WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
By
[
to the Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources then Government
Organization.
A BILL to amend and
reenact §5B-1-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and
reenact §5F-2-1 of said code; to amend and reenact §6-7-2a of said code; to
amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §19-1-3b; to amend
and reenact §19-1A-5 of said code; to amend and reenact §19-1B-3 of said code;
and to amend and reenact §19-12A-5 of said code, all relating to transferring
the Division of Forestry from the Department of Commerce to the Department of
Agriculture; eliminating references in code showing the Division of Forestry as
part of the Department of Commerce; transferring all authorities, powers and
duties of the Division of Forestry to the Department of Agriculture; ensuring
all legislative rules currently in effect remain in effect as if they were
proposed by the Division of Forestry under the Department of Agriculture;
making the Director of the Division of Forestry a position hired by the
Commissioner of Agriculture rather than a position appointed by the Governor;
and making the Director of the Division of Forestry a will and pleasure
employee of the Commissioner of Agriculture rather than the Governor.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5B-1-2 of the
Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that §5F-2-1
of said code be amended and reenacted; that §6-7-2a of said code be amended and
reenacted; that said code be amended by adding thereto a new section,
designated §19-1-3b; that §19-1A-5 of said code be amended and reenacted; that §19-1B-3
of said code be amended and reenacted; and that §19-12A-5 of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
chapter 5b. Economic development act of 1985.
article 1. Department of Commerce.
§5B-1-2. Agencies,
boards, commissions, divisions and offices comprising the Department of
Commerce.
The Department of Commerce
consists of the following agencies, boards, commissions, divisions and offices,
including all of the allied, advisory, affiliated or related entities, which
are incorporated in and administered as part of the Department of Commerce:
(1) Division of Labor
provided in article one, chapter twenty-one of this code, which includes:
(A) Occupational Safety and
Health Review Commission provided in article three-a, chapter twenty-one of
this code; and
(B) Board of Manufactured
Housing Construction and Safety provided in article nine, chapter twenty-one of
this code;
(2) Office of Miners'
Health, Safety and Training provided in article one, chapter twenty-two-a of
this code. The following boards are transferred to the Office of Miners'
Health, Safety and Training for purposes of administrative support and liaison
with the Office of the Governor:
(A) Board of Coal Mine
Health and Safety and Coal Mine Safety and Technical Review Committee provided
in article six, chapter twenty-two-a of this code;
(B) Board of Miner
Training, Education and Certification provided in article seven, chapter twenty-two-a
of this code; and
(C) Mine Inspectors'
Examining Board provided in article nine, chapter twenty-two-a of this code;
(3) The West Virginia
Development Office provided in article two, chapter five-b of this code;
(4) Division of Natural
Resources and Natural Resources Commission provided in article one, chapter
twenty of this code;
(5) Division of Forestry
provided in article one-a, chapter nineteen of this code;
(6) (5) Geological and Economic Survey provided in
article two, chapter twenty-nine of this code;
(7) (6) Workforce West Virginia provided in
chapter twenty-one-a of this code, which includes:
(A) Division of
Unemployment Compensation;
(B) Division of Employment
Service;
(C) Division of Workforce
Development; and
(D) Division of Research,
Information and Analysis;
(8) (7) Division of Energy provided in article
two-f, chapter five-b of this code; and
(9) (8) Division of Tourism and the Tourism
Commission provided in article two, chapter five-b of this code.
Chapter 5F. Reorganization of the executive branch of
state Government.
Article 2. transfer of agencies and boards.
§5F-2-1. Transfer and
incorporation of agencies and boards; funds.
(a) The following agencies
and boards, including all of the allied, advisory, affiliated or related
entities and funds associated with any agency or board, are incorporated in and
administered as a part of the Department of Administration:
(1) Building Commission
provided in article six, chapter five of this code;
(2) Public Employees
Insurance Agency provided in article sixteen, chapter five of this code;
(3) Governor's Mansion
Advisory Committee provided in article five, chapter five-a of this code;
(4) Commission on Uniform
State Laws provided in article one-a, chapter twenty-nine of this code;
(5) West Virginia Public
Employees Grievance Board provided in article three, chapter six-c of this
code;
(6) Board of Risk and
Insurance Management provided in article twelve, chapter twenty-nine of this
code;
(7) Boundary Commission
provided in article twenty-three, chapter twenty-nine of this code;
(8) Public Defender
Services provided in article twenty-one, chapter twenty-nine of this code;
(9) Division of Personnel
provided in article six, chapter twenty-nine of this code;
(10) The West Virginia
Ethics Commission provided in article two, chapter six-b of this code;
(11) Consolidated Public
Retirement Board provided in article ten-d, chapter five of this code; and
(12) Real Estate Division
provided in article ten, chapter five-a of this code.
