reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 8. Shallow Gas Well Review Board › §22C-8-3. Application of Article; Exclusions

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the provisions of this article shall apply to all lands located in this state, under which a coal seam as defined in section two of this article and section one, article six, chapter twenty-two of this code, is located, however owned, including any lands owned or administered by any government or any agency or subdivision thereof, over which the state has jurisdiction under its police power. The provisions of this article are in addition to and not in derogation of or substitution for the provisions of this chapter or chapter twenty-two of this code.
(b) This article shall not apply to or affect:
(1) Deep wells;
(2) Oil wells and enhanced oil recovery wells associated with oil wells;
(3) Any shallow well as to which no objection is made under section seventeen, article six, chapter twenty-two of this code;
(4) Wells as defined in subdivision (4), section one, article nine, chapter twenty-two of this code; or
(5) Free gas rights.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 8. Shallow Gas Well Review Board › §22C-8-4. Shallow Gas Well Review Board; Membership; Method of Appointment; Vacancies; Compensation and Expenses; Staff

(a) There is hereby continued the "Shallow Gas Well Review Board" which shall be composed of three members, two of whom shall be the commissioner and the chief of the office of oil and gas. The remaining member of the board shall be a registered professional who has been successfully tested in mining engineering, with at least ten years practical experience in the coal mining industry and shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate: Provided, That any person so appointed while the Senate of this state is not in session shall be permitted to serve in an acting capacity for one year from appointment or until the next session of the Legislature, whichever is less. As soon as practical after appointment and qualification of the member appointed by the Governor, the Governor shall convene a meeting of the board for the purpose of organizing and electing a chair, who serves as such until a successor is elected by the board.
(b) A vacancy in the membership appointed by the Governor shall be filled by appointment by the Governor within sixty days after the occurrence of such vacancy. Before performing any duty hereunder, each member of the board shall take and subscribe to the oath required by section 5, article IV of the Constitution of West Virginia, and serves thereafter until a successor has been appointed and qualified.
(c) The member of the board appointed by the Governor shall be paid the same compensation, and each member of the board shall be paid the expense reimbursement, as is paid to members of the Legislature for their interim duties as recommended by the citizens legislative compensation commission and authorized by law for each day or portion thereof engaged in the discharge of official duties. Each member of the board shall also be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of the duties as a member of the board.
(d) The division shall furnish office and clerical staff and supplies and services, including reporters for hearings, as required by the board.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 8. Shallow Gas Well Review Board › §22C-8-6. Rules; Notice Requirements

(a) The board may promulgate, pursuant to the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, such reasonable rules as are deemed necessary or desirable to implement and make effective the provisions of this article.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of section two, article seven, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, any notice required under the provisions of this article shall be given at the direction of the chair by (1) personal or substituted service and if such cannot be had then by (2) certified United States mail, addressed, postage and certification fee prepaid, to the last known mailing address, if any, of the person being served, with the direction that the same be delivered to addressee only, return receipt requested, and if there be no known mailing address or if the notice is not so delivered then by (3) publication of such notice as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the county or counties wherein any land which may be affected by the order of the board is situate. The chair shall also mail a copy of such notice to all other persons who have specified to the chair an address to which all such notices may be mailed. All notices shall issue in the name of the state, shall be signed by the chair, shall specify the style and number of the proceeding, the date, time and place of any meeting, conference or hearing, and shall briefly state the purpose of the proceeding. Proof of service or publication of such notice shall be made to the board promptly and in any event within the time during which the person served must respond to the notice. If service is made by a person other than the sheriff or the chair, such person shall make proof thereof by affidavit. Failure to make proof of service or publication within the time required shall not affect the validity of the service of the notice.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 8. Shallow Gas Well Review Board › §22C-8-8. Distance Limitations

