WEST virginia legislature
2025 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 2972
By Delegates Moore, Dittman, Drennan, Dillon, and Coop-Gonzalez
[Introduced February 25, 2025; referred to the Committee on Energy and Public Works]
A BILL to amend and reenact ยง19-1B-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to changing the exceptions for timbering operations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
## Article 1B. Sediment Control During Commercial Timber Harvesting Operations.
##
(a) "Best management practices" means sediment control measures, structural or nonstructural, used singly or in combination, to reduce soil runoff from land disturbances associated with commercial timber harvesting.
(b) "Chief" means the Director of the Division of Water and Waste Management of the Department of Environmental Protection, or his or her designee.
(c) "Director" means the Director of the Division of Forestry of the Department of Commerce or his or her designee.
(d) "Operator" means any person who conducts timbering operations.
(e) "Timbering operation," or the plural, means activities directly related to the severing or removal of standing trees from the forest as a raw material for commercial processes or purposes. For the purpose of this article, timbering operations do not include the severing of evergreens grown for and severed for the traditional Christmas holiday season; the severing of trees incidental to ground-disturbing construction activities, including well sites, access roads and gathering lines for oil and natural gas operations; the severing of trees for maintaining existing, or during construction of, rights-of-way for public highways or public utilities or any company subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; unless the trees so severed are being sold or provided as raw material for commercial wood product purposes or the severing of trees by an individual on the individual's own property for his or her individual use provided that the individual does not have the severing done by a person whose business is the severing or removal of trees.
(f) "Sediment" means solid particulate matter, usually soil or minute rock fragments, moved by wind, rainfall or snowmelt into the streams of the state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the exceptions for timbering operations.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.