West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 35 - Oil And Gas › Title 35 - LEGISLATIVE RULE DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OFFICE OF OIL AND GAS › Series 35-08 - RULES GOVERNING HORIZONTAL WELL DEVELOPMENT › Section 35-8-2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
Unless the context in which used clearly requires a different
		  meaning, the definitions contained in W. Va. Code §§
									22-1-2, 22-6-1,
		  22-6A-4, and 22-11-3 apply to this rule in addition to those definitions set
		  forth below:
2.1. "W. Va. Code" means
		the West Virginia Code of 1931, as amended.
2.2. "Barrel" means forty-two (42) U.S. gallons
		of two hundred thirty-one (231) cubic inches each of liquid, including slurries,
		at a temperature of sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit.
2.3. "Chief" means Chief of the Office of Oil
		and Gas as designated by the Secretary of the Department of Environmental
		Protection.
2.4. "Coal permit" means
		a valid current surface mining permit issued by the Department of Environmental
		Protection.
2.5. "Coal permit holder"
		means the party that is registered with the West Virginia Office of Miners'
		Health, Safety, and Training as the operator of a coal permit. The "coal permit
		holder" may also be known or referred to as the "coal mine operator."
2.6. "Cubic foot of gas" means the volume of
		gas contained in one (1) cubic foot of space at a standard pressure base and a
		standard temperature base. The standard pressure base shall be fourteen and
		seventy-three hundredths pounds per square inch absolute (14.73 psia), and the
		standard temperature base shall be sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit.
2.7. "Day" means a period of twenty-four (24)
		consecutive hours.
2.8. "Designated
		agent" means a resident of the State of West Virginia designated by an operator
		as the agent or attorney in fact of the operator upon whom process, notices,
		orders or other communications issued pursuant to W. Va. Code §
									22-6A-7(h)
		may be served.
2.9. "Designated
		mining area" means an area of real property subject to a coal permit, further
		depicted or described in the Notice of Designated Mining Area, where excavation
		work will be conducted within the succeeding twelve (12) months.
2.10. "Excavation work" means work where
		vegetation, timber, topsoil or overburden will be moved, removed or placed by
		surface mining operations and includes surface impacts incident to underground
		coal mine operations.
2.11. "Gas-oil
		ratio test" means a test, by any means generally accepted in the industry, to
		determine the number of cubic feet of gas produced per barrel of oil
		produced.
2.12. "Gas well" means any
		well that produces or appears capable of producing a ratio of six thousand
		(6,000) cubic feet of gas or more to each one (1) barrel of oil on the basis of
		the initial gas-oil ratio test.
2.13.
		"Health care professional" means a physician, physician assistant, nurse
		practitioner, registered nurse, or emergency medical technician licensed by the
		State of West Virginia.
2.14.
		"Initial gas-oil ratio test" means the gas-oil ratio test preformed for the
		purpose of completing Form IV-36, "Well Operator's Report of Initial Gas-Oil
		Ratio Test," to designate the type of well being drilled.
2.15. "Karst terrain" means a terrain,
		generally underlain by limestone or dolomite, in which the topography is formed
		chiefly by the dissolving of rock and which may be characterized by sinkholes,
		sinking streams, closed depressions, subterranean drainage, and caves, as such
		areas (known as "karst regions") have been identified, mapped, and published by
		the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey.
2.16. "Log" or "well log" means a systematic,
		detailed geological record of all formations, including coal, freshwater, and
		salt water encountered in the drilling of a well.
2.17. "Natural gas pipeline" means a pipeline,
		other than an interstate or utility pipeline, that is used to transport natural
		gas.
2.18. "Notice of Designated
		Mining Area" means a written notice from a coal permit holder that contains the
		following information:
(a) A copy of the mine
		plan permit maps previously submitted to the Department of Environmental
		Protection in connection with the permit, pursuant to W. Va. Code §
										22-3-9(12) and 38 CSR 2 § 3.4, with a discernible boundary identifying the
		designated mining area where excavation work will be conducted within the
		following twelve (12) month period.; and
(b) The general location of all oil and gas
		wells and pipelines known to the coal mining permit holder or operator or
		identified in the coal permitting process, together with any GPS or other survey
		information in the possession of the coal permit holder that identifies the
		location of any natural gas pipelines in the designated mining area; and
(c) The office telephone number and
		mailing address for the mine where the work will occur and identification of the
		location of any staffed guard gate or entrance.