Something to Think About
Don Mi
D
Michael,
h l WVFB Di
Director
t off Governmental
G
t l Aff
Affairs
i
As of this writing there
are two weeks to go in the
2015 Regular Legislative
Session. Good things
continue to happen that
bode well for Farm Bureau
members, with perhaps
more to come – all thanks
to leadership, our friends
on both sides of the aisle,
and member involvement. Last month I reported
on swift action by both the Senate and House
in completing legislation (Senate Bill #3) to
protect our state’s longstanding trespass liability
laws. The legislation was approved by Governor
Tomblin and becomes effective April 29, 2015.
Legislation has also
been completed on
Senate Bill #13 –
seeking to reinstate
West Virginia’s
“open and obvious”
doctrine of common
law – and awaits
approval by the
Governor. Governor
Tomblin also gave
his approval to
legislation completed
on Senate Bill # 237
– the Captive Cervid
Farming Act (commonly called the deer farming
bill), effective from passage on February 13,
2015. Many other positive pieces of legislation
have been completed, with two significant bills
impacting the agriculture community hanging in
the balance at this writing – Committee Substitute
for Senate Bill #423 amending the Aboveground
Storage Tank (AST) Act, and the Committee
Substitute for House Bill #2688 dealing with
unitization on interests in drilling units (more
commonly referenced as lease integration or
forced pooling). Senate Bill #423 maintains
the AST definition as a device to contain an
accumulation of more than 1320 gallons, but
“
provides an exemption for “a device located on a
farm, the contents of which are used exclusively
for farm purposes and not for commercial
purposes.” This exemption does not apply to
devices over 1320 gallons in a zone of critical
concern. But the exemption does go a long way
to help to reduce the unintended consequences of
the AST act to agriculture. The Senate has passed
the Committee Substitute and we are hopeful the
House will concur.
House Bill #2688 has generated much
discussion, with Farm Bureau members on both
sides of the issue. Scheduled for 2nd Reading on
the House floor, the legislation was consistent
with policy developed and approved by members
at our Annual
Meeting in
November.
Farm Bureau
leadership
discussed the
legislation at
great length, and
felt it created
significant
opportunities
for members,
while providing
protection for
their rights: no
surface disturbance on any area subject to a unit
order unless an agreement is approved by the
surface owner; opportunity to reunite surface
and subsurface estates in the case of lost and
unlocatable mineral owners; no deductions from
royalty payments; maintaining at least an 80%
threshold/control of the unit (previous legislation
called for 67%) before forced pooling/a unit
order could be pursued on any horizontal well,
irrespective of depth (represents a major gain
– deep wells can presently be forced with little
protection or concern for the needs and wants
of the mineral or surface owner); expansion
of the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
House Bill #2688 has
generated much discussion,
with Farm Bureau members on
both sides of the issue...is the
bill perfect? It is not, but it is a
step in the right direction.”
6 West Virginia Farm Bureau News