DEP Seeks Comment On Horizontal Gas Well Emergency Rule

The rule proposed by the  West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for horizontal wells (see last week's post)  is an emergency rule.  It is not a permanent rule, and must still be approved by the Legislature.  Otherwise, they lapse after  15 months. That means the horizontal well emergency rule must be approved during the 2012 session if it is to remain in effect.  Once the rule has lapsed, it cannot be reproposed as an emergency rule.

In West Virginia, most executive branch rules have to be approved by the Legislature,  like statutes. They are usually bundled in rules packages, but other than that they go through committees and must be passed like other legislation. The statue that governs rulemaking is found in W. Va. Code 29A-3-1 et seq. The pertinent requirements for  rulemaking are in Sections 15, 15a and 15b.

All of which is to say that there is more that has to be done before the emergency rule becomes a final legislative rule, and the DEP will have to develop support for it if it is to remain effective. Here's the DEP press release giving notice that it is asking for comments on the rule:   

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is seeking public input on its Well Site Safety Plan Standards and Casing and Cementing Standards that are referenced in the DEP’s Emergency Rule for horizontal drilling, filed Aug. 22 with the Secretary of State’s Office.

As part of the rule, all applications for well work permits involving well sites that will disturb three acres or more of surface must include a well site safety plan to spell out what steps will be taken to protect persons on site, as well as the general public and the environment. The plan is to be developed in accordance with standards developed by the DEP’s Office of Oil and Gas (OOG).

The Emergency Rule also includes operational rules intended to protect water quantity and quality and instructs operators to construct wells and conduct casing and cementing activities of all horizontal wells in accordance with OOG standards.

Public input on the OOG standards will be accepted until Sept. 30, 2011, and can be mailed to the Office of Oil and Gas, 601 57th St., S.E., Charleston, WV., 25304 or emailed to DEP.comments@wv.gov. Copies of the OOG standards can be viewed by clicking on the Office of Oil and Gas section on the DEP homepage at: www.dep.wv.gov.

As directed by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on July 12 in Executive Order No. 4-11, the DEP filed its Emergency Rule to increase regulatory oversight of horizontal well development in the state.