(b) The following agencies
and boards, including all of the allied, advisory, affiliated or related
entities and funds associated with any agency or board, are incorporated in and
administered as a part of the Department of Commerce:
(1) Division of Labor
provided in article one, chapter twenty-one of this code, which includes:
(A) Occupational Safety and
Health Review Commission provided in article three-a, chapter twenty-one of
this code; and
(B) Board of Manufactured
Housing Construction and Safety provided in article nine, chapter twenty-one of
this code.
(2) Office of Miners'
Health, Safety and Training provided in article one, chapter twenty-two-a of
this code. The following boards are transferred to the Office of Miners'
Health, Safety and Training for purposes of administrative support and liaison
with the Office of the Governor:
(A) Board of Coal Mine
Health and Safety and Coal Mine Safety and Technical Review Committee provided
in article six, chapter twenty-two-a of this code;
(B) Board of Miner
Training, Education and Certification provided in article seven, chapter twenty-two-a
of this code; and
(C) Mine Inspectors'
Examining Board provided in article nine, chapter twenty-two-a of this code.
(3) The West Virginia
Development Office provided in article two, chapter five-b of this code;
(4) Division of Natural
Resources and Natural Resources Commission provided in article one, chapter
twenty of this code;
(5) Division of Forestry
provided in article one-a, chapter nineteen of this code;
(6) (5) Geological and Economic Survey provided in
article two, chapter twenty-nine of this code; and
(7) (6) Workforce West Virginia provided in
chapter twenty-one-a of this code, which includes:
(A) Division of
Unemployment Compensation;
(B) Division of Employment
Service;
(C) Division of Workforce
Development; and
(D) Division of Research,
Information and Analysis.
(8) (7) Division of Energy provided in article two-f,
chapter five-b of this code.
(9) (8) Division of Tourism Commission provided in
article two-h, chapter five-b of this code.
(c) The Economic
Development Authority provided in article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of this
code is continued as an independent agency within the executive branch.
(d) The Water Development
Authority and the Water Development Authority Board provided in article one, chapter
twenty-two-c of this code is continued as an independent agency within the
executive branch.
(e) The following agencies
and boards, including all of the allied, advisory and affiliated entities, are
transferred to the Department of Environmental Protection for purposes of
administrative support and liaison with the office of the Governor:
(1) Air Quality Board
provided in article two, chapter twenty-two-b of this code;
(2) Solid Waste Management
Board provided in article three, chapter twenty-two-c of this code;
(3) Environmental Quality
Board, or its successor board, provided in article three, chapter twenty-two-b
of this code;
(4) Surface Mine Board
provided in article four, chapter twenty-two-b of this code;
(5) Oil and Gas Inspectors'
Examining Board provided in article seven, chapter twenty-two-c of this code;
(6) Shallow Gas Well Review
Board provided in article eight, chapter twenty-two-c of this code; and
(7) Oil and Gas
Conservation Commission provided in article nine, chapter twenty-two-c of this
code.
(f) The following agencies
and boards, including all of the allied, advisory, affiliated or related
entities and funds associated with any agency or board, are incorporated in and
administered as a part of the Department of Education and the Arts:
(1) Library Commission
provided in article one, chapter ten of this code;
(2) Division of Culture and
History provided in article one, chapter twenty-nine of this code; and
(3) Division of
Rehabilitation Services provided in article ten-a, chapter eighteen of this
code.
(g) The Educational
Broadcasting Authority provided in article five, chapter ten of this code is
part of the Department of Education and the Arts for the purposes of
administrative support and liaison with the office of the Governor.
(h) The following agencies
and boards, including all of the allied, advisory, affiliated or related
entities and funds associated with any agency or board, are incorporated in and
administered as a part of the Department of Health and Human Resources:
(1) Human Rights Commission
provided in article eleven, chapter five of this code;
(2) Division of Human
Services provided in article two, chapter nine of this code;
(3) Bureau for Public
Health provided in article one, chapter sixteen of this code;
(4) Office of Emergency
Medical Services and the Emergency Medical Service Advisory Council provided in
article four-c, chapter sixteen of this code;
(5) Health Care Authority
provided in article twenty-nine-b, chapter sixteen of this code;
(6) Commission on Mental Retardation
provided in article fifteen, chapter twenty-nine of this code;
(7) Women's Commission
provided in article twenty, chapter twenty-nine of this code; and
(8) The Child Support
Enforcement Division provided in chapter forty-eight of this code.
