Senate committee adopts amendment, sends bill revising above‑ground tank rules to full Senate

The Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee voted to adopt an amendment and report a committee substitute for Senate Bill 641 to the full West Virginia Senate with a recommendation that it pass.

Committee counsel told members the substitute changes the definitions used to classify above‑ground storage tanks, adding size thresholds and explicitly categorizing tanks tied to transmission or storage activities. Counsel said the measure provides a nine‑month notice period before an existing tank may be reclassified if its location is newly designated a zone of critical or peripheral concern. "Regulated level 1 above ground storage tanks would be modified" and the bill "modifies the definition of regulated level 2 above ground storage tank," counsel explained during the committee meeting.

The bill drew oral testimony from Scott Mandarola of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, who said the language would move many tanks formerly subject to the strictest rules into a lower tier of regulation. Under questioning, Mandarola cited counts from a tank database and said the change ‘‘raises that level’’ so that tanks 50,000 gallons or smaller potentially would be categorized as level 2 rather than level 1. He noted differences between the tiers, saying they affect "response time, the requirements for secondary containment, [and] the engineering of the tanks themselves." Mandarola referenced the 2014 Freedom Industries contamination as the origin of the original regulations and warned the proposed definitions could leave similarly sized tanks with weaker safeguards. "Those tanks were between 46,048 gallons," he said.

Mandarola also listed hazardous constituents associated with crude oil to underline public‑health risks: "Crude oil itself has benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, all of which are carcinogens," he said. The committee followed with questions about how many tanks would be affected and whether the bill effectively exempts any devices; counsel said affected tanks would remain regulated, but under a different category.

Committee counsel described a floor amendment that would insert a new paragraph limiting a subset of devices: "devices having a capacity of 10,000 gallons or less, which are located within the boundaries of a permit issued pursuant to Section 20‑2‑3‑1 of this code, and certified pursuant to Section 20‑2‑22‑128 of this code," would not be treated as level 1 but would still need registration, notice and signage. The committee approved that amendment by oral vote.

After debating and taking public testimony, the vice chair moved that the committee substitute, as amended, be reported to the full Senate with the recommendation that it pass. The committee held an oral vote; the chair declared the motion adopted and said the bill will be reported to the full Senate.

No recorded roll‑call tallies were announced in the transcript; committee action was taken by oral aye/no voice votes. The committee adjourned after completing its business.

What happens next: The committee's action sends the committee substitute for Senate Bill 641, as amended, to the full Senate for consideration. The transcript does not record a floor date or any additional steps required for enactment.