Chapter 22, Chapter 22

This article shall be known and may be cited as the Private Real Property Protection Act.

(a) The Legislature finds that: (1) Restoring and protecting the environment is fundamental to the health and welfare of individual citizens, and our government has a duty to provide and maintain a healthful environment for our citizens. (2) The state has the primary responsibili…

(a) The director may, with the exception of the special reclamation fund established in section eleven, article three of this chapter, expend, in accordance with the provisions of chapter five-a of this code, from special revenue accounts, and funds established pursuant to this c…

(a) All orders, determinations, rules, permits, grants, contracts, certificates, licenses, waivers, bonds, authorizations and privileges which have been issued, made, granted, or allowed to become effective by the Governor, any state department or agency or official thereof, or b…

The division shall collect, organize and from time to time distribute to the public, through news media or otherwise, interesting facts, information and data concerning the state's environment and its environmental regulatory programs. The director may organize and promote lectur…

Any person may request the director to notify the person of a decision to issue or deny a specific permit applied for under this chapter. The request must be in writing and received by the director within the public comment period or at a public hearing held for the specific perm…

(a) There is hereby created in the state Treasury a special interest bearing account known as the "stream restoration fund". Moneys received by the division pursuant to transfers from any other account lawfully transferred, from the federal government and other sources, from miti…

(a) The director shall promulgate rules to require the certification of laboratories conducting waste and wastewater tests and analyses to be used for purposes of demonstrating compliance under the covered statutory programs, including reasonable annual certification fees based u…

Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, no action, suit or proceeding for the administrative, civil or criminal enforcement of any provision of this chapter may be entertained unless commenced within three years from the date the right to bring the action, sui…

(a) There is hereby created within the Department of Environmental Protection a special reclamation fund advisory council. The council's purpose is to ensure the effective, efficient and financially stable operation of the special reclamation fund. The special reclamation advisor…

As used in this chapter, unless otherwise provided or indicated by the context: (1) "Chief" means the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, or his or her designee, who is also the chief executive officer of an office, division or section within the department. …

It is the policy of this state that action by the Division of Environmental Protection affecting private real property is subject to such protection as is afforded by the Constitutions of the United States and of West Virginia and the principles of nuisance law. The Legislature i…

(a) The director has the power and authority to propose legislative rules for promulgation in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to carry out and implement the provisions of this chapter and to carry out and implement any other pro…

(a) Whenever the Division of Environmental Protection considers any action within its statutory authority that is reasonably likely to deprive a private real property owner of his or her property in fee simple or to deprive an owner of all productive use of his or her private rea…

Except for legislative rules promulgated for the purpose of implementing the provisions of section four, article twelve, section six, article seventeen, and section six, article eighteen, all of this chapter, and notwithstanding the provisions of section four, article five of thi…

(a) Prior to the Division of Environmental Protection requiring that a buffer zone be created on private real property, the division shall prepare a report which shall identify the public purpose or policy which is to be served by the creation of the buffer zone and how the creat…

Except as may be otherwise provided in this code, the division is hereby designated as the lead regulatory agency for this state for all purposes of federal legislation relating to all activities regulated under this chapter.

When a court of competent jurisdiction determines that action of the Division of Environmental Protection, within its statutory authority, requires that compensation be paid to a private real property owner pursuant to section nine, article three of the Constitution of West Virgi…

(a) The secretary is the chief executive officer of the department. Subject to §22-1-7 of this code and other provisions of law, the secretary shall organize the department into such offices, sections, agencies, and other units of activity as may be found by the secretary to be d…

The provisions of this article only apply to the programs administered by the Division of Environmental Protection on the effective date of this article.

Consistent with the provisions of this article, the secretary shall, at a minimum, maintain the following offices within the division: (1) The Office of Abandoned Mine Lands and Reclamation, which is charged, at a minimum, with administering and enforcing, under the supervision o…

(a) The secretary shall appoint a competent and qualified person to be the chief executive officer of each office specified in section seven of this article. The chief executive officer is the principal administrative officer of that office and is accountable and responsible for …

The Director of the Division of Mines and Minerals is hereby empowered and it shall be his duty to execute and carry out, administer and enforce such provisions of this chapter and chapter twenty-two-a of the code relating to surface and underground mining permits and coal mine r…

(a) There is created within the Department of Environmental Protection the Environmental Protection Advisory Council. The Environmental Protection Advisory Council consists of eight members. The secretary serves as an ex officio member of the council and as its chair. The remaini…

This article shall be known and cited as the Abandoned Mine Lands and Reclamation Act.

(a) Public Policy. — It is the long-standing public policy of the State of West Virginia, pursuant to § 22-11-1 et seq. of this code, the Water Pollution Control Act, that the state is compelled to maintain reasonable standards of purity and quality of the waters of the state whi…

(a) For purposes of this section, "professional services" means engineering services provided by firms and includes those professional services of an engineering nature as well as incidental services that members of those professions and those in their employ may logically or jus…

The Legislature finds that there are a substantial number of acres of land throughout the state that were disturbed by surface-mining operations prior to the time of present day effective control and regulation. There was little or no reclamation conducted and the impacts from th…

(a) All definitions set forth in article three of this chapter apply to those defined terms which also appear in this article, if applicable. (b) For the purposes of this article the following words have the meanings ascribed to them in this subsection: (1) "Director" means the d…

(a) All abandoned land reclamation funds available under Title IV of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, as amended, private donations received, any state appropriated or transferred funds, or funds received from the sale of land by the secretary under…

(a) The director shall submit to the secretary a state reclamation plan and annual projects to carry out the purposes of this article. (b) That reclamation plan shall generally identify the areas to be reclaimed, the purposes for which the reclamation is proposed, the relationshi…

(a) If the director makes a finding of fact that: (1) Land or water resources have been adversely affected by past coal surface-mining practices; (2) The adverse effects are at a stage where, in the public interest, action to restore, reclaim, abate, control or prevent should be …

(a) Within six months after the completion of a project to restore, reclaim, abate, control or prevent adverse effects of past coal surface-mining practices on a privately owned land, the director shall itemize the moneys so expended and may file a statement thereof in the office…

(a) The Legislature declares that voids, open and abandoned tunnels, shafts and entryways and subsidence resulting from any previous coal surface-mining operation are a hazard to the public welfare and safety and that surface impacts of any underground or surface-mining operation…

(a) The director is authorized to engage in any work and to do all things necessary and proper, including promulgation of rules, to implement and administer the provisions of this article. (b) The director is authorized to engage in cooperative projects under this article with an…

This article shall be known and cited as the Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act.

(a) Each reclamation plan submitted as part of a surface mining permit application shall include, in the degree of detail necessary to demonstrate that reclamation required by this article can be accomplished, a statement of: (1) The identification of the lands subject to surface…

(a) After a surface mining permit application has been approved pursuant to this article, but before a permit has been issued, each operator shall furnish a penal bond, on a form to be prescribed and furnished by the secretary, payable to the State of West Virginia and conditione…

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to clarify that from the date of its enactment, the special reclamation tax imposed pursuant to the provisions of section eleven of this article is intended to be in addition to any other taxes imposed on persons conducting coal surface min…

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section eleven of this article, the secretary may establish and implement a site-specific bonding system in accordance with the provisions of this section. (b) A legislative rule proposed or promulgated pursuant to this section must provide, …

(a) Any permit issued by the secretary pursuant to this article to conduct surface mining operations shall require that the surface mining operations meet all applicable performance standards of this article and other requirements set forth in legislative rules proposed by the se…

(a) At least thirty days prior to commencing blasting, as defined in section twenty-two-a of this article, an operator or an operator’s designee shall make the following notifications in writing to all owners and occupants of man-made dwellings or structures that the operator or …

(a) The director shall promulgate separate rules directed toward the surface effects of underground coal mining operations, embodying the requirements in subsection (b) of this section: Provided, That in adopting such rules, the director shall consider the distinct difference bet…

(a) The director shall cause to be made inspections of surface-mining operations as are necessary to effectively enforce the requirements of this article and for such purposes the director or his or her authorized representative shall without advance notice and upon presentation …

(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, a surface-mining reclamation inspector has the authority to issue a cessation order for any portion of a surface-mining operation when an inspector determines that any condition or practice exists, or that any permittee is…

(a) If any of the requirements of this article, rules promulgated pursuant thereto or permit conditions have not been complied with, the director shall cause a notice of violation to be served upon the operator or the operator's duly authorized agent. A copy of the notice shall b…

(a) Upon the receipt of a complete surface-mining application or significant revision or renewal thereof, including public notification and an opportunity for a public hearing, the director shall grant, require revision of, or deny the application for a permit within sixty days a…

(a)(1) Any valid permit issued pursuant to this article carries with it the right of successive renewal upon expiration with respect to areas within the boundaries of the existing permit. The holders of the permit may apply for renewal and the renewal shall be issued: Provided, T…

(a) The Legislature finds that it is essential to the economic and social well-being of the citizens of the State of West Virginia to strike a careful balance between the protection of the environment and the economical mining of coal needed to meet energy requirements. (1) Furth…

(a) At the time of submission of an application for a surface mining permit or a significant revision of an existing permit pursuant to the provisions of this article, the applicant shall submit to the department a copy of the required advertisement for public notice on a form an…