American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2015 - 52

West Virginia Lawmakers Fix Tank Law
CHARLESTON, W.V.-When lawmakers passed legislation in mid-March
to fix onerous aspects of a new aboveground storage tank (AST) law, the Independent Oil and Gas Association of
West Virginia achieved its top priority
for the 2015 legislative session, says Executive Director Charlie Burd. Unfortunately, he adds, when an IOGAWV-supported lease integration bill failed 4949-2 on a concurrence vote in the House
of Delegates, the association fell short
on its runner-up goal.
According to Burd, SB 423 amends
the Aboveground Storage Tank Act,
which West Virginia lawmakers passed
as SB 373 in 2014. Without the changes,
he estimates, at least 35,000 ASTs-most
of them at oil and gas sites-that already
complied with other regulatory requirements would have faced significant new
costs. "Now, the only tanks that are going
to be regulated to any degree greater
than the existing permitting system will
be those in a zone of critical concern,"
he reports. "There may be additional requirements in zones of critical concern,
but those can be satisfied by modifying
existing permits."
Burd explains that any tank owner or
operator whose permit has been amended
by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to address ASTs
and secondary containment shall be
deemed compliant if registration requirements are met. With regard to spill prevention and response plans, SB 423 authorizes tank owners to certify that they
are subject to an alternative plan-such as
one that meets the requirements under
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's Spill Prevention Control and
Countermeasure program-instead of
preparing another spill prevention and
response plan.
The new law requires WVDEP to inspect ASTs at least once every three
years, instead every five. It also includes
additional protections for trade secrets
and other confidential business information, Burd says.
He expresses appreciation for the efforts
of the stakeholder group, which-along
with oil and gas representatives-included
manufacturing, coal, agriculture and environmental groups, which helped craft
the legislation during 60-70 hours of discussions. Burd also lauds the efforts of
House and Senate leadership, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Schott,
R-Mercer, and Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Charles Trump, R-Morgan.

52 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Narrow Defeat
As for pooling, Burd says the IOGAWV-backed HB 2688 sought to provide for unitizing interests in horizontal
drilling units. It was the product of a
three-year effort by IOGAWV and the
West Virginia Oil & Gas Association
that incorporated extensive input from
the West Virginia Farm Bureau, National
Association of Royalty Owners, the West
Virginia Land and Mineral Owners Association, the West Virginia Royalty
Owners Association, and the West Virginia
Surface Owners Rights Organization.
Delegate Lynwood "Woody" Ireland,
R-Ritchie, assembled the stakeholder
group at the beginning of the year, Burd
says. "He helped get the different groups'
buy-in by saying we were going to have
a bill," Burd recounts. "He championed
it."
After the House passed HB 2688 6040, the Senate Judiciary Committee added
a minor provision to allow first purchasers
to collect severance taxes, he continues.
Shortly after the Senate passed the amended legislation, Burd describes, politics
became a factor. "When the bill returned
to the House to concur, it was caught in
the crossfire between the majority and
minority parties, which was complicated
further by those who deemed pooling
tantamount to an illegal taking," he relates.
The narrow defeat was frustrating,
Burd acknowledges, but the legislation
did not fail for lack of preparation, nor
because of stakeholder sabotage. Therefore, he says, the coalition is likely to
bring the bill back in 2016. "We have to
re-educate our elected officials about the
law in West Virginia, where three pooling
statutes already exist," Burd details. "This
one gives landowners more rights than it
takes. We are not going to stop trying.
We are not so discouraged that we won't
try to come back after getting 49 votes.
It only takes one more."

Other Bills
The 2015 session was especially unpredictable, Burd says, since Republicans
held their first legislative majorities in
more than eight decades. "Neither the
majority nor the minority parties were
at the top of the learning curve," he assesses. "It was much different this year,
with new players, new dynamics among
those players, and more opportunity to
educate a bunch of new people about
who we are and what we represent.
Every lobbying organization was in the

same boat."
As for other high points of the session,
Burd mentions the success of SB 280,
which lawmakers passed in late January
and Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed
in early February. Before SB 280, companies acquiring assets from operations
in West Virginia were required to reapply
for drilling permits. SB 280 eliminates
that obligation and authorizes the West
Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection to transfer the permits (AOGR,
March 2014, pg. 36).
Burd mentions a number of other bills
lawmakers have sent to the governor's
desk:
* SB 390 authorizes the West Virginia
Public Service Commission to approve
expedited cost recovery of natural gas
utility infrastructure projects deemed just
and reasonable, and in the public interest.
* SB 12 requires employers to pay
separated employees their outstanding
wages on or by the next regular payday,
and clarifies a number of related issues.
* SB 13 limits the civil liability of a
possessor of real property for injuries
caused by open and obvious hazards.
* HB 2011 is a workers' compensation reform bill.
* HB 2283 consolidates several
WVDEP rules bills, including HB 2363:
a legislative rule governing drilling waste
disposal facilities.
* HB 2627 is intended to provide
protection against property crimes committed against coal mines, utilities, and
other industrial facilities.
* HB 2878 requires the West Virginia
Secretary of State to establish a Webbased business portal to facilitate interaction among businesses and governmental
agencies.
Ì

Excelerate Gets OK For
LNG Port Off Puerto Rico

THE WOODLANDS, TX.-The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has
issued an environmental impact statement
that deems as limited the adverse environmental consequences of the Aguirre
Offshore GasPort offshore Puerto Rico,
say Excelerate Energy and the Puerto
Rico Electric Power Authority.
Moreover, Excelerate continues, the
EIS confirms the project's benefits of
improving the region's air quality and
reducing Jobos Bay barge traffic.
Ì



American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2015

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