(i) The following agencies
and boards, including all of the allied, advisory, affiliated or related
entities and funds associated with any agency or board, are incorporated in and
administered as a part of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety:
(1) Adjutant General's
Department provided in article one-a, chapter fifteen of this code;
(2) Armory Board provided
in article six, chapter fifteen of this code;
(3) Military Awards Board
provided in article one-g, chapter fifteen of this code;
(4) West Virginia State
Police provided in article two, chapter fifteen of this code;
(5) Division of Homeland
Security and Emergency Management and Disaster Recovery Board provided in
article five, chapter fifteen of this code and Emergency Response Commission
provided in article five-a of said chapter;
(6) Sheriffs' Bureau
provided in article eight, chapter fifteen of this code;
(7) Division of Justice and
Community Services provided in article nine-a, chapter fifteen of this code;
(8) Division of Corrections
provided in chapter twenty-five of this code;
(9) Fire Commission
provided in article three, chapter twenty-nine of this code;
(10) Regional Jail and
Correctional Facility Authority provided in article twenty, chapter thirty-one
of this code; and
(11) Board of Probation and
Parole provided in article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code.
(j) The following agencies
and boards, including all of the allied, advisory, affiliated or related
entities and funds associated with any agency or board, are incorporated in and
administered as a part of the Department of Revenue:
(1) Tax Division provided
in chapter eleven of this code;
(2) Racing Commission
provided in article twenty-three, chapter nineteen of this code;
(3) Lottery Commission and
position of Lottery Director provided in article twenty-two, chapter twenty-nine
of this code;
(4) Insurance Commissioner
provided in article two, chapter thirty-three of this code;
(5) West Virginia Alcohol
Beverage Control Commissioner provided in article sixteen, chapter eleven of
this code and article two, chapter sixty of this code;
(6) Board of Banking and
Financial Institutions provided in article three, chapter thirty-one-a of this
code;
(7) Lending and Credit Rate
Board provided in chapter forty-seven-a of this code;
(8) Division of Banking
provided in article two, chapter thirty-one-a of this code;
(9) The State Budget Office
provided in article two of this chapter;
(10) The Municipal Bond
Commission provided in article three, chapter thirteen of this code;
(11) The Office of Tax
Appeals provided in article ten-a, chapter eleven of this code; and
(12) The State Athletic
Commission provided in article five-a, chapter twenty-nine of this code.
(k) The following agencies
and boards, including all of the allied, advisory, affiliated or related
entities and funds associated with any agency or board, are incorporated in and
administered as a part of the Department of Transportation:
(1) Division of Highways
provided in article two-a, chapter seventeen of this code;
(2) Parkways, Economic
Development and Tourism Authority provided in article sixteen-a, chapter
seventeen of this code;
(3) Division of Motor
Vehicles provided in article two, chapter seventeen-a of this code;
(4) Driver's Licensing
Advisory Board provided in article two, chapter seventeen-b of this code;
(5) Aeronautics Commission
provided in article two-a, chapter twenty-nine of this code;
(6) State Rail Authority
provided in article eighteen, chapter twenty-nine of this code; and
(7) Public Port Authority
provided in article sixteen-b, chapter seventeen of this code.
(l) Effective July 1, 2011,
the Veterans'
Council provided in article one, chapter nine-a of this code, including all of
the allied, advisory, affiliated or related entities and funds associated with
it, is incorporated in and administered as a part of the Department of Veterans'
Assistance.
(m) Except for powers,
authority and duties that have been delegated to the secretaries of the
departments by the provisions of section two of this article, the position of
administrator and the powers, authority and duties of each administrator and
agency are not affected by the enactment of this chapter.
(n) Except for powers,
authority and duties that have been delegated to the secretaries of the
departments by the provisions of section two of this article, the existence,
powers, authority and duties of boards and the membership, terms and
qualifications of members of the boards are not affected by the enactment of
this chapter. All boards that are appellate bodies or are independent decision
makers shall not have their appellate or independent decision-making status
affected by the enactment of this chapter.
(o) Any department
previously transferred to and incorporated in a department by prior enactment
of this section means a division of the appropriate department. Wherever
reference is made to any department transferred to and incorporated in a
department created in section two, article one of this chapter, the reference
means a division of the appropriate department and any reference to a division
of a department so transferred and incorporated means a section of the
appropriate division of the department.
(p) When an agency, board
or commission is transferred under a bureau or agency other than a department
headed by a secretary pursuant to this section, that transfer is solely for
purposes of administrative support and liaison with the Office of the Governor,
a department secretary or a bureau. Nothing in this section extends the powers
of department secretaries under section two of this article to any person other
than a department secretary and nothing limits or abridges the statutory powers
and duties of statutory commissioners or officers pursuant to this code.
chapter 6. general
provisions respecting officers.
