W. Va. Code R. § 35-4-9

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 35-4-9 - Form and Contents of Plats

9.1. Statutory Requirements for Plats -- Any plats required to be furnished under W. Va. Code §§ 22-6-12 or 22-6-14 (see subsection 5.2 above), shall contain all information specified in the statutory section requiring the plat.

9.2. Additional Requirements for Plats -- Any plat required to be furnished under W. Va. Code §§ 22-6-12 or 22-6-14 or under subdivision 6.1.b. or subsection 13.1 of this rule shall conform to the following standards of accuracy and depiction:

9.2.a. Accuracy -- An accuracy of one (1) part in two thousand five hundred (2,500) is required for location of wells on land containing workable coal beds which are tributary to operator coal mines. All other plats require a minimum accuracy of one (1) part in two hundred (200). The attained accuracy standard shall be stated on every plat.

9.2.b. Permanent Landmarks -- At least two (2) permanent monuments or landmarks with courses and distances to the subject well shall be shown on the basis of an on-the-ground survey and, if any such monument or landmark is not a permanently established property corner, it shall be referenced to a permanently established property corner by courses and distances on the basis of an on-the-ground survey.

9.2.c. Physical Location of Well -- Every well shall be drilled within ten (10) feet of the exact well location designated on the plat. To facilitate compliance and verification, the plat for a new well shall designate at least two (2) reference points from which, after the drilling site has been cleared and graded, the proposed well location can be accurately reestablished by the well operator and, if desired, subsequently verified by the oil and gas inspector or any interested person. When the survey party stakes the proposed well location, it shall flag or otherwise mark the reference points, which may be permanent (such as standing trees) or temporary (such as set stakes), and such reference points shall be beyond the limits of the drilling site but within three hundred (300) feet of the well location. A description of the reference points and their location with reference to the well location shall be indicated on a detail drawing or a narrative statement on the face of the plat.

9.2.d. Description -- Landmarks and permanently established property corners used shall be named and described on all plats. They shall include standing corner trees, set stones, iron pipes, T-rails, or other manufactured monuments. Existing wells (operating or abandoned) shall also be considered established landmarks if said wells are accurately platted and on file with the Office. If landmarks used are not permanently established property corners, the landmark must be adequately referenced to such property corners to permit their future location.

9.2.e. Method of Showing Property Lines -- The courses and distances of all farm lines adjoining and those connecting the landmarks or permanently established property corners within the scope of the well location plat shall be shown thereon. All lines actually surveyed shall be shown on such plat in solid lines. Lines taken from deed descriptions only shall be shown by broken lines.

9.2.f. Proven Elevation -- The elevation of the surface of the well location shall be given, and it shall be tied to either a government bench mark or other point of proven elevation. The location of the government bench mark or the point of proven elevation shall be noted and described on the plat.

9.2.g. North-South Line -- A north and south line shall be given and point to the top of the plat.

9.2.h. Scale and Size of Plat -- If practicable, all plats shall be drawn to a scale of one (1) inch equals two thousand (2,000) feet (1:24,000) or to even multiples thereof for each reduction of the plat photographically to a scale of one (1) inch equals two thousand (2,000) feet. The plat shall be eight and one-half (81/2) inches by fourteen (14) inches in size. Plats may be submitted electronically, using a format approved by the Chief.

9.2.i. Topographic Map Location of Well -- The topographic map location of the well for which any permit application is made pursuant to W. Va. Code § 22-6-6 shall be shown on the plat by a "cross" with the measured distance in feet from the nearest two point five (2.5) minute latitude and longitude intersection using the North East (upper right) border of the plat on a seven point five (7.5) minute (1:24,000) topographic map. The plat shall also contain Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 17 Northing and Easting coordinates in North American Datum (NAD) 83(CORS96). Each plat shall indicate the quadrangle name of the topographic map used.

9.2.j. Wells -- All wells within the scope of the plat, whether active, drilling, or abandoned, shall be shown. The scope of every plat shall be sufficient to show all wells within one thousand two hundred (1,200) feet of the well that is the subject of the new application and, in the case of an application for a shallow gas well with a depth of three thousand (3,000) feet or more and that penetrates a coal seam, the scope of the plat shall be sufficient to show all wells within two thousand four hundred (2,400) feet of the well that is the subject of the application. Each well so shown, including the subject well, shall bear a designation that permits the type (oil, gas, liquid injection under W. Va. Code § 22-6-14, underground storage or storage observation) and status (active, abandoned or drilling) of each such well to be determined by use of:

9.2.j.1. API permit number (excluding state and county) for each well having such a permit number;

9.2.j.2. In parentheses, and following the API number if such is listed, the type and status numbers provided below; and

9.2.j.3. The symbols provided in Appendix A of this rule.

