COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 3339
(By Delegate Mahan)
(Originating in the House Committee on the Judiciary)
[March 27, 2009]
A BILL to amend and reenact §22-16-12 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to facilitate the complete closure
of the Gwinn, or otherwise known as the Midwest Landfill,
located in Summers County, by having the Secretary of the
Department of Environmental Protection place said closure as
a top priority use of Solid Waste Facility Closure Cost
Assistance Fund moneys.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §22-16-12 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16. SOLID WASTE LANDFILL CLOSURE ASSISTANCE.
§22-16-12. Solid Waste Facility Closure Cost Assistance Fund;
closure extension; reporting requirements.
(a) The "Closure Cost Assistance Fund" is continued as a
special revenue account in the State Treasury. The fund shall
operate as a special fund whereby all deposits and payments thereto do not expire to the General Revenue Fund, but shall remain in such
account and be available for expenditure in the succeeding fiscal
year. Separate subaccounts may be established within the special
account for the purpose of identification of various revenue
resources and payment of specific obligations.
(b) Interest earned on any money in the fund shall be
deposited to the credit of the fund.
(c) The fund consists of the following:
(1) Moneys collected and deposited in the State Treasury which
are specifically designated by acts of the Legislature for
inclusion in the fund, including moneys collected and deposited
into the fund pursuant to section four of this article;
(2) Contributions, grants and gifts from any source, both
public and private, which may be used by the
director secretary for
any project or projects;
(3) Amounts repaid by permittees pursuant to section eighteen,
article fifteen of this chapter; and
(4) All interest earned on investments made by the state from
moneys deposited in this fund.
(d) The Solid Waste Management Board, upon written approval of
the
director secretary, has the authority to pledge all or such
part of the revenues paid into the Closure Cost Assistance Fund as
may be needed to meet the requirements of any revenue bond issue or
issues of the Solid Waste Management Board authorized by this
article, including the payment of principal of, interest and redemption premium, if any, on such revenue bonds and the
establishing and maintaining of a reserve fund or funds for the
payment of the principal of, interest and redemption premium, if
any, on such revenue bond issue or issues when other moneys pledged
may be insufficient therefor. Any pledge of moneys in the Closure
Cost Assistance Fund for revenue bonds shall be a prior and
superior charge on such fund over the use of any of the moneys in
such fund to pay for the cost of any project on a cash basis.
Expenditures from the fund, other than for the retirement of
revenue bonds, may only be made in accordance with
the provisions
of this article.
(e) The amounts deposited in the fund may be expended only on
the cost of projects as provided for in sections three and fifteen
of this article, as provided in subsection (f) of this section and
for payment of bonds and notes issued pursuant to section five of
this article.
Provided, That No more than two percent of the
annual deposits to such fund may be used for administrative
purposes.
(f) Notwithstanding any provision of this article, upon
request of the Solid Waste Management Board, and with the approval
of the projects by the
Director Secretary of the
Division
Department of Environmental Protection, the
director secretary may
pledge and place into escrow accounts up to an aggregate of
$2,000,000 of the fund to satisfy two years debt service
requirement that permittees of publicly-owned landfills and transfer stations are required to meet in order to obtain loans.
Pledges shall be made on a project-by-project basis, may not exceed
$500,000 for a project and shall be made available after loan
commitments are received. The
director secretary may pledge funds
for a loan only when the following conditions are met:
(1) The proceeds of the loan are used only to perform
construction of a transfer station or a composite liner system that
is required to meet
the provisions of title forty-seven, series
thirty-eight, solid waste management rules;
(2) The permittee dedicates all yearly debt service revenue,
as determined by the Public Service Commission, to meet the
repayment schedule of the loan, before it uses available revenue
for any other purpose; and
(3) That any funds pledged may only be paid to the lender if
the permittee is in default on the loan.
(g) Any landfills which were ordered to close by December 31,
1994, and which have been granted a certificate of need pursuant to
the provisions of subsection (b), section one-c, article two,
chapter twenty-four of this code or section one-i of said article
are hereby granted a closure extension until January 1, 1996.
Provided, That No landfill which closed on or before September 30,
1994, shall be eligible for such an extension.
(h) The Department of Environmental Protection is required to
file, by January 1 of each ensuing year, an annual report with the
Joint Committee on Government and Finance providing details on the manner in which the landfill closure assistance funds were expended
for the prior fiscal year.
(i) Notwithstanding any other contrary provision of this code,
the secretary shall place as a top priority to expend any and all
funds derived from the Solid Waste Facility Closure Cost Assistance
Fund necessary to facilitate the complete closure forthwith of the
now-defunct Gwinn or otherwise known as the Midwest Landfill,
located in Summers County.