ARTICLE 7. COMPENSATION
AND ALLOWANCES.
§6-7-2a. Terms of
certain appointive state officers; appointment; qualifications; powers and
salaries of officers.
(a) Each of the following
appointive state officers named in this subsection shall be appointed by the
Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Each of the
appointive state officers serves at the will and pleasure of the Governor for
the term for which the Governor was elected and until the respective state
officers' successors
have been appointed and qualified. Each of the appointive state officers are
subject to the existing qualifications for holding each respective office and
each has and is hereby granted all of the powers and authority and shall
perform all of the functions and services heretofore vested in and performed by
virtue of existing law respecting each office.
The annual salary of each
named appointive state officer is as follows:
Commissioner, Division of
Highways, $92,500; Commissioner, Division of Corrections, $80,000; Director,
Division of Natural Resources, $75,000; Superintendent, State Police, $85,000;
Commissioner, Division of Banking, $75,000; Commissioner, Division of Culture
and History, $65,000; Commissioner, Alcohol Beverage Control Commission, $75,000;
Commissioner, Division of Motor Vehicles, $75,000; Chairman, Health Care
Authority, $80,000; members, Health Care Authority, $70,000; Director, Human
Rights Commission, $55,000; Commissioner, Division of Labor, $70,000; prior to
July 1, 2011, Director, Division of Veterans Affairs, $65,000; Chairperson,
Board of Parole, $55,000; members, Board of Parole, $50,000; members,
Employment Security Review Board, $17,000; and Commissioner, Workforce West
Virginia, $75,000. Secretaries of the departments shall be paid an annual
salary as follows: Health and Human Resources, $95,000: Provided, That
effective July 1, 2013, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Resources shall be paid an annual salary not to exceed $175,000;
Transportation, $95,000: Provided, however, That if the same person is
serving as both the Secretary of Transportation and the Commissioner of
Highways, he or she shall be paid $120,000; Revenue, $95,000; Military Affairs
and Public Safety, $95,000; Administration, $95,000; Education and the Arts,
$95,000; Commerce, $95,000; Veterans' Assistance, $95,000; and Environmental
Protection,$95,000: Provided further, That any officer specified in this
subsection whose salary is increased by more than $5,000 as a result of the
amendment and reenactment of this section during the 2011 regular session of
the Legislature shall be paid the salary increase in increments of $5,000 per
fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011, up to the maximum salary provided in this
subsection.
(b) Each of the state officers
named in this subsection shall continue to be appointed in the manner
prescribed in this code and shall be paid an annual salary as follows:
Director, Board of Risk and
Insurance Management, $80,000; Director, Division of Rehabilitation Services, $70,000;
Director, Division of Personnel, $70,000; Executive Director, Educational
Broadcasting Authority, $75,000; Secretary, Library Commission, $72,000;
Director, Geological and Economic Survey, $75,000; Executive Director, Prosecuting
Attorneys Institute, $80,000; Executive Director, Public Defender Services,
$70,000; Commissioner, Bureau of Senior Services, $75,000; Executive Director,
Women's
Commission, $45,000; Director, Hospital Finance Authority, $35,000; member,
Racing Commission, $12,000; Chairman, Public Service Commission, $85,000;
members, Public Service Commission, $85,000; Director, Division of Forestry,
$75,000 Director, Division of Juvenile Services, $80,000; and Executive
Director, Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority, $80,000.
(c) Each of the following
appointive state officers named in this subsection shall be appointed by the
Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Each of the
appointive state officers serves at the will and pleasure of the Governor for the
term for which the Governor was elected and until the respective state officers'
successors have been appointed and qualified. Each of the appointive state
officers are subject to the existing qualifications for holding each respective
office and each has and is hereby granted all of the powers and authority and
shall perform all of the functions and services heretofore vested in and
performed by virtue of existing law respecting each office.
The annual salary of each
named appointive state officer shall be as follows:
Commissioner, State Tax
Division, $92,500; Insurance Commissioner, $92,500; Director, Lottery
Commission, $92,500; Director, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency
Management, $65,000; and Adjutant General, $125,000.
(d) No increase in the
salary of any appointive state officer pursuant to this section may be paid
until and unless the appointive state officer has first filed with the State
Auditor and the Legislative Auditor a sworn statement, on a form to be
prescribed by the Attorney General, certifying that his or her spending unit is
in compliance with any general law providing for a salary increase for his or
her employees. The Attorney General shall prepare and distribute the form to
the affected spending units.
