The bill to create the Natural Gas Horizontal Well Control Act (Senate Bill 424) has passed through two House of Delegates committees this week and now goes to the full House floor for a vote. The bill was passed by the both the House Judiciary Committee and the House Finance Committee. Amendments to strengthen the bill were added (described below).
The legislative session ends at midnight on Saturday. To pass into law, the bill must be passed by the full House, then go through a Conference Committee to reconcile differences between the House version and the Senate version of the bill. If these last few hurdles are cleared before midnight on Saturday, then the bill will be sent to the Governor. The Governor may allow the bill to pass or veto it.
Groups which have lobbied for this bill are calling upon friends and supporters to keep up the pressure by calling or emailing their Delegates in the House. The WV Environmental Council said, “It is IMPERATIVE that our Delegates hear from you in support of a strong bill. There is a coordinated effort by some in the industry to stop the bill. We are hearing that legislators are receiving hundreds of these messages – but VERY FEW from concerned citizens in support of a strong bill regulating Marcellus Shale gas drilling.”
Citizens are also being urged to ask their Delegates to keep the amendments in place. A summary of the amendments has been provided by Julie Archer of WV Surface Owners Rights Organization (WV SORO) in the most recent WV SORO Action Alert:
Good Provisions Amended into SB 424 by the House Judiciary Committee
- Requiring all new oil and gas leases to have language advising the signer to consult with an attorney.
- A pre-survey notice to surface owners that:
- Applies to ALL new wells, not just to horizontal wells.
- Is 30 days in advance of the entry to survey.
- Requires the driller to offer to meet with the surface owner.
- Requiring horizontal wells to be 1000 feet from occupied dwellings and water wells unless the owner consents, or unless a variance (with conditions) is granted.
- Requiring horizontal wells to be 100 feet from a watercourse, pond, or wetland.
- Requiring horizontal wells to be more than 1000 feet upstream of a surface public water supply, and more than 1000 feet from groundwater public water supply.
- Allowing the state deny or condition a horizontal well permit based on impact to parks, rare habitats, historical sites, bodies of water, etc.
- Requiring horizontal wells to be inspected wells during each phase of cementing, completing and altering before the company can proceed.
- Extending water well testing near horizontal wells from 1000 to 5,500 feet if requested by the water well owner.
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“There’s a lot of important legislation that we’ve sent over to the House, there are some things over here that are waiting,” Kessler said. “I would hope that we would take a look at some of the Marcellus Shale regulatory legislation that is out there. I think that’s important to do”. Jeff Kessler, Acting President
of West Virginia Senate.