When West Virginia's primacy program was established all permits, according to the Memorandum of Understanding between the state and the EPA, were to be issued by the then Division of Water Resources. At that time the Division of Water Resources was in the Department of Natural Resources. The Office of Oil and Gas was in the Division of Mining. Currently the Division of Water and Waste Management (formerly the DWR) and Office of Oil and Gas are in the Department of Environmental Protection. The Office of Oil and Gas now issues Class 2 and Class 3 UIC permits.
It has been impossible, at this point of time, to closely document the steps in this transition. It has also been impossible to document at exactly what point of time the Office of Oil and Gas assumed the role of issuing permits, though a sort of hazy timeline is possible.
Around 1987 a Department of Energy was created by the legislature and the Office of Oil and Gas was a division in the state's DOE. The new agency attempted at that time to assume control over the whole UIC program. Their reasoning is given in a document beginning on page 41 of the pdf of this new oil and gas regulation.
A formal application for transfer of the program does not seem to have been made to the EPA until around 1989. The EPA in this 1990 letter points out issues with their application.
In late 1990 the Division of Water Resources and Office of Oil and Gas came to an agreement about distribution of EPA UIC grant money because of the Office's oversight of the Class 2 and Class 3 programs.
So it appears that a transition of some sort took place in 1990 but it is impossible to tell at the current stage of research what exactly those changes were and the EPA's role in authorizing the changes.
Background Documents
Current Federal and State Laws
Historic State Laws and Regulations
Relevant EPA Guidance for UIC and Class 2 Injection
State Online Oil and Gas Databases
Technical Background, Seismicity, and Groundwater Contamination
Underground Injection Control Class 2 Wells
Introduction to Class 2 Wells in West Virginia
Collected documents and information for a number of Class 2 disposal wells and secondary recovery area permits
Searchable tables for UIC inspections, UIC permitting and MITs based on a copy of the Office of Oil and Gas' online UIC databases made in 2016.
Select wells which present important issues
A UIC well constructed without any cement behind the steel casing strings to protect groundwater.
A commercial UIC well where activity on the site contaminated groundwater.