There are two versions of hydraulic fracturing that will come before the West Virginia Legislature this session. One originates from the WVDEP, the other from the Judiciary Committee. Both bills call for increasing the permit fee for a horizontally fracked well substantially. Currently the fee is approximately $600 per well. Under the Judiciary bill, the fee would rise to $15,000 and under the DEP bill, the fee would be $10,000 per well. The higher fees would help to pay for more oil and gas inspectors. At the Jan. 10th meeting of Judiciary Subcommittee A, DEP general counsel Kristin Boggs stated that currently there are only 12 inspectors and 59,000 wells. WVDEP wants increase the number of inspectors to 36. DEP Secretary Randy Huffman has said “We’ve got to have these people and to do that we’ve got to have money.”
Increased well permit fees would fund hiring more WVDEP inspectors
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