleasure of the director, who shall also set the salary of the environmental advocate. All funding for the office of environmental advocate shall be from existing funds of the Division of Environmental Protection. The director shall provide an office and secretarial and support staff as needed.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units › §22-21-1. Declaration of Public Policy; Legislative Findings

(a) The Legislature hereby declares and finds that the venting of coalbed methane from mine areas and degasification of coal seams has been and continues to be approved by the state for the purpose of ensuring the safe recovery of coal; that the value of coal is far greater than the value of coalbed methane and any development of the coalbed methane should be undertaken in such a way as to protect and preserve coal for future safe mining and maximum recovery of the coal; that subject to the above declarations and findings, commercial recovery and marketing of coalbed methane should in some cases be facilitated because the energy needs of this state and the United States indicate that the fullest practical recovery of both coal and coalbed methane should be encouraged; that the Energy Policy Act of 1992 was enacted in part to encourage coalbed methane development and the State of West Virginia should enact legislation which carries out the purposes of said act; that in order to encourage and ensure the fullest practical recovery of coal and coalbed methane in this state and to further ensure the safe recovery of both natural resources, it is in the public interest to enact this article authorizing coalbed methane well permits, regulating the design of coalbed methane wells and recovery techniques, authorizing coalbed methane well units and pooling of interests therein to provide all coalbed methane operators and coalbed methane owners with an opportunity to recover their just and equitable share of production.
(b) It is hereby declared to be the public policy of this state and in the public interest to:
(1) Preserve coal seams for future safe mining; facilitate the expeditious, safe evacuation of coalbed methane from the coalbeds of this state, and maintain the ability and absolute right of coal operators at all times to vent coalbed methane from mine areas;
(2) Foster, encourage and promote the commercial development of this state's coalbed methane by establishing procedures for issuing permits and forming drilling units for coalbed methane wells without adversely affecting the safety of mining or the mineability of coal seams;
(3) Safeguard, protect and enforce the correlative rights of coalbed methane well operators and coalbed methane owners in a pool of coalbed methane to the end that each such operator and owner may obtain his or her just and equitable share of production from coalbed methane recovered and marketed under this article;
(4) Safeguard and protect the mineability of coal during the removal of coalbed methane, as permitted under this article;
(5) Create a state permitting procedure and authority to provide for and facilitate coalbed methane development as encouraged by the Energy Policy Act of 1992; and
(6) Seek the deletion of the State of West Virginia from the list of affected states by the secretary of the United States department of the interior as provided for in the Energy Policy Act of 1992.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units › §22-21-4. Chief; Powers and Duties Generally

(a) The chief of the office of oil and gas shall have the duty of issuing permits and otherwise supervising the execution and enforcement of the provisions of this article, all subject to the review and approval of the director.
(b) The chief of the office of oil and gas is authorized to enact rules necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article, subject to the review and approval by the director.
(c) In addition to all other powers and duties conferred upon the chief, the chief shall have the power and duty to:
(1) Perform all duties which are expressly imposed upon him by the provisions of this article, as well as duties assigned to him or her by the director;
(2) Perform all duties as the permit issuing authority for the state in all matters pertaining to the exploration, development, production and recovery of coalbed methane in accordance with the provisions of this article;
(3) Perform such acts as may be necessary or appropriate to secure to this state the benefits of federal legislation by establishing programs relating to the exploration, development, production and recovery of coalbed methane, which programs are assumable by the state;
(4) Visit and inspect any coalbed methane well or well site and call for the assistance of any oil and gas inspectors or other employees of the office of oil and gas in the enforcement of the provisions of this article;
(5) Collect the permit application fee for the drilling of a coalbed methane well;
(6) Collect the permit application fee for a drilling unit.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units › §22-21-8. Performance Bonds; Corporate Surety or Other Security

(a) No permit shall be issued pursuant to this article unless a bond is or has been furnished as provided in this section.
(b) A separate bond may be furnished for a particular coalbed methane well in the sum of $5,000, payable to the State of West Virginia, conditioned on full compliance with all laws and rules relating to the drilling, operation and stimulation of such wells, to the plugging, abandonment and reclamation thereof, and for furnishing such reports and information as may be required by the chief.
(c) When an operator makes or has made application for permits to drill, operate or stimulate more than one coalbed methane well or a combination of coalbed methane wells and wells regulated under article one, chapter twenty-two-b of this code, the operator may in lieu of furnishing a separate bond furnish a blanket bond in the sum of $5,000, payable to the State of West Virginia, and conditioned as stated in subsection (b) of this section.
(d) All bonds submitted hereunder shall have a corporate bonding or surety company authorized to do business in the State of West Virginia as surety thereon, or in lieu of a corporate surety, the operator may elect to deposit with the chief cash, collateral securities or any combination thereof as provided in subsection (d), section twenty-six, article six of this chapter.
(e) For purposes of bonding requirements, a coalbed methane well shall be treated as a well, as defined and regulated in article one, chapter twenty-two-b of this code, and the provisions of subsections (e), (g), (h), (i) and (j) of section twenty-six thereof shall apply.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22. Environmental Resources › Article 21. Coalbed Methane Wells and Units › §22-21-11. Objections or Comments to Coalbed Methane Wells by Coal Owner or Operator; Hearings

The owner or operator of any coal seam whose interests may be adversely affected by a coalbed methane well may, within fifteen days from the receipt of notice required by section nine of this article, file objections in writing to such proposed drilling with the chief, setting out the grounds on which such objections are based.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.