(a) If the well operator and the objecting coal seam owners present or represented at the time and place fixed by the chair for consideration of the objections to the proposed drilling location are unable to agree upon a drilling location, then the written order of the board shall direct the director to refuse to issue a drilling permit unless the following distance limitations are observed:
(1) For all shallow wells with a depth less than three thousand feet, there shall be a minimum distance of one thousand feet from the drilling location to the nearest existing well as defined in subsection (b) of this section; and
(2) For all shallow wells with a depth of three thousand feet or more, there shall be a minimum distance of one thousand five hundred feet from the drilling location to the nearest existing well as defined in subsection (b) of this section, except that where the distance from the drilling location to such nearest existing well is less than two thousand feet but more than one thousand five hundred feet and a coal seam owner has objected, the gas operator shall have the burden of establishing the need for the drilling location less than two thousand feet from such nearest existing well. Where the distance from the drilling location proposed by the operator or designated by the board to the nearest existing well as defined in subsection (b) of this section is greater than two thousand feet, distance criterion will not be a ground for objection by a coal seam owner.
(b) The words "existing well" as used in this section means (i) any well not plugged within nine months after being drilled to its total depth and either completed in the same target formation or drilled for the purpose of producing from the same target formation, and (ii) any unexpired, permitted drilling location for a well to the same target formation.
(c) The minimum distance limitations established by this section shall not apply if the proposed well be drilled through an existing or planned pillar of coal required for protection of a preexisting oil or gas well and the proposed well will neither require enlargement of such pillar nor otherwise have an adverse effect on existing or planned coal mining operations.
(d) Nothing in this article shall be construed to empower the board to order the director to issue a drilling permit to any person other than the well operator filing the application which is the subject of the proceedings.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 8. Shallow Gas Well Review Board › §22C-8-12. Effect of Order Establishing Drilling Unit or Pooling of Interests; Recordation

(a) An order issued by the board establishing a drilling unit and ordering the pooling of interests therein shall not entitle the gas operator designated in such order to drill a well on such drilling unit until such gas operator shall have received a drilling permit in accordance with the provisions applicable to alternative drilling locations set out in section seventeen, article six, chapter twenty-two of this code. All orders issued by the board establishing a drilling unit shall be filed with the director and shall also direct the director to issue a drilling permit for the drilling location agreed to by all of the owners of the coal seams underlying such drilling location.
(b) A certified copy of any order of the board establishing a drilling unit or a pooling of interests shall be mailed by the board to the clerk of the county commission of each county wherein all or any portion of the drilling unit is located, for recordation in the record book of such county in which oil and gas leases are normally recorded. Such recordation from the time noted thereon by such clerk shall be notice of the order to all persons.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 8. Shallow Gas Well Review Board › §22C-8-13. Judicial Review; Appeal to Supreme Court of Appeals; Legal Representation for Board

(a) Any person adversely affected by an order of the board shall be entitled to judicial review thereof. All of the pertinent provisions of section four, article five, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code shall apply to and govern such judicial review with like effect as if the provisions of said section four were set forth in extenso in this section.
(b) The judgment of the circuit court shall be 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 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 as well, all without additional compensation. The board, with the written approval of the Attorney General, may employ special counsel to represent the board at any such appeal proceedings.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 8. Shallow Gas Well Review Board › §22C-8-14. 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, shall be deemed for all purposes the conduct of such operations upon each separately owned tract in the drilling unit by the several owners thereof. That portion of the production allocated to a separately owned tract included in a drilling unit shall, when produced, be deemed for all purposes to have been actually produced from such tract by a well drilled thereon.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 8. Shallow Gas Well Review Board › §22C-8-15. Validity of Unit Agreements

No agreement between or among gas operators, lessees or other owners of gas rights in gas properties, entered into pursuant to the provisions of this article or with a view to or for the purpose of bringing about the unitized development or operation of such properties, shall 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.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 8. Shallow Gas Well Review Board › §22C-8-17. Penalties

