By Mike Tony, Williamson Daily News
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The tank bill tanked again.
Industry-backed legislation that would roll back state oversight of toxic chemical-containing aboveground storage tanks didn’t make it to final passage before West Virginia’s 2025 regular legislative session ended at midnight Sunday.
Senate Bill 592 stalled on a second reading in the House of Delegates, where it was a vote away from final passage after the Senate approved it in a 25-7 vote on March 14.
SB 592 had advanced through the Senate and gotten House Energy and Public Works Committee approval despite fervent opposition from community and environmental advocates quick to note regulations the bill would weaken which were adopted through the 2014 Aboveground Storage Tank Act in response to that January’s Elk River chemical leak that contaminated the water supply of 300,000 people.