Chapter 19. Agriculture.
Article 1. Department of Agriculture.
§19-1-3b. Division of
Forestry.
The Division of
Forestry, previously a division of the Department of Commerce, is transferred
to the Department of Agriculture, effective July 1, 2017. All real and personal property of the division
held by the Department of Commerce, including the rights and administrative
authority over the Division of Forestry Fund (3081) shall be transferred to the
Department of Agriculture. All employees of the Division of Forestry shall be
transferred to the Department of Agriculture, at their existing hourly rate or
salary and with all accrued benefits.
All employees of the division shall become will and pleasure employees
of the Commissioner of Agriculture in accordance with section four, article
six, chapter twenty-nine of the Code of West Virginia, and are exempt from
coverage by classified service. All legislative rules proposed by the Division
of Forestry under the Department of Commerce that were previously authorized
and are in effect remain in effect as if they were proposed by the Division of
Forestry under the Department of Agriculture. The Division of Forestry’s
authorities, powers and duties remain unchanged by this section.
Article 1A. Division of Forestry.
§19-1A-5. Director of
Division of Forestry; appointment; qualifications.
The Director of the
Division of Forestry shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, hired by the Commissioner of
Agriculture and shall serve at the will and pleasure of the Governor
commissioner. The director shall be a graduate of a school of forestry
accredited by the Society of American Foresters and have a minimum of ten years
experience in forest management. The director shall be paid an annual salary as
provided in section two-a, article seven, chapter six of this code: Provided,
That the director's salary shall be paid solely from budget appropriations to
the division.
Article 1B. Sediment control during commercial timber
harvesting operations.
§19-1B-3. Definitions.
(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
Agriculture 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.
Article 12A. Land Division.
§19-12A-5. Powers,
duties and responsibilities of commission.
(a) On or before July 1, 1990,
the commission shall meet and confer with respect to the development of a
management plan to determine the optimum use or disposition of all
institutional farms, at which time the farm management director shall provide
the commission with a complete inventory of all institutional farms, and such
information relating to easements, mineral rights, appurtenances, farm
equipment, agricultural products, livestock, inventories and farm facilities as
may be necessary to develop such management plan. The commission shall complete
and provide to the Governor a management plan, which plan shall set forth the
objectives of the commission with respect to institutional farms, the criteria
by which the commission shall determine the optimum use or disposition of such
property, and determinations as to whether each institutional farm shall be
used in production, sold, or leased, in whole or in part. Prior to the adoption
of any plan, the commission shall consult with the secretaries of the various
departments of state government and shall request from such secretaries
suggestions for land use and resource development on farm commission lands. On
or before December 1, 1990, such management plan shall be presented to the
Legislature, by providing a copy to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House of Delegates. The commission may confer with any other agency or
individual in implementing and adjusting its management plan. The management
plan established pursuant to this subsection may be amended, from time to time,
as may be necessary.
(b) The commission shall
manage its institutional farms, equipment and other property in order to most
efficiently produce food products for state institutions and shall implement
the intent of the Legislature as set forth by this article. From the total
amount of food, milk and other commodities produced on institutional farms, the
commission shall sell, at prevailing wholesale prices, and each of the
institutions under the control of the bureau of public health and the Division
of Corrections shall purchase, a proportionate amount of these products based
on the dietary needs of each institution.
(c) If requested by the Commissioner
of Corrections, the commission may authorize the Division of Corrections to
operate a farm or other enterprise using inmates as labor on such lands. The Commissioner
of Corrections is responsible for the selection, direction and supervision of
the inmates and shall assign the work to be performed by inmates.
(d) The commission is
hereby authorized and empowered to:
(1) Lease to public or
private parties, for purposes including agricultural production or
experimentation, public necessity, or other purposes permitted by the
management plan, any land, easements, equipment, or other property, except that
property may not be leased for any use in any manner that would render the land
toxic for agricultural use, nor may toxic or hazardous materials as identified
by the Commissioner of Agriculture be used or stored upon such property unless
all applicable state and federal permits necessary are obtained. Any lease for
an annual consideration of $1,000 or more shall be by sealed bid auction and
the commission shall give notice of such auction by publication thereof as a
Class II-0 legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article
three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such
publication is the county in which the property to be leased is located;
(2) Transfer to the public
land corporation land designated in its management plan as land to be disposed
of, which land shall be sold, exchanged or otherwise transferred pursuant to
sections four and five, article one-a, chapter twenty of this code: Provided,
That the net proceeds of the sale of farm commission lands shall be deposited
in the General Revