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By Lucia Valentine and Kasey Russell, WVEC Lobbyists
It’s hard to believe we’re already a quarter into the 2025 legislative session! The WVEC Lobby Team has been busy tracking bills, advocating our priorities, attending committee meetings, and monitoring House and Senate floor sessions.
Several bills have been introduced that could hinder wind and solar projects, deregulate utilities, raise public sewer costs, alter smart meters, support carbon dioxide release, and allow leasing of state park lands. We are talking with bill sponsors and Senate and House leadership to see if these bills have momentum.
Here are a few items we followed closely this week:
Energy
Orphan Wells
President Randy Smith (R-Preston, 14) reintroduced SB 11, The Orphan Well Protection Act, in the Senate. This bill addresses WV’s orphan well crisis by requiring oil and gas well operators to set money aside for future plugging costs so taxpayers aren’t left footing the bill. Additionally, WV must pass legislation to fully qualify for the remaining $142 million federal well-plugging dollars. There are currently over 6,500 orphaned wells across the state of West Virginia. These orphaned wells threaten landowners’ rights, public health, and the environment, leaking gas and toxic chemicals that pollute air and water—an economic and ecological liability.
The bill has been referred to the Senate Energy, Industry, and Mining Committee (“Senate Energy Committee”). We met with Senator Chris Rose (R – Monongalia, 02), the Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee. Senator Rose had great questions, and we are working with the WV Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) and WV Surface Owners’ Rights Organization cofounder and lobbyist Dave McMahon to get his questions answered. We hope to learn that a majority of Senate Republicans support this bill and that the Energy Committee will include it on their agenda soon.
Clean Air and Water
Community Air Monitoring
SB 575 was introduced this week and referred to the Senate Committee on Government Organization. Citizen air monitoring empowers local communities to enhance data collected by government bodies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the WV Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP). Community air monitoring improves our understanding of local air quality by filling gaps in existing state and federal monitoring efforts with essential data to inform investigations that aid the implementation of the federal Clean Air Act. This engagement leads to informed decision-making and advocacy for improved air quality regulations.
According to Morgan King with WV Citizen Action Group (CAG), more than 60 PurpleAir outdoor air sensors report air quality data in real-time in West Virginia (as of 2/28/2025). Nineteen of those are from the Empower WV initiative. Dozens of additional sensors will be live in the coming two months via Empower WV across the state to fill gaps where air monitoring is not occurring. Two years ago, there were a fraction of these community air monitors. Clearly, people and municipalities are eager to be proactive about monitoring their air quality.
If a personal air monitor shows elevated toxins, the device owner can notify the WV DEP of the potential air quality issue. The WV DEP can then verify and vet the data; the WV DEP never uses the citizen’s air monitor data in actual legal action or enforcement. This bill attempts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of citizen-collected air monitoring.
Our partners, WV Citizen Action Group and WV Rivers Coalition, have issued action alerts to make your voice heard. Take action today by urging your Senators to OPPOSE this bill.
Above Ground Storage Tank Act
SB 592 was introduced this week and referred to the Senate Energy, Industry, and Mining Committee. In response to the 2014 chemical leak that left 300,000 West Virginians without safe drinking water, the Above Ground Storage Tank Act (AST) was passed unanimously in 2014 to protect the state’s drinking water sources. Over the past few legislative sessions, there have been attempts to roll back regulations for tanks located in “Zones of Critical Concern” (ZCC), including over 700 tanks located closest to our drinking water intakes. We are working to educate lawmakers about the importance of upholding protections for tanks located in ZCCs. This bill has not made it to the Senate Energy Committee’s agenda yet, but we assume that it will. Stay tuned for ways to take action against this bill.
Public Lands
Timbering on State Parks
SB 224 potentially opens all WV public lands to widespread timbering and economic development for special interest projects. As written, the bill references the purpose of wildfire management. However, the WV Division of Forestry already has the tools to manage wildfires.
If this bill passes, our state parks, Kanawha State Forest, and rail trails could lose protection against timbering. The purpose of Wildlife Management Areas could change from wildlife habitat and hunting to timbering.
SB 224 could also permit secret, noncompetitive bid contracts from out-of-state interests that threaten the beauty and value of our public lands. West Virginians know best how to protect our public lands, not out-of-state companies seeking a profit. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources. We have done quite a bit of work on this bill, including talking to the WV Department of Natural Resources and foresters. Our member groups are working to clarify the language to get to the true intent of the bill.
General Updates
Delegate Evan Hansen (D, Monongalia, 079) and other House Dems have introduced several noteworthy, positive bills. If you want to do something positive, please call your local delegate and ask them to support HB 2412 (incentive for large solar projects on degraded land), HB 2418 (energy efficiency), and HB 2555 (Public Service Commission reform bill). According to Delegate Hansen, the PSC bill defines public interest and requires decisions to document how they meet this definition, along with multiple ethics improvements for commissioners.
Next Week
We expect the WV DEP’s rule bundle to be on Monday’s House Environment, Infrastructure, and Technology Committee agenda. The committee has not published the agenda and meeting time. Normally, updating these rules is just a formality. However, we have heard that Industry is attempting again to allow further pollution of our state’s drinking waters. We will continue to fight for policies that protect our waters, especially our drinking waters. We will keep you posted as this situation unfolds.
Click here to check out our complete list of 2025 Legislative Priorities.
To reach our lobby team, please email luciavalentine10@gmail.com and russell.kasey@gmail.com
