Marcellus Sale Bill Likely Delayed Until Next Year
Emergency rules in works; co-chairman says committee should take
its time forming regulations
Charleston Daily Mail
18 August 2011
by Ry Rivard, Daily Mail Capitol Reporter
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - State lawmakers appear unlikely to draft statewide
regulations this year concerning natural gas extraction from the
Marcellus shale.
Sen. Doug Facemire, D-Braxton, said Wednesday that emergency rules
ordered last month by acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin - which are not yet
in effect - will be enough to tide the state over until lawmakers meet
early next year.
Facemire is the co-chairman of a joint House-Senate committee tasked
with drafting a bill to regulate the development of the state's
Marcellus shale gas field, which is expected to be the source of an
economic boom.
But Facemire said he's now in no hurry because of the emergency rules
Tomblin asked the Department of Environmental Protection to draft. The
DEP has yet to finalize those rules.
"I don't want to hurry it up," Facemire said in a telephone interview
Wednesday. "I want to try to take our time, and I want to come out of
here with a bill that satisfies the needs of the surface owners while
respecting the environment and that allows our people to go to work."
That's why the Senate isn't going to meet with House lawmakers this
week about shale regulations, even though the Legislature is in town
for a redistricting session beginning today. A redistricting plan the
House of Delegates passed earlier this month was fatally flawed and
needs to be redone.
Many lawmakers will have little to do while they are in town. The
session is expected to last at least three days. The Senate expects to
come in Thursday but then recess until Sunday, Facemire said.
Delegate Tim Manchin, D-Marion, who co-chairs the committee with
Facemire, said he would like to use the special session this week to
get some work done. Manchin said he proposed meetings at 5 p.m. Friday
and 9 a.m. Saturday but was rebuffed by Facemire.
"I've asked him to reconsider," Manchin said in a telephone interview
Wednesday afternoon.
"My members and the public want to see us do something, and they don't
want us to wait until next session."
Facemire said he wouldn't be in town then.
"The thing of it is, we're not going to be there. The Senate is going
to convene Thursday at noon; then we're going to recess until Sunday,"
Facemire said. "I'm not even coming down until Sunday. I've got to
work. I've got a business to run."
New, water-intensive technology has made it possible to extract gas
from the Marcellus shale rock formation deep beneath the ground. Of
particular concern to environmentalists and some property owners is a
process known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," which uses large
amounts of water mixed with chemicals to release gas from the rock
formation.