(a) Any person who violates any provision of this article, any of the rules promulgated by the board hereunder or any order of the board other than a violation governed by the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000.
(b) Any person who, with the intention of evading any provision of this article, any of the rules promulgated by the board hereunder or any order of the board shall make or cause 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, any of the rules promulgated by the board hereunder or any order of the board, 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.
(c) Any person who knowingly aids or abets any other person in the violation of any provision of this article, any of the rules promulgated by the board hereunder or any order or final decision of the board, shall be subject to the same penalty as that prescribed in this article for the violation by such other person.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 8. Shallow Gas Well Review Board › §22C-8-19. Rules, Orders and Permits Remain in Effect

The rules promulgated and all orders and permits in effect upon the effective date of this article pursuant to the provisions of article seven, of former chapter twenty-two of this code shall remain in full force and effect as if such rules, orders and permits were adopted by the board continued in this article but all such rules, orders and permits shall be subject to review by the board to ensure they are consistent with the purposes and policies set forth in this chapter and chapter twenty-two of this code.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 9. Oil and Gas Conservation › §22C-9-1. Declaration of Public Policy; Legislative Findings

(a) It is hereby declared to be the public policy of this state and in the public interest to:
(1) Foster, encourage, and promote exploration for and development, production, utilization, and conservation of oil and gas resources;
(2) Prohibit waste of oil and gas resources and unnecessary surface loss of oil and gas and their constituents;
(3) Encourage the maximum recovery of oil and gas;
(4) Safeguard, protect, and enforce the correlative rights of operators and royalty owners in a pool of oil or gas to the end that each such operator and royalty owner may obtain his or her just and equitable share of production from that pool, unit or unconventional reservoir of oil or gas; and
(5) Safeguard, protect, and enforce the property rights and interests of surface owners and the owners and agricultural users of other interests in the land.
(b) The Legislature hereby determines and finds that oil and natural gas found in West Virginia in shallow sands or strata have been produced continuously for more than 100 years; that oil and gas deposits in shallow sands or strata have geological and other characteristics different than those found in deeper formations and unconventional reservoirs; and that in order to encourage the maximum recovery of oil and gas from all productive formations in this state, it is not in the public interest, with the exception of shallow wells utilized in a secondary recovery program, to enact statutory provisions relating to the exploration for or production of oil and gas from vertical shallow wells, but that it is in the public interest to enact statutory provisions establishing regulatory procedures and principles to be applied to the exploration for or production of oil and gas from deep wells, as defined in section two and oil and gas produced from horizontal wells.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 9. Oil and Gas Conservation › §22C-9-3. Application of Article; Exclusions

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the provisions of this article shall apply to all lands located in this state, however owned, including any lands owned or administered by any government or any agency or subdivision thereof, over which the state has jurisdiction under its police power. The provisions of this article are in addition to and not in derogation of or substitution for the provisions of 22-6-1
et seq
. of this code.
(b) This article shall not apply to or affect:
(1) Shallow wells other than shallow horizontal wells and those utilized in secondary recovery programs as set forth in in 22C-9-8 of this code and those provided for in 22C-9-4 of this code;
(2) Any well commenced or completed prior to March 9, 1972, unless the well is, after completion (whether the completion is prior or subsequent to that date):
(A) Deepened or drilled laterally subsequent to that date to a formation at or below the top of the uppermost member of the Onondaga Group;
(B) Involved in secondary recovery operations for oil under an order of the commission entered pursuant to 22C-9-8 of this code; or
(C) Drilled laterally as a horizontal well at any depth;
(3) Gas storage operations or any well employed to inject gas into or withdraw gas from a gas storage reservoir or any well employed for storage observation;
(4) Free gas rights; or
(5) Coalbed methane wells.
(c) The provisions of this article shall not be construed to grant to the commissioner or the commission authority or power to:
(1) Limit production or output, or prorate production of any oil or gas well, except as provided in 22C-9-7(a)(6) of this code; or
(2) Fix prices of oil or gas.
(d) Nothing contained in either this chapter or 22-1-1
et seq
. of this code may be construed so as to require, prior to commencement of plugging operations, a lessee under a lease covering a well to give or sell the well to any person owning an interest in the well, including, but not limited to, a respective lessor, or agent of the lessor, nor shall the lessee be required to grant to a person owning an interest in the well, including, but not limited to, a respective lessor, or agent of a lessor, an opportunity to qualify under 22-6-26 of this code to continue operation of the well.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 9. Oil and Gas Conservation › §22C-9-5. Rules; Notice Requirements

