"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Lawmakers on Thursday grilled the Tomblin administration about more than 20 categories of chemical storage tanks that would be exempted from key safety provisions of legislation proposed in response to the Jan. 9 leak that contaminated drinking water for 300,000 West Virginians."

"Department of Environmental Protection officials struggled at times to explain the reasons for some of the exemptions, even though the exemptions generally mirror those contained in Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's bill.

DEP officials also conceded that, while other state programs cover some of the tank facilities targeted for exemption, those other programs don't necessarily mandate the same inspections the new bill would require for the above-ground chemical tanks it would cover."

Ken Ward Jr. reports for the Charleston Gazette February 13, 2014. [2]