WV Legislature Cuts Proposals To Set Shale Gas Rules, Compensate For Pooling In Gas Drilling

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Reflecting the tough debate that likely lays ahead, a House-Senate subcommittee opted not to endorse the legislative proposal it advanced Monday that would set new rules and licensing fees for drilling into West Virginia's Marcellus shale natural gas field.

The interim study panel also removed provisions from its draft that address pooling. That process would require drillers to compensate people for draining gas reserves they own by drilling nearby, but would force those owners to yield their rights in the process.

With those provisions likely destined for a separate bill, the subcommittee sent its amended draft measure to the full joint Judiciary Committee for review. The interim study meetings end Tuesday, in advance of the 60-day regular legislative session that starts Wednesday. "It gives us a vehicle to keep the parties at the table," said House Majority Whip Mike Caputo, D-Marion and a subcommittee co-chair. "We're moving in some type of direction, I believe, to satisfy the needs of our constituents."

The state Department of Environmental Protection is also drafting its own version of proposed regulations for drilling into Marcellus shale. The vast, mile-deep natural gas reserve stretches beneath most of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and portions of Ohio. The industry believes it hold trillions of cubic feet of gas. But extracting it from the rock requires horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. That method employs a mix of chemicals and high volumes of water.

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/WVa-lawmakers-advance-draft-apf-138362555.html