(a) The commission may propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of 29A-3-1
et seq
. of this code, to implement and make effective the provisions of this article and the powers and authority conferred and the duties imposed upon the commission under the provisions of this article.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of 29A-7-2 of this code, any notice required under the provisions of this article shall be given at the direction of the commission by personal or substituted service or by certified United States mail, addressed, postage prepaid, to the last-known mailing address, if any, of the person being served, with the direction that the same be delivered to addressee only, return receipt requested. In the case of providing notice upon the filing of an application with the commission, the commission shall, within 14 days of the filing of an application, submit for publication notice of the application notice to be published as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of 59-3-1
et seq
. of this code, and the publication area for the publication shall be the county or counties wherein any land which may be affected by the order is situate.
In addition, the commission shall mail a copy of the notice to all other persons who have specified to the commission an address to which all such notices may be mailed. The notice shall issue in the name of the state, shall be signed by the one of the commission members, shall specify the style and number of the proceeding, the time and place of any hearing and shall briefly state the purpose of the proceeding. Each notice of a hearing must be provided no fewer than 20 days preceding the hearing date. Personal or substituted service and proof thereof may be made by an officer authorized to serve process or by an agent of the commission in the same manner as is now provided by the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure for service of process in civil actions in the various courts of this state.
A certified copy of any pooling or unit order entered under the provisions of this article shall be presented by the commission to the clerk of the county commission of each county wherein all or any portion of the pooled or unit tract is located, for recordation in the record book of the county in which oil and gas leases are normally recorded. The recording of the order from the time noted thereon by the clerk shall be notice of the order to all persons.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 9. Oil and Gas Conservation › §22C-9-9. Validity of Unit Agreements

No agreement between or among operators, lessees or other owners of oil or gas rights in oil and gas properties, entered into pursuant to the provisions of this article or with a view to or for the purpose of bringing about the unitized development or operation of such properties, shall 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.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 9. Oil and Gas Conservation › §22C-9-10. Hearing Procedures

(a) Upon receipt of a request for hearing, the commission shall set a time and place for such hearing not less than twenty and not more than forty-five days thereafter. Any scheduled hearing may be continued by the commission upon the commission's own motion or for good cause shown by any party to the hearing. All interested parties shall be entitled to be heard at any hearing conducted under the provisions of this article.
(b) All of the pertinent provisions of article five, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code shall apply to and govern the hearing and the administrative procedures in connection with and following such hearing, with like effect as if the provisions of said article five were set forth in extenso in this subsection.
(c) Any such hearing shall be conducted by the commission. For the purpose of conducting any such hearing, the commission shall have the power and authority to issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum which shall be issued and served as specified in section one, article five of said chapter twenty-nine-a, and all of the said section one provisions dealing with subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum shall apply to subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum issued for the purpose of a hearing hereunder.
(d) At any hearing parties may represent themselves or be represented by an attorney-at-law admitted to practice before any circuit court of this state. Upon request by the commission, the commission shall be represented at a hearing by the Attorney General or the Attorney General's assistants without additional compensation. The commission, with the written approval of the Attorney General, may employ special counsel to represent the commission at any hearing.
(e) After any hearing and consideration of all of the testimony, evidence and record in the case, the commission shall render a decision in writing. The written decision of the commission shall be accompanied by findings of fact and conclusions of law as specified in section three, article five, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, and a copy of such decision and accompanying findings and conclusions shall be served by certified mail, return receipt requested, upon all parties and their attorney of record, if any.
The decision of the commission shall be final unless reversed, vacated or modified upon judicial review thereof in accordance with the provisions of section eleven of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 9. Oil and Gas Conservation › §22C-9-11. Judicial Review; Appeal to Supreme Court of Appeals; Legal Representation for Commission

