On Wednesday, the West Virginia Senate passed a pair of bills that stakeholders from the oil and gas industry have been following throughout the current session.
Senate Bill 316, which would change the requirements for two members of the West Virginia Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and House Bill 4091, which would allow for expedited oil and gas well permitting, both passed unanimously and with little discussion.
Sen. Mark Maynard, R-Wayne, chair of the Senate Government Organization Committee, said SB 316 changed during the committee process.
“The bill started out pretty simple, but ended up with a pretty heavy lift,” he said.
Maynard was referring to an amendment entered by Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, when the bill was before the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee.
The Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is a five-member body responsible for regulating the drilling of deep wells in the state.
Three of the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s members are appointed by the governor.
Currently, of those appointments, one must be an independent producer, one must be a “member of the public” and one must have a degree in petroleum engineering or geology and must be a registered professional engineer.
Originally the bill only removed the word “petroleum” from the third appointee’s requirements, meaning the person could have any sort of engineering degree to qualify.
Smith’s amendment also added a change for the public member, requiring them to have “never been employed by or been a consultant to” the oil and gas industry and requiring them to own land within the state.
HB 4091 would allow producers to pay the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to speed up the permitting process for horizontal wells.
Current permitting fees are $10,000 for the first well on a pad and $5,000 for each additional well on the pad. There is currently no cost for permit modifications.
Under the expedited rules, producers could opt to pay $20,000 for the initial well and $10,000 for each additional well on the pad.
The modification fee would be $5,000 per well.
Permits would have to be issued within 45 days of the application submission, or the DEP would be required to refund the applicant a daily, pro-rated amount of the expedited fee through the 60th day.
Half of the funds, capped at $1 million annually, would be used by the DEP to process the expedited applications. The other half, and any funds collected beyond the cap, would be deposited in the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund and would be used to plug orphaned and abandoned wells around the state.
Senators attempted to pass a similar bill last year, but it ultimately failed to pass the House, according to Smith.
“This is the exact same language of the bill that passed out of here last year 34 to nothing,” he said. “I guess they had a change of heart, it’s an industry bill now, and they introduced it in the House and sent it over here.”
Senior Staff Writer Charles Young can be reached at 304-626-1447 or cyoung@theet.com
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