Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVHouse Judiciary chairman previews Marcellus action

The next stop for the Governor's Marcellus shale regulation will be the House Judiciary Committee first thing Tuesday morning. Though a completed bill is anticipated in days, a lot of work still faces West Virginia lawmakers.

House Judiciary Chairman Delegate Tim Miley, D-Harrison, said he was still not sure exactly what work may come out of the judiciary committee's work.

"I can't tell if based on those questions there is going to be enough to support to make some changes or not," Miley said. "It will be a long committee meeting tomorrow, I'm sure there will be many amendments made, whether they will pass the House or not, I can't tell at this point."

Miley said some members still have a lot of questions of the bill and he anticipates a number of amendments to be offered to the bill. The Senate amended the governor's legislation with a few minor changes in the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Finance Committee passed the legislation without amendment.

"We'll just play it by ear and take it as it comes, and we'll see where it goes," Miley said.

Miley, who played a big role in crafting the failed House Marcellus bill last year, said many of the same protections are offered in the governor's bill. He said many of the protections are the same, though there are some added protections and some protections removed in the governor's bill.

During a House judiciary hearing, one commenter said parts of the language reverts back to common law. Miley said if that results in fewer surface owner protections, that is something he would be concerned about.

"I'm not sure what the rationale is for that, I haven't had a chance to talk with the governor's staff about what the purpose was for that," Miley said. "Maybe there is some confusion in how it's written."

Miley said legislators have been busy since the special session  kicked off Sunday evening, and many have found it difficult to review the nuances of the bill.

The committee is planning to meet at 9 a.m. Miley said they would recess at 11 a.m. for another meeting if they weren't completed, attend a luncheon and return at 1 p.m. to continue deliberation.

Miley said lawmakers would take a break to perfect any amendments they may offer.

A notable absence from the special session has been Delegate Tim Manchin, D-Marion, who was the co-chairman of the Select Committee on Marcellus Shale. The committee spent the past several months crafting the legislation the governor's bill was based upon.

Critics of the bill have accused the governor of "gutting" that bill.

"Let's just say he's concerned that it went further than what he expected," Miley said of Manchin's reaction.

Miley declined to comment further, but added that Manchin would be attending the rest of the session. He explained Manchin had a prior obligation out of town.

Manchin will be on hand to answer questions in the morning, which Miley said will likely be busy.

There's a lot of work to be done before we get out of here," Miley said. "... It's an important issue, I don't really want to rush things. Even if we get a bill passed tomorrow or this week sometime by both bodies, it's not rushing things. We've been studying it for quite some time, but at the same time I don't want to rush it in the eleventh hour to pass a bill that has errors or flaws in it."

Miley said there may even be attempts to completely block the governor's version of the bill.

"I heard some may try amend the bill by striking the governor's bill and replacing it with the Select Committee bill, but I don't know," Miley said. "… We shall see."