(a) Any party adversely affected by an order of the commission shall be entitled to judicial review thereof. All of the pertinent provisions of section four, article five, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, shall apply to and govern such judicial review with like effect as if the provisions of said section four were set forth in this section.
(b) The judgment of the circuit court shall be 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, except that notwithstanding the provisions of said section one the petition seeking such review must be filed with said Supreme Court of Appeals within thirty days from the date of entry of the judgment of the circuit court.
(c) Legal counsel and services for the commission in all appeal proceedings in any circuit court and the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be provided by the Attorney General or the Attorney General's assistants and in any circuit court by the prosecuting attorney of the county as well, all without additional compensation. The commission, with the written approval of the Attorney General, may employ special counsel to represent the commission at any such appeal proceedings.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 9. Oil and Gas Conservation › §22C-9-13. Special Oil and Gas Conservation Tax

Owners of leases on oil and gas for the exploration, development or production of oil or natural gas shall pay to the commission a special oil and gas conservation tax of 3¢ for each acre under lease, excluding from the tax the first twenty-five thousand acres. The commission shall deposit with the treasurer of the state of West Virginia, to the credit of the special oil and gas conservation fund, all taxes collected hereunder. The special oil and gas conservation fund shall be a special fund and shall be administered by the commission for the sole purpose of carrying out all costs necessary to carry out the provisions of this article. This tax shall be paid as provided herein annually on or before July 1, 1972, and on or before July 1, in each succeeding year.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 9. Oil and Gas Conservation › §22C-9-14. Penalties

(a) Any person who violates any provision of this article, any of the reasonable rules promulgated by the commission hereunder or any order or any final decision of the commission, other than a violation covered by the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000, and each day that a violation continues shall constitute a new and separate violation.
(b) Any person who, for the purpose of evading any provision of this article, any of the reasonable rules promulgated by the commission hereunder or any order or final decision of the commission, shall make or cause to be made any false entry or statement in a report required under the provisions of this article, any of the reasonable rules promulgated by the commission hereunder or any order or final decision of the commission, or shall make or cause to be made any false entry in any record, account or memorandum required under the provisions of this article, any of the reasonable rules promulgated by the commission hereunder or any order or any final decision of the commission, or who shall omit, or cause to be omitted, from any such record, account or memorandum, full, true and correct entries, or shall remove from this state or destroy, mutilate, alter or falsify any such record, account or memorandum, 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.
(c) Any person who knowingly aids or abets any other person in the violation of any provision of this article, any of the reasonable rules promulgated by the commission hereunder or any order of final decision of the commission, shall be subject to the same penalty as that prescribed in this article for the violation by such other person.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 9. Oil and Gas Conservation › §22C-9-16. Rules, Orders and Permits Remain in Effect

(a) All orders, determinations, rules, permits, grants, contracts, certificates, licenses, waivers, bonds, authorizations and privileges which have been issued, made, granted or allowed to become effective pursuant to any prior enactment of this article and which are in effect on the effective date of this article shall continue in effect according to their terms until modified, terminated, superseded, set aside or revoked pursuant to this article, by a court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation of law.
(b) Orders and actions of the commission or commissioner in the exercise of functions amended by this enactment are subject to judicial review to the same extent and in the same manner as if such orders and actions had been by the commission or commissioner exercising such functions immediately preceding the enactment of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 11. Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin › §22C-11-2. Appointment of Alternates

The Governor, by and with the consent of the Senate, shall appoint an alternate member for the two members of the commission who are not ex officio, and each alternate shall have power to act in the absence of the person for whom he is alternate. The Governor shall appoint the first alternates hereunder on or before July 1, 1949, the term of each alternate to run concurrently with the term of the member for whom he is alternate.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 11. Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin › §22C-11-3. Expenses of Commission; Appropriation; Officers and Employees; Meetings

