Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 35-8-2 - DefinitionsUnless the context in which used clearly requires a different meaning, the definitions contained in W. Va. Code §§ 22-1-2, 22-6-1, 22-6A-4, and 22-11-3 apply to this rule in addition to those definitions set forth below:
2.1. "W. Va. Code" means the West Virginia Code of 1931, as amended.2.2. "Barrel" means forty-two (42) U.S. gallons of two hundred thirty-one (231) cubic inches each of liquid, including slurries, at a temperature of sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit.2.3. "Chief" means Chief of the Office of Oil and Gas as designated by the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection.2.4. "Coal permit" means a valid current surface mining permit issued by the Department of Environmental Protection.2.5. "Coal permit holder" means the party that is registered with the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety, and Training as the operator of a coal permit. The "coal permit holder" may also be known or referred to as the "coal mine operator."2.6. "Cubic foot of gas" means the volume of gas contained in one (1) cubic foot of space at a standard pressure base and a standard temperature base. The standard pressure base shall be fourteen and seventy-three hundredths pounds per square inch absolute (14.73 psia), and the standard temperature base shall be sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit.2.7. "Day" means a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive hours.2.8. "Designated agent" means a resident of the State of West Virginia designated by an operator as the agent or attorney in fact of the operator upon whom process, notices, orders or other communications issued pursuant to W. Va. Code § 22-6A-7(h) may be served.2.9. "Designated mining area" means an area of real property subject to a coal permit, further depicted or described in the Notice of Designated Mining Area, where excavation work will be conducted within the succeeding twelve (12) months. 2.10. "Excavation work" means work where vegetation, timber, topsoil or overburden will be moved, removed or placed by surface mining operations and includes surface impacts incident to underground coal mine operations.2.11. "Gas-oil ratio test" means a test, by any means generally accepted in the industry, to determine the number of cubic feet of gas produced per barrel of oil produced.2.12. "Gas well" means any well that produces or appears capable of producing a ratio of six thousand (6,000) cubic feet of gas or more to each one (1) barrel of oil on the basis of the initial gas-oil ratio test.2.13. "Health care professional" means a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, registered nurse, or emergency medical technician licensed by the State of West Virginia.2.14. "Initial gas-oil ratio test" means the gas-oil ratio test preformed for the purpose of completing Form IV-36, "Well Operator's Report of Initial Gas-Oil Ratio Test," to designate the type of well being drilled.2.15. "Karst terrain" means a terrain, generally underlain by limestone or dolomite, in which the topography is formed chiefly by the dissolving of rock and which may be characterized by sinkholes, sinking streams, closed depressions, subterranean drainage, and caves, as such areas (known as "karst regions") have been identified, mapped, and published by the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey.2.16. "Log" or "well log" means a systematic, detailed geological record of all formations, including coal, freshwater, and salt water encountered in the drilling of a well.2.17. "Natural gas pipeline" means a pipeline, other than an interstate or utility pipeline, that is used to transport natural gas.2.18. "Notice of Designated Mining Area" means a written notice from a coal permit holder that contains the following information: (a) A copy of the mine plan permit maps previously submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection in connection with the permit, pursuant to W. Va. Code § 22-3-9(12) and 38 CSR 2 § 3.4, with a discernible boundary identifying the designated mining area where excavation work will be conducted within the following twelve (12) month period.; and (b) The general location of all oil and gas wells and pipelines known to the coal mining permit holder or operator or identified in the coal permitting process, together with any GPS or other survey information in the possession of the coal permit holder that identifies the location of any natural gas pipelines in the designated mining area; and (c) The office telephone number and mailing address for the mine where the work will occur and identification of the location of any staffed guard gate or entrance.2.19. "Office" means the Office of Oil and Gas within the Department of Environmental Protection.2.20. "Oil well" means any well which produces or appears capable of producing a ratio of less than six thousand (6,000) cubic feet of gas to each one (1) barrel of oil on the basis of the initial gas-oil ratio test.2.21. "Staff gauge" means a continuously functioning measuring device in the field designed to record the height of water in a stream or river.2.22. "Stream gauging station" means an active, continuously functioning measuring device in the field for which a mean daily stream flow is computed or estimated and quality assured for at least 355 days of a water year or a complete set of unit values are computed or estimated and quality assured for at least 355 days of a water year.2.23. "Surface owner of record" and "owner of record of the surface" means any person who is an owner of record of surface land or an undivided interest therein, whether or not the surface ownership is severed from the oil and gas or other mineral ownership.2.24. "Well completion" means the date on which hydraulic fracturing operations have ceased for more than 30 consecutive days.