WVFA eNews Weekly

Last week, with conflicting rumors flying and and confusion spreading, Roger Sherman, WVFA Legislative Committee Chair, and Frank Stewart, WVFA Executive Director, met with West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman and members of his "Water Team" to better understand how they will interpret and enforce Section 22-31-9 of the new "Aboveground Storage Tank" law (see last week's article on this).

At this meeting, WVFA confirmed our understanding of this part of the law, which was largely edited by Sherman and advocated by WV Forest industry representatives (e.g., Donna Reckart of Allegheny Wood Products, Inc.), including WVFA educational efforts. That is, "individual" NPDES permits are NOT needed for stormwater discharge, if general NPDES stormwater permits are held. The DEP focus is upon facilities in "areas of critical concern" that have "aboveground storage tanks" over 1,320 gallons (or aggregating to that amount). Discovery of pollutants of significance can, however, override the general-permits allowed by the Secretary.

The only new wrinkle - other than permitting for aboveground storage tanks in areas of critical concern - is that all permittees’ written plans must now be submitted and not merely filed, on-site. Otherwise, holders of "general" NPDES stormwater permits, whether in or out of areas of critical concern, do not need "individual" NPDES stormwater permits, unless they have an aboveground storage tank(s) totaling over 1,320 gallons on a site in an area of critical concern. ...at least, that's how we presently understand it; i.e., it's a new law and there may be nuances that evolve. Otherwise please click below to see the document of clarification that was supplied to WVFA by DEP, in response to our inquiry into this specific issue:

Visit http://www.naylornetwork.com/wvf-nwl/pdf/2009_MultiSector_Stormwater_General_Permit.pdf to view the full article online.

WVFA representatives were on hand to help usher in "A new version of a state minimum wage bill [that] was sent to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin after some clean-up during a special session of the West Virginia Legislature, which concluded on May 21. House Bill 201 was passed and included provisions that would change the minimum wage law passed by the state Legislature in March. The previous bill, House Bill 4283, was signed by the governor on April 1 and included a change in the way entities handled overtime and maximum hour standards. Lawmakers said the new bill, if signed by Tomblin, would "clean up" those provisions, making the previous state laws on those requirements remain in effect. Ultimately, the bill continues to raise the wage in the Mountain State in 2015 to $8 an hour and $8.75 an hour in 2016. The bill was passed in the West Virginia House of Delegates unanimously and only opposed by Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph. "(The bill) verifies the changes under current law and also has rule making authority in it," said Sen. Roman Prezioso, D-Marion." Unintended consequences of the April 1 version of the bill would have affected salaried employees and have required employers to pay overtime to salaried personnel, under certain circumstances. (quote is from The State Journal, May 21, 2014)

Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/wvf-nwl/articles/?aid=268078&issueID=40904 to view the full article online.

In our May 6 edition of this eNews, we indicated that more information would be coming about a meeting planned around West Virginia about a proposed rule from the Environmental Protection Agency. This proposed rule, which reflects the EPA’s latest interpretation of the 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA), would effectively eliminate the word "navigable" from the decades old language of the CWA’s jurisdiction over "navigable waters of the U.S." This action could lead to the expansion of federal regulation to cover routine forest management, even though West Virginia is one of the few states to have mandated Best Management Practices to prevent water pollution and the CWA carries a "silvicultural exemption."

Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/wvf-nwl/articles/?aid=267986&issueID=40904 to view the full article online.

When settlers arrived to stay in what is now West Virginia, forest growth on the 12.4 million acres was more or less in equilibrium with the old growth that was decaying or falling down presumably equaling new growth. Occasional fire or insect depredations would sometimes temporarily upset the equilibrium. An example of the latter occurred in the later 1800s when approximately one-third (150,000 acres) of the state’s virgin red spruce (Picea rubra) (468,999 acres) and enormous numbers of pines (Pinus) were killed by the southern pine beetle (Dendroctonous). Another is the recent depredations of the Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar), which has resulted in a tremendous loss of tree volume growth as well as great, although localized, mortality of various tree species, especially oak (Quercus).

In the early 1800s, there were probably less than 50,000 people in all of the area. Roads were little more than trails and railroads were just an idea. The thick forest and small amount of bottomland mandated that the settlers had to subdue the forest and conquer the steep slopes in order to have space in which to live.

Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/wvf-nwl/articles/?aid=267229&issueID=40904 to view the full article online.