The commissioners shall be reimbursed, out of moneys appropriated for such purposes, all sums which they necessarily shall expend in the discharge of their duties as members of such commission.
There shall be appropriated to the commission out of any moneys in the State Treasury unexpended and available therefor, and not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary for the uses and purposes of the commission in carrying out the provisions of this article and the payment of the proper proportion of the State of West Virginia of the expenses of the "Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin," in accordance with article four of said compact.
The commission shall elect from its membership a chairman and may also select a secretary who need not be a member. The commission may employ such assistants as it may deem necessarily required, and the duties of such assistants shall be prescribed and their compensation fixed by the commission and paid out of the State Treasury out of funds appropriated for such purposes upon the requisition of said commission.
The commission shall meet at such times and places as agreed upon by the commissioners or upon call of its chairman.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 11. Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin › §22C-11-4. Effective Date; Findings

This article shall become effective upon the adoption of substantially similar amendments to the interstate compact by each of the signatory states to the compact, and upon the approval of the amendments to the compact by the Congress of the United States.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 11. Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin › §22C-11-5. Restrictions

Neither the Governor of the State of West Virginia nor any member of the commission aforesaid, representing the State of West Virginia, shall consent to the construction of any dam, whether in the State of West Virginia, or without this state, which shall flood lands in this state, without the express consent of the Legislature.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 12. Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission › §22C-12-2. Appointment of Members of Commission; Director of Division of Environmental Protection Member Ex Officio

In pursuance of article four of said compact, there shall be three members of the "Ohio River valley water sanitation commission" from the State of West Virginia. The Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint two persons as two of such commissioners, each of whom shall be a resident and citizen of this state. The terms of one of the said two commissioners first appointed shall be three years and of the other shall be six years; and their successors shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate for terms of six years each. Each commissioner shall hold office until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. Vacancies occurring in the office of any such commissioner from any reason or cause shall be filled by appointment by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for the unexpired term. The third commissioner from this state is the director of the Division of Environmental Protection, ex officio, and the term of the ex officio commissioner terminates at the time he ceases to hold the office of director of the Division of Environmental Protection, and his successor as a commissioner shall be his successor as the director of the Division of Environmental Protection. With the exception of the issuance of any order under the provisions of article nine of the compact, the ex officio commissioner may delegate, from time to time, to any deputy or other subordinate in his division or office, the power to be present and participate, including voting, as his representative or substitute at any meeting of or hearing by or other proceeding of the commission. The terms of each of the initial three members shall begin at the date of the appointment of the two appointive commissioners, provided the said compact shall then have gone into effect in accordance with article eleven of the compact; otherwise shall begin upon the date which said compact shall become effective in accordance with said article eleven.
Any commissioner may be removed from office by the Governor.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 12. Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission › §22C-12-3. Powers of Commission; Duties of State Officers, Departments, etc.; Jurisdiction of Circuit Courts; Enforcement of Article

There is hereby granted to the commission and commissioners thereof all the powers provided for in the said compact and all the powers necessary or incidental to the carrying out of said compact in every particular. All officers of this state are hereby authorized and directed to do all things falling within their respective provinces and jurisdiction necessary to or incidental to the carrying out of said compact in every particular; it being hereby declared to be the policy of this state to perform and carry out the said compact and to accomplish the purposes thereof. All officers, bureaus, departments and persons of and in the state government or administration of this state of West Virginia are hereby authorized and directed at convenient times and upon request of the said commission to furnish the said commission with information and data possessed by them or any of them and to aid said commission by loan of personnel or other means lying within their legal powers respectively.
The circuit courts of this state are hereby granted the jurisdiction specified in article nine of said compact, and the Attorney General or any other law-enforcing officer of this state is hereby granted the power to institute any action for the enforcement of the orders of the commission as specified in said article nine of the compact.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 12. Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission › §22C-12-4. Powers Granted Herein Supplemental to Other Powers Vested in Commission

