Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVGovernor applauds Legislature for passing Marcellus bill

With some slight adjustments from House and Senate committees, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's comprehensive proposal to legislate Marcellus shale drilling was accepted today by the Legislature.

"For all West Virginians, the Legislature and I have worked together to open the door to new job opportunities and reasonable regulations for Marcellus shale development with the passage of the Horizontal Well Act," Tomblin said during a news conference Dec. 14. "This landmark piece of legislation provides clear rules to the natural gas industry, protects our communities, surface owners and waterways while sending a clear message: West Virginia wants jobs, and we will protect our rights and our environment."

Senate President Jeff Kessler and House Speaker Rick Thompson also commended the Legislature's ability to work together to draft a bill. Sen. Douglas Facemire, D-Braxton, and Delegate Tim Manchin, D-Marion, co-chairmen of the Joint Select Marcellus Shale Committee also commended progress on the bill during the conference.

Despite criticism from surface owners, environmentalists and a number of House delegates that bill weakened requirements of the joint committee's interim bill, Tomblin insisted the bill would protect surface owners.

"The interim bill that the committee started with was the bill that was passed through the Senate last year," Tomblin said. "That is very similar to the bill we ended up passing today. I think there was some good points made by the interim committee, many of those points were in the bill that I submitted."

Tomblin said the bill is a compromise of all stakeholders, even if it is "not perfect" he is happy with the bill. Tomblin said he did not have issue with any element of the bill as ultimately passed.

"If any part of this bill doesn't work out, that's the right of the legislature (to make changes)," Tomblin said. "That's the reason they come back every year."

Tomblin said that from the beginning, he was confident in the passage of the bill. Of 134 votes from the House and Senate, only five legislators voted nay on the finished bill.

The Senate accepted amendments from the House Wednesday afternoon and after the House concurred, the bill was passed by the Legislature. The bill will now await Tomblin's signature and install long-awaited Marcellus shale legislation effective Jan. 2012.

Members of the House passed an amended version of the legislation Wednesday morning.

Prior to passage of the bill, Delegate Mike Manypenny, D-Taylor, voted to strike the governor's bill and instead vote for passage of the bill drafted by the Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale. Manypenny said the bill was in many respects inadequate.

"We came down here expecting a good bill," Manypenny said. "We expected a bill that was similar to what the Joint Select Committee on Marcellus brought out of committee and we got something that stripped most of the rights and surface owners out of the bill."

Manypenny criticized the governor's bill as an effort drafted in back rooms without the critical public eye.

"We didn't come down here to do the governor's work," Manypenny said. "We came down here to do the people's work."

Manypenny wasn't the only member of the Joint Select Committee who felt the bill was skewed back to the favor of industry by the Governor's staff. Manchin spent several minutes highlighting what he thought was still wrong with the bill.

"The path on this bill has been torturous, to say the least," Manchin told lawmakers.

Several lawmakers commented that the bill was not what they wanted, but was "better than nothing." At least one, Delegate Mitch Carmichael, R-Putnam, said regulations should remain as they are, and urged passage of no Marcellus shale legislation.

The bill passed the House 92-5. It was immediately forwarded to the Senate, which passed the House's version with no changes.