Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVLawmakers confident in passage of Governor’s Marcellus package

The nearly 100-page bill does not wholly satisfy all of the parties involved, but legislative leadership is confident in the passage of Governor Earl Ray Tomblin's sweeping regulation of gas drilling in the Marcellus shale.

The bill has a number of protections for surface and land owners, but also gives some concessions to industry, such as a guarantee of quick return on permits. For a full report summarizing Tomblin's legislation click here.

The bill was referred to the West Virginia House Judiciary Committee Sunday evening and referred to the Senate Judiciary and Finance Committee just a few minutes later. The bill is expected to face minor changes in both sides of the legislature.

The basis for Tomblin's bill is the months-long work of the Joint Select Committee on Marcellus shale. While the bill was trimmed somewhat, most of the changes ordered by the Governor were fairly mild.

Del. Tim Miley, D-Harrison, and chairman of the House Judiciary, said following his conversations with House leadership he is not anticipating "many or any substantive changes" to the bill.

"I've heard some murmurings that the bill deviates somewhat from the Select Committee bill, but that's probably to be expected generally," Miley said just after his committee was assigned the House bill. "The governor is entitled to set his own special session and submit his own bill, but I will say that … several of us in House leadership had meetings with the governor's staff last week. (We spent) a couple of different days to iron out some of the differences and departures from the Select Committee bill."

Sen. Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he hasn't been able to take a close look at the bill, but he also predicts easy passage of the bill in the committee and in the full legislature.

"I think it stands a much better chance than any of the past bills because of the work put into it," Palumbo said. "I think that there may be 90 percent of the issues that most people can agree on, but there are still a handful of issues that people are pretty worked up about and it's hard to reach a point of satisfaction with them and we may never be able to do that."

Miley said there were some parts of the bill that presented some disagreement, but remained in the Governor's presentation of the bill.

"You never get everything you want in any bill," Miley said. Somebody is always going to be unhappy. We need a bill. I think it's the right thing to do given the growth in the industry. This is definitely a good way to do that."

Miley added that he thinks the industry has become so big in West Virginia that despite the bill that is ultimately passed, the industry will continue to be a topic of legislative concern.

Del. Brent Boggs, D-Braxton, House majority leader, said leadership has largely agreed upon the bulk of the bill and believes it is ready for passage.

"Obviously this bill is somewhat different than the select committee's bill and certainly there will be amendments offered," Boggs said. "I can't say at this point what will be adopted and what won't. That will be up to the committee. I think it's a good solid starting place and I think we've got a good opportunity to pass something here."

Boggs said that constant evolution of drilling technology means Marcellus shale and other natural gas regulation will likely remain a work in progress.  

Boggs said he does not foresee the bill being referred to any other committee in the House, though that decision will ultimately be up to Speaker Rick Thompson.

House Republicans caucused immediately following the House session and were unavailable for immediate comment, but Boggs said he predicts a bipartisan effort on the bill.

"I think this will certainly be bipartisan, however we move forward with it," Boggs said. "There's going to be folks in both parties that are going to look at it positively and some that will have concerns."

With an additional year since last year's failed attempt, Boggs said he is confident lawmakers have got it right and will be focused in passing the legislation during the special session.

The bill appears almost certain to move through the legislative process, a fact that hasn't escaped the attention of its opponents.

Gary Zucker of the West Virginia Citizens Action Group, said the bill is significantly weaker than his organization would have liked and it now seems poised to passed.

"I think it's probably pretty well-greased at this point, but regardless of that we're not going to give up," Zucker said. "We're going to keep fighting for what we think is justice in the oilfields."

Dave McMahon, co-founder of the West Virginia Surface Owners Rights Organization said the bill offers a few improvements, but ultimately falls short of promises that should be made to surface owners.

"The good guys that are (operating responsibly) are going to continue to do it and the bad guys aren't going to be made to," McMahon said. "We just looked through it today. It's a very long bill and it's a very complex bill, there are a whole lot of changes that are hard to understand, but our first read-through is that it's a bad bill and the surface owners do not want it. I don't speak for the environmental community; my guess is that when they see it they are going to say the same thing."

McMahon recommends the legislators recognize the faults of the bill and come back in the regular session and "do it right."

Zucker said there are still too few considerations regarding the surface owners rights to determine well location on their own property. He said the bill takes the property of one, the surface owner, at the expense of another, the minerals owner.

"We have significant concerns about how this treats the people living on the land," Zucker said. "I work with the surface owners and I feel it really doesn't give them a fair shake."

 The House Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing Monday on establishing regulations for Marcellus Shale development at 4:30 p.m. in the House of Delegates Chamber. The Senate Judiciary committee will be meeting at 9 a.m. to discuss the legislation.