Any powers herein granted to the commission shall be regarded as in aid of and supplemental to and in no case a limitation upon any of the powers vested in said commission by other laws of this state or by the laws of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or by Congress or the terms of said compact.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 12. Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission › §22C-12-5. Expenses of Commission; Appropriations; Officers and Employees; Meetings

The commissioners shall be reimbursed out of moneys appropriated for such purposes, all sums which they necessarily shall expend in the discharge of their duties as members of such commission.
There shall be appropriated to the commission out of any moneys in the State Treasury unexpended and available therefor, and not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary for the uses and purposes of the commission in carrying out the provisions of this article and the payment of the proper proportion of the State of West Virginia of the annual budget of the "Ohio River valley water sanitation commission" in accordance with article ten of said compact.
The commission shall elect from its membership a chairman and may also select a secretary who need not be a member. The commission may employ such assistance as it may deem necessarily required, and the duties of such assistants shall be prescribed and their compensation fixed by the commission and paid out of the State Treasury out of funds appropriated for such purposes upon the requisition of said commission.
The commission shall meet at such times and places as agreed upon by the commissioners or upon call of its chairman.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 22C. Environmental Resources; Boards, Authorities, Commissions and Compacts › Article 12. Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission › §22C-12-6. When Article Effective; Findings; Continuation

This article shall take effect and become operative and the compact be executed for and on behalf of this state only from and after the approval, ratification, adoption and entering into thereof by the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 23. Workers' Compensation › Article 1. General Administrative Provisions › §23-1-1. Regulation of the Workers Compensation System by the Insurance Commissioner; Findings

(a) As recognized by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in Wampler Foods, Inc. v. Workers Compensation Division, 216 W.Va. 129, 602 S.E.2d 805 (2004), and in recognition that a deficit of such critical proportions existed in the workers compensation fund that it constituted an immediate and long term threat to the solvency of the fund, as well as a substantial deterrent to the economic development of this state, and further that lawmakers are uniquely charged with the responsibility for passing laws designed to cure such serious concerns and that substantial deference is accorded to legislative actions aimed at doing so, it was and remains the intent of the Legislature that the amendments to this chapter enacted in the year 2003 be applied from the date upon which the enactment was made effective by the Legislature.
(b) It is the further intent of the Legislature that this chapter be interpreted so as to assure the quick and efficient delivery of indemnity and medical benefits to injured workers at a reasonable cost to the employers who are subject to the provisions of this chapter. It is the specific intent of the Legislature that workers compensation cases shall be decided on their merits and that a rule of "liberal construction" based on any "remedial" basis of workers compensation legislation shall not affect the weighing of evidence in resolving such cases. The workers compensation system in this state is based on a mutual renunciation of common law rights and defenses by employers and employees alike. Employees rights to sue for damages over and above medical and health care benefits and wage loss benefits are to a certain degree limited by the provisions of this chapter and employers rights to raise common law defenses, such as lack of negligence, contributory negligence on the part of the employee, and others, are curtailed as well. Accordingly, the Legislature hereby declares that any remedial component of the workers compensation laws is not to cause the workers compensation laws to receive liberal construction that alters in any way the proper weighing of evidence as required by 23-4-1g of this code.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature, expressed through its enactment of legislation, to transfer the regulation of the workers compensation system to the Insurance Commissioner. By proclamation of the Governor, as authorized by 23-2C-1
et seq
. of this code, the Workers Compensation Commission was terminated on December 31, 2005. To further the transition from the state-operated workers compensation system to a system of private insurance, the duties and responsibilities of the Workers Compensation Commission and the board of managers, including, but not limited to, ratemaking and adjudication of claims now reside with the Insurance Commissioner.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 23. Workers' Compensation › Article 1. General Administrative Provisions › §23-1-1f. Authority of Insurance Commission to Exempt Employees From Classified Service; Exemption From Purchasing Rules

Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the Insurance Commissioner may:
(1) Exempt no more than 20 positions of the offices of the Insurance Commissioner from the classified service of the state, the employees of which positions shall serve at the will and pleasure of the commissioner:
Provided
, That such exempt positions shall be in addition to those positions in classified-exempt service under the classification plan adopted by the Division of Personnel; and
(2) Expend such sums for professional services as he or she determines are necessary to perform duties under this chapter. The provisions of 5A-3-1
et seq
. of this code relating to the Purchasing Division of the Department of Administration shall not apply to these contracts, and the Insurance Commissioner shall award the contract or contracts on a competitive basis.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 23. Workers' Compensation › Article 1. General Administrative Provisions › §23-1-1h. Powers and Duties of Office of Judges Transferred to Board of Review; Definition of Certain Terms Effective July 1, 2022

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, with regard to an objection, protest, or any other decision issued after June 30, 2022, all powers and duties of the Workers Compensation Office of Judges, as provided in this chapter, shall be transferred to the Workers Compensation Board of Review.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals has exclusive appellate jurisdiction over the following matters:
(1) Decisions or orders issued by the Office of Judges after June 30, 2022, and prior to its termination; and
(2) Decisions of the Workers Compensation Board of Review, issued after June 30, 2022, as provided in 23-5-8a and 51-11-1
et seq
. of this code.
(c) Unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning, effective July 1, 2022, the following terms shall have the following meanings for the purposes of this chapter, except when used in 23-5-1
et seq
. of this code:
(1) "Administrative law judge" means a member of the Workers Compensation Board of Review, or a hearing examiner designated by the Board of Review as authorized in 23-5-1
et seq
. of this code;
(2) "Office of judges" means the "Workers Compensation Board of Review"; and
(3) "Workers Compensation Board of Review" or "Board of Review" when used in reference to an appeal of a Board of Review decision, means the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals, created by 51-11-1
et seq
. of this code.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 23. Workers' Compensation › Article 1. General Administrative Provisions › §23-1-2. Oversight of the Workers Compensation Commission

The Insurance Commissioner shall report at least quarterly to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance regarding the funds created in 23-2C-1
et seq
. of this code. This analysis shall include the current balances in the fund and revenue generated and expended in relationship to the liabilities and assets of the funds and estimates of any debt reduction relative to the fund over the next reporting period.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 23. Workers' Compensation › Article 1. General Administrative Provisions › §23-1-4. Records; Confidentiality; Exceptions

Except as expressly provided for in this subsection, information obtained regarding employers and claimants pursuant to this chapter for the purposes of its administration is not subject to the provisions of Chapter 29B of this code unless the provisions are hereafter specifically made applicable, in whole or in part. The information that is reasonably necessary may be released in formal orders or opinions of any tribunal or court which is presented with an issue arising under this chapter as well as in the presentations of the parties before the tribunal or court. Similarly, claimants or other interested parties to an issue arising under this chapter may, upon request, obtain information from the Insurance Commissioners records to the extent necessary for the proper presentation or defense of a claim or other matter. Information may be released pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 29B of this code only if all identifying information has first been eliminated from the records. Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the release of information to another agency of the state or of the federal government for the legitimate purposes of those agencies:
Provided
, That the agency shall guarantee the confidentiality of the information provided to the fullest extent possible in keeping with its own statutory and regulatory mandates. Nothing in this section shall prevent the Insurance Commissioner from complying with any subpoena duces tecum:
Provided, however
, That the issuing tribunal or court shall take such actions as proper to maintain the confidentiality of the information.
The Insurance Commissioner may release, pursuant to a proper request under the provisions of Chapter 29B of this code, the following information:
(1) Whether or not a specific employer has obtained coverage under the provisions of this chapter;
(2) Whether or not a specific employer is in good standing or is delinquent or in default according to the Insurance Commissioners records and the time periods thereof; and
(3) If a specific employer is delinquent or in default, what the payments due the Insurance Commissioner are and what the components of that payment are, including the time periods affected.