9.2.k. The kind and status numbers to be used shall be as follows:

9.2.k.1. Oil Wells:

01 - Shallow, active

02 - Shallow, abandoned

03 - Shallow, Drilling

04 - Deep, active

05 - Deep, abandoned

06 - Deep, drilling

9.2.k.2. Deep gas wells:

07 - Production, active

08 - Production, abandoned

09 - Production, drilling

10 - Underground storage, active

11 - Underground storage, abandoned

12 - Underground storage, drilling

13 - Storage observation, active

14 - Storage observation, abandoned

15 - Storage observation, drilling

9.2.k.3. Shallow gas wells:

16 - Less than three thousand (3,000) feet, production, active

17 - Less than three thousand (3,000) feet, production, abandoned

18 - Less than three thousand (3,000) feet, production, drilling

19 - Less than three thousand (3,000) feet, underground storage, active

20 - Less than three thousand (3,000) feet, underground storage, abandoned

21 - Less than three thousand (3,000) feet, underground storage, drilling

22 - Less than three thousand (3,000) feet, storage observation, active

23 - Less than three thousand (3,000) feet, storage observation, abandoned

24 - Less than three thousand (3,000) feet, storage observation, drilling

25 - Three thousand (3,000) feet or more, production, active

26 - Three thousand (3,000) feet or more, production, abandoned

27 - Three thousand (3,000) feet or more, production, drilling

28 - Three thousand (3,000) feet or more, underground storage, active

29 - Three thousand (3,000) feet or more, underground storage, abandoned

30 - Three thousand (3,000) feet or more, underground storage, drilling

31 - Three thousand (3,000) feet or more, storage observation, active

32 - Three thousand (3,000) feet or more, storage observation, abandoned

33 - Three thousand (3,000) feet or more, storage observation, drilling

9.2.k.4. Liquid injection wells:

34 - Active

35 - Abandoned

36 - Drilling or being converted

9.2.k.5. Waste disposal wells:

37 - Active

38 - Abandoned

39 - Drilling or being converted

9.2.k.6. Gas injection wells:

40 - Active

41 - Abandoned

42 - Drilling or being converted

9.2.l. Other Surface Features -- In addition to the surface features and owner identification data required by statute or by the foregoing specification of subsection 9.2, the plat shall also show the following surface features lying within the scope of the plat:

9.2.l.1. Water wells within two hundred (200) feet of the well for which any permit under W. Va. Code § 22-6-6 is being sought, except for liquid or waste disposal wells, in which case water wells within one thousand (1,000) feet of the well shall be shown;

9.2.l.2. Dwellings within two hundred (200) feet of the well for which any such permit is being sought;

9.2.l.3. Streams;

9.2.l.4. Roads and highways; and

9.2.l.5. Railroads with indication of the owners' names.

9.2.m. Names -- The plat shall state the names of the surface owners and the royalty owners of the land at the well location.

9.3. Plat Certification -- Surveys and plats shall be made under the supervision of a registered professional engineer or professional surveyor licensed by law to practice in the State of West Virginia. The certificate shall be signed and certified by the registered professional engineer or professional surveyor in the following manner:

"I, the undersigned, hereby certify that this plat is correct to the best of my knowledge and belief and shows all the information required by law and the rules issued and prescribed by the Department of Environmental Protection."

9.4. Re-use of Plats -- Following issuance of the initial permit for drilling a well, any subsequent application for a new permit involving the same well may be accompanied by an accurate copy of the plat accepted by the Office for use with the permit issued for the most recent previous application, updated as necessary to reflect new data or additional data not required by statute or this rule; Provided, that a new certification shall be necessary in the form required by subsection 9.3 above. However, a new certification is not required for a plugging permit.

9.5. Permanent Character of Plats -- Every plat submitted under section 9 of this rule shall be of permanent character, that is, on linen or plastic or other material of comparable quality and with indicia or other ink resulting in a depiction not subject to substantial degradation through time from exposure to ordinary conditions of temperature, humidity, and light. Plats may be submitted electronically, using a format approved by the Chief.

W. Va. Code R. § 35-4-9