West Virginia SB 82: Creating Orphan Oil and Gas Well Prevention Act

Bill Text

SB 82 Text

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Introduced Version

« Senate Bill 82 History

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 Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted

WEST virginia 
legislature

2020 regular session

Introduced

Senate Bill 82

By Senators Smith, Baldwin, 
Hamilton, Jeffries, Woelfel, Maynard, and Facemire

[Introduced January 8, 2020; referred

to the Committee on Energy, 
Industry, and Mining; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend the Code 
of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated 
§22-10A-1, §22-10A-2, §22-10A-3, §22-10A-4, §22-10A-5, §22-10A-6, §22-10A-7, 
§22-10A-8, §22-10A-9, and §22-10A-10, all relating to creating the Orphan Oil 
and Gas Well Prevention Act; providing for a short title; providing for legislative 
findings and declarations; providing for restrictions to permit oil and natural 
gas wells, certain prohibitions, and requiring plugging assurance requirements; 
providing for limitations on the transfer of wells; providing for 
responsibility of previous operators to plug transferred wells; providing for 
different methods for operators to provide plugging assurance of wells, 
including for wells not producing in paying quantities; providing 
administrative and management responsibilities for the Chief of the Office of 
Oil and Gas and the State Treasurer regarding plugging assurance funds; 
providing clarifications regarding the duties of mineral and surface owners; 
providing for rule-making authority and severability; and providing an 
effective date.

Be it enacted by the 
Legislature of West Virginia:

Article 10a. Orphan 
well prevention.

§22-10A-1 Short 
title.

This article shall be 
known as the “Orphan Oil and Gas Well Prevention Act”.

§22-10A-2. 
Legislative findings and declarations.

(a) The 
Legislature declares it to be the public policy of this state and in the public 
interest that an oil or gas well that is 
no longer in use must be plugged in order to:

(1) Prevent the well 
from leaking oil or natural gas into the environment and polluting the air, 
surface, subsurface, or groundwater or the well allowing for surface pollution 
to pollute groundwater; 

(2) Not jeopardize the 
ability to safely and economically produce from coal seams and other oil and 
natural gas bearing seams through which the well bore passes;

(3) Prevent devaluation 
of the surface estate due to the existence of the well or environmental 
pollution or the risk thereof associated with the well; and 

(4) Clarify the state of 
title regarding previous leases by mineral owners which are no longer held by 
production by the well.

(b) The Legislature 
finds that thousands of oil and natural gas wells in West Virginia no longer 
have a responsible operator and do not have sufficient reclamation bonds in any 
form or other available funds for plugging and reclamation, and so those wells 
have in effect become orphaned. This situation leaves the effort and expense of 
plugging the orphaned wells only to the state or to anyone with resources and 
an interest under §22-10-3(c) and §22-10-7 of this code.

(c) The Legislature also 
finds that new requirements under the law are needed to plug orphan wells and 
to prevent more wells from becoming orphaned due to considerations for the 
public health, property rights, environmental concerns, and future 
developmental concerns.

§22-10A-3. 
Restrictions for permitting; prohibitions; plugging assurance requirements.

(a) Notwithstanding any 
other provision of this code, no permit shall be issued for a new well, the 
application for which permit is filed after December 31, 2020, unless the 
operator has furnished plugging assurance for that well pursuant to §22-10A-6 
of this code.

(b) Notwithstanding any 
other provision of this code, no permit shall be issued for a new well, the 
application for which permit is filed after December 31, 202