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At SierraFest in October, and at last week's WVEC board
meeting, Beth Little brought up the matter of oil and gas inspectors, and the
state "examining board" that employs them. I have highlighted below sections (a)
(1) and (2) which outline the makeup of that board.
Note that the Chiefs of the Oil and Gas and of the Water
Resources Division of DEP are two ex officio
members of the five person Oil & Gas examining board, and are
appointed by the Director of DEP, and that the only qualifications for
their appointments are that they be "competent and qualified persons"- but with
no further explanation of what "competent and qualified" means.
§22-1-8. Supervisory officers.
(a)
The secretary shall appoint a competent and qualified person to be the
chief executive officer of each office (which includes the offices of Oil
& Gas and of Water Resources- F.Y.) specified in section seven of this
article.
The three bolded paragraphs below summarize the makeup of the
O&G examining board. (underlined emphasis mine- F.Y.)
§22C-7-3. Oil and gas inspectors'
examining board created; composition; appointment, term and compensation of
members; meetings; powers and duties generally.
(a)(1) There is hereby continued an
oil and gas inspectors' examining board consisting of five members, two of whom
shall be ex officio members and three of whom shall be appointed by the
governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Appointed
members may be removed only for the same causes and like manner as elective
state officers. One member of the board shall be the representative of the
public at large and shall be a person who is knowledgeable about the subject
matter of this article and has no direct financial interest in oil and gas
production other than the receipt of royalty payments which do not exceed ten
percent of his or her annual income and who by reason of previous training or
experience may reasonably be said to represent the viewpoint of surface owners
or environmental organizations: Provided, That the public member serving on
the board on the first day of January, two thousand one, shall remain on the
board until the expiration of his or her term and is also eligible for
reappointment. One member shall be a person who by reason of previous
training and experience may reasonably be said to represent the viewpoint of
independent oil and gas operators. One member shall be a person who by
reason of previous training and experience may reasonably be said to represent
the viewpoint of major oil and gas producers.
(2) The chief of the office of oil and
gas of the division of environmental protection and the chief of the office of
water resources of the division of environmental protection or their designees
shall be ex officio members.
(3) The appointed members of the board shall be appointed for overlapping
terms of six years, except that the original appointments shall be for terms of
two, four and six years, respectively. Any member whose term expires may be
reappointed by the governor.
(4) The board shall pay each member the same compensation and expense
reimbursement as is paid to members of the Legislature for their interim duties
as recommended by the citizens legislative compensation commission and
authorized by law for each day or portion thereof engaged in the discharge of
official duties.
(5) The chief of the office of oil and gas or the chief's designee serving
pursuant to subdivision two of this subsection shall serve as chair of the
board: Provided, That for any level three grievance proceeding the chief
or the chief's designee may not serve as a chair or vote. The board shall elect
a secretary from its members.
(6) Members of the board, before performing any duty, shall take and
subscribe to the oath required by section five, article IV of the constitution
of West Virginia.
(7) The board shall meet at such times and places as shall be designated by
the chair. It is the duty of the chair to call a meeting of the board on the
written request of two members. Notice of each meeting shall be given in writing
to each member by the secretary at least five days in advance of the meeting. A
majority of members is a quorum for the transaction of business.
(b) In addition to other powers and duties expressly set forth elsewhere in
this article, the board shall:
(1) Establish, and from time to time revise, forms of application for
employment as an oil and gas inspector and supervising inspector, which shall
include the applicant's social security number, and forms for written
examinations to test the qualifications of candidates, with such distinctions,
if any, in the forms for oil and gas inspector and supervising inspector as the
board may from time to time deem necessary or advisable;
(2) Adopt and promulgate reasonable rules relating to the examination,
qualification and certification of candidates for appointment, and relating to
hearings for removal of inspectors or the supervising inspector, required to be
held by this article. All of such rules shall be printed and a copy thereof
furnished by the secretary of the board to any person upon request;
(3) Conduct, after public notice of the time and place thereof, examinations
of candidates for appointment. By unanimous agreement of all members of the
board, one or more members of the board or an employee of the division of
environmental protection may be designated to give to a candidate the written
portion of the examination;
(4) Prepare and certify to the director of the division of environmental
protection a register of qualified eligible candidates for appointment as oil
and gas inspectors or as supervising inspectors, with such differentiation, if
any, between the certification of candidates for oil and gas inspectors and for
supervising inspectors as the board may from time to time consider necessary or
advisable. The register shall list all qualified eligible candidates in the
order of their grades, the candidate with the highest grade appearing at the top
of the list. After each meeting of the board held to examine such candidates and
at least annually, the board shall prepare and submit to the director of the
division of environmental protection a revised and corrected register of
qualified eligible candidates for appointment, deleting from such revised
register all persons: (a) Who are no longer residents of West Virginia; (b) who
have allowed a calendar year to expire without, in writing, indicating their
continued availability for such appointment; (c) who have been passed over for
appointment for three years; (d) who have become ineligible for appointment
since the board originally certified that such persons were qualified and
eligible for appointment; or (e) who, in the judgment of at least three members
of the board, should be removed from the register for good cause;
(5) Cause the secretary of the board to keep and preserve the written
examination papers, manuscripts, grading sheets and other papers of all
applicants for appointment for such period of time as may be established by the
board. Specimens of the examinations given, together with the correct solution
of each question, shall be preserved permanently by the secretary of the board;
(6) Issue a letter or written notice of qualification to each successful
eligible candidate;
(7) Hear and determine proceedings for the suspension, dismissal or other
discipline of inspectors or the supervising inspector in accordance with the
provisions of this article;
(8) Make an annual report to the governor concerning the administration of
oil and gas inspection personnel in the state service; making such
recommendations as the board considers to be in the public interest; and
(9) Render such advice and assistance to the director of the division of
environmental protection as the director shall from time to time determine
necessary or desirable in the performance of such duties.
If not for love, then what? There is no wealth but life. (John
Ruskin 1819-1900)