Chapter 22, Chapter 22

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of Chapter 7, Chapter 7A, Chapter 8, and Chapter 8A of the West Virginia Code or the West Virginia Code of State Rules promulgated thereunder to the contrary, no county, municipality, or political subdivision may prohibit, regulate, permit, or l…

(a) In addition to all other powers and duties the director has and may exercise, subject to specific grants of authority to the chief or the board in this article or elsewhere in this code, the director has the following powers and authority and shall perform the following dutie…

(a) No later than December 31, 2023, all facilities that discharge to a surface water under a West Virginia/National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit or that discharge to a Publicly Owned Treatment Works under an industrial pretreatment program, including but not lim…

(a) Every permit application filed under this article shall be on a form as may be prescribed by the secretary, shall be verified, and shall contain all information specified by legislative rule. (b) Upon filing an application for a permit, an applicant shall: (1) Pay a fee in an…

(a) Public notice of an application for a permit required under this article shall allow at least 30 days for public comment. The secretary shall specify the required contents of the public notice. (b) The secretary shall send the public notice to the applicant, who shall be resp…

(a) A carbon dioxide sequestration permit application shall include: (1) A description of the general geology of the area to be affected by the injection of carbon dioxide, including geochemistry, structure and faulting, fracturing and seals, and stratigraphy and lithology, inclu…

The division shall maintain a program and practices in the husbandry of waters of the state and the lands immediately adjacent thereto. The director shall make such investigations and surveys, conduct such schools and public meetings and take such other steps as may be expedient …

(a) The secretary may include in any permit or order all things necessary to carry out this article’s objectives and to protect and adjust the respective rights and obligations of persons affected by a carbon dioxide sequestration facility. (b) Every well operator required to des…

(a) All persons affected by rules establishing water quality standards and effluent limitations shall promptly comply with the rules: Provided, That: (1) Where necessary and proper, the secretary may specify a reasonable time for persons not complying with the standards and limit…

In addition to the rules specified in §22-11B-4 of this code, the secretary and the commission may promulgate such emergency, interpretive, legislative, and procedural rules, pursuant to the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code, useful or necessary to carry out the require…

The office of water resources is hereby designated as the water pollution control agency for this state for all purposes of federal legislation and is hereby authorized to take all action necessary or appropriate to secure to this state the benefits of said legislation. In carryi…

(a) Any applicant for the water quality certification that seeks certification of activities covered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers permits issued in accordance with 33 U.S.C. §1344 and 33 C.F.R. Parts 323 or 330 may be issued a certification in accordance with the …

NOTE: During the 2017 Regular Session of the Legislature, this section was amended by House Bill 2506 and Senate Bill 687 and there has been no judicial ruling to determine which, if either, amendments prevail. Both versions are provided here. As amended by House Bill 2506: (a) A…

(a) For the purposes of this article and in all other respects, any carbon dioxide injected and sequestered in accordance with an underground injection control permit issued by the secretary shall not be considered a pollutant and the operation and existence of such a carbon diox…

(a) Nothing in this article shall be deemed to affect the otherwise lawful right of a mineral owner to drill or bore through a carbon dioxide sequestration site, if done in accordance with the rules promulgated under this article for protecting the carbon dioxide sequestration si…

(a) The secretary may, after public notice and opportunity for public hearing, issue a permit for the discharge or disposition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants into waters of this state upon condition that the discharge or disposition meets or will meet all applicabl…

The chief shall prescribe a form of application for all permits for any activity specified in section eight of this article and, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no other discharge permit or discharge authorization from any other state department, agenc…

The secretary is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with other governments or government entities for the purpose of regulating carbon dioxide storage projects that extend beyond state regulatory authority under this article.

(a) Nothing in this article shall be deemed to affect the otherwise lawful right of a mineral owner to drill or bore through a carbon dioxide storage facility if done in accordance with the secretary’s underground injection control permit rules or any other applicable legal requi…

This article may be known and cited as the Groundwater Protection Act.

(a) Any person who violates any provision of this article, or any permit or agency approval, rule or order issued to implement this article, is subject to civil penalties in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-two, article eleven of this chapter: Provided, That such …

Any person having an interest which is or may be adversely affected, or who is aggrieved by an order of the director or any public official authorized to take or implement an agency action, or by the issuance or denial of a permit issued to implement this article or by such permi…

Any person may petition the appropriate rule-making agency for rule making on an issue arising under this article. The appropriate rule-making agency, if it believes such issue to merit rule making, may initiate rulemaking in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-…

(a) It is the purpose of this article to provide additional and cumulative remedies to address the quality of the groundwater of the state. This article does not alter the authority of any agency with respect to water other than groundwater. Except as expressly stated in this art…

To the extent that this article modifies any powers, duties, functions and responsibilities of any state agency that may require approval of one or more federal agencies or officials in order to avoid disruption of the federal-state relationship involved in the implementation of …

(a) The Legislature finds that: (1) West Virginia has relatively pure groundwater resources which are abundant and readily available; (2) Over fifty percent of West Virginia's overall population, and over ninety percent of the state's rural population, depend on groundwater for d…

Unless the context in which used clearly requires a different meaning, as used in this article: (a) "Agency action" means the issuance, renewal or denial of any permit, license or other required agency approval, or any terms or conditions thereof, or any order or other directive …

(a) The secretary has the sole and exclusive authority to promulgate standards of purity and quality for groundwater of the state. (b) These standards shall establish the maximum contaminant levels permitted for groundwater, but in no event shall the standards allow contaminant l…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, no agency of state government or any political subdivision may regulate any facility or activities for the purpose of maintaining and protecting the groundwater except as expressly authorized pursuant to this a…

(a) The Division of Environmental Protection is hereby designated to be the lead agency for groundwater and is authorized and shall perform the following additional powers and duties: (1) To maintain the state groundwater management strategy; (2) To develop, as soon as practical,…

(a) The state groundwater coordinating committee is continued. It consists of the commissioner of the bureau of public health, the commissioner of agriculture, the chair of the environmental quality board, the chief of the office of water resources of the Division of Environmenta…

(a) To ensure a comprehensive, consistent and unfragmented approach to the management and protection of groundwater, including evaluation of the cumulative effects of all activities that have the potential to impact on groundwater, the director shall oversee and coordinate the im…

(a) The Director of the Division of Environmental Protection shall promulgate legislative rules in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code establishing a schedule of groundwater protection fees applicable to persons who own or operate facilities or co…

This article may be known and cited as the Natural Streams Preservation Act.

After issuance of the division's permit for any such modification, the director and duly authorized representatives may make field inspections of the work on the modification, and, after completion thereof, may inspect the completed modification, and, from time to time, may inspe…

(a) Any person adversely affected by an order made and entered by the director in accordance with the provisions of this article, or aggrieved by failure or refusal of the director to act within the time required by section nine of this article on an application for a permit or a…

Whether any violation of the provisions of this article or any final order of the director or the board results in prosecution or conviction or not, any such violation is a nuisance which may be abated upon application by the chief to the circuit court of the county in which such…

All applications under section twelve of this article and all proceedings for judicial review under article one, chapter twenty-two-b of this code shall take priority on the docket of the circuit court in which pending, and shall take precedence over all other civil cases. Where …

Any person who fails or refuses to discharge any duty imposed upon him or her by this article or by any final order of the director or board, or who fails or refuses to apply for and obtain a permit as required by the provisions of this article, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, u…

The criminal liabilities provided for in section fourteen of this article may not be imposed for any violation resulting from accident or caused by an act of God, war, strike, riot or other catastrophe as to which negligence or willful conduct on the part of such person was not t…

In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not impound, flood or divert all streams within the State of West Virginia, leaving no streams designated for preservation and protection in their natural conditi…

Unless the context, in which used, clearly requires a different meaning, as used in this article: (1) "Board" means the environmental quality board; (2) "Director" means the director of the Division of Environmental Protection or such other person to whom the director has delegat…

For the purpose of implementing the public policy declared in section two of this article, there is hereby established a natural stream preservation system to be composed of streams designated by the Legislature as "protected streams," and these shall be administered for the use …

The following streams are hereby designated as protected streams within the natural streams preservation system, namely: (a) Greenbrier River from its confluence with Knapps Creek to its confluence with the New River. (b) Anthony Creek from its headwaters to its confluence with t…

(a) In addition to all other powers and duties of the director, as prescribed in this article or elsewhere by law, the director shall exercise supervision over the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this article, and all orders and permits issued pursuant to the …

(a) It is unlawful for any person, until the department's permit has been granted, to modify any protected stream or any part of the stream. A permit may not be issued unless the work proposed to be done under the permit: (1) Will not materially alter or affect the free-flowing c…

The director shall prescribe a form of application for all permits. All applications for permits shall be submitted to the division and shall be on the prescribed form. A permit fee of $10 shall accompany the application when filed with the division. The permit fee shall be depos…

(a) Before issuing a permit, a public hearing shall be held. The director shall consider the application and shall fix a time and place for hearing on such application. The hearing shall be held in a county in which the proposed modification is to be made and, if the proposed mod…

This article shall be known and cited as the Dam Control and Safety Act.

The owner of a dam has the primary responsibility for determining when an emergency involving a dam exists. When the owner of a dam determines an emergency does exist, the owner shall take necessary remedial action and shall notify the secretary and any persons who may be endange…