Marcellus Committee OK’d
Bicameral group to study drilling rules, regulation
Morgantown Dominion Post
16 June 2011
By David Beard
CHARLESTON — Marcellus regulation took a major step forward Wednesday
afternoon, and if you had sneezed, you would have missed it.
In the opening moments of the Joint Committee on Government and Finance
meeting — after the gaveling and the order for a silent roll — acting
Senate President Jeff Kessler moved to authorize a select committee to
study Marcellus regulation.
The motion passed without fanfare or discussion, and the panel — the
two chamber leaders, and political party and major committee heads —
moved on with its regular business.
It took little more than 15 seconds. The audience was still settling
down and the motion was hard to hear.
But that little blip opens the door to a special session to pass
Marcellus regulations.
Kessler, Speaker Rick Thompson and acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin met
Wednesday morning and agreed to create the committee. It will consist
of five members each from the House and Senate.
Thompson and Kessler said they hadn’t yet appointed members. But
they’re confident the two chambers can reach an agreement — each had
passed a bill during the regular 2011 session but couldn’t reach a
compromise — and bring it to Tomblin so he can call a special session.
No one knows for sure when that will be. If there’s an agreement in
time, Kessler speculated, perhaps August — the time also considered for
a redistricting special session.
Thompson said, “I think it would be very good if we could finish it
this summer.” He said a special session — without the distractions of
nearly 1,900 other bills — is the best way to take it up.
The failed mega-bills, in their various incarnations, took on
environmental issues, surface owner rights, inspectors, permits and
fees, fracking fluid, water withdrawals and discharges, forced pooling,
road maintenance and more. Since then, following the permitting of two
wells in the Morgantown Industrial Park, other issues have arisen —
including well locations near water supplies and the rights of cities
to ban drilling and fracking.
Thompson and Kessler said the select committee — working with the
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the governor’s office and
various stakeholders — has no limits on its discussions. Kessler used
the term “pretty broad” while Thompson chose “wide open.”
“It’s crucial to have a regulatory framework that protects the
environment,” provides regulatory certainty for the business community
and protects surface and mineral owner rights, he said.
While Tomblin previously said the DEP is already equipped to regulate
the industry by making rules, DEP Secretary Randy Huffman said the
agency is not, in fact, prepared to handle it. And Kessler opposes the
idea on principle.
“We can’t just wait on bureaucratic administrative agencies to set the
policy. That has to be done by the Legislature,” he said.
Thompson doesn’t expect major progress by the July interims — July
11-13 — but that the committee and other parties could coordinate and
“get some movement” during the interims.
Asked about the governor’s goals for the committee, Tomblin spokeswoman
Jacqueline Proctor said he prefers to leave it in the hands of the
committee, although he’s happy to work with members as they see fit.
The timeline to ready a bill or bills and bring them to him for a
special session call is also up to the committee, she said. She
speculated unofficially that August may be a little soon to get it all
together.
Asked if letters and resolutions from the public and public bodies —
including Morgantown, Monongalia County and the WVU Faculty Senate —
and proposed drilling bans helped spark Wednesday’s actions, Proctor
said Tomblin has had the discussion on his agenda for a while.
But he’s paying attention to what’s going on, she said. “He’s keeping
everything on his radar as much as possible.”