West Virginia Code 22-11-7a – Certification agreements; required provisions
(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 legislative rules entitled Rules for Individual State Certification of Activities Requiring a Federal Permit, 47 C.S.R. 5A.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 22-11-7a
- activities: means any activity or activities for which a permit is required by section seven of this article. See West Virginia Code 22-11-3
- applicant: means any industrial user, public or private corporation, institution, association, firm or company organized or existing under the laws of this or any other state or country. See West Virginia Code 22-11-3
- Code: means the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended. See West Virginia Code 22-11-3
- Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
- Office: means any office, division, board, agency, unit, organizational entity or component thereof within the Department of Environmental Protection. See West Virginia Code 22-1-2
- Secretary: means the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection or such other person to whom the secretary has delegated authority or duties pursuant to section six or eight, article one of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 22-11-3
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- waters: means any and all water on or beneath the surface of the ground, whether percolating, standing, diffused or flowing, wholly or partially within this state, or bordering this state and within its jurisdiction, and includes, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, natural or artificial lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, branches, brooks, ponds (except farm ponds, industrial settling basins and ponds and water treatment facilities), impounding reservoirs, springs, wells, watercourses and wetlands. See West Virginia Code 22-11-3
(1) The proposed activity shall comply with all applicable state and federal laws, rules, and regulations.
(2) The secretary shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with § 29A-3-1 et seq. of this code, for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this section which rules shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(A) Establishing all necessary operational and performance requirements for a person undertaking activities covered by this section;
(B) Modifying the provisions of this section, when necessary and appropriate to bring the provisions of this section into compliance with state or federal law or regulation; and
(C) Establishing the specific operational requirements for the activity consistent with this section appropriate to protect the waters of this state during and following the activity.
(b) The Joint Committee on Government and Finance may undertake or facilitate a study of the impact of mountaintop mining and valley fills upon the State of West Virginia.
(1) To facilitate the study, the Joint Committee on Government and Finance is further authorized to coordinate with and seek funding from appropriate federal agencies to facilitate the study including, but not limited to: The federal Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and Fish and Wildlife Service.
(2) In order to facilitate the research, the Joint Committee on Government and Finance shall appoint a council to coordinate and direct the research. The composition of the council shall be determined by the joint committee, but shall include representatives from the various interested parties as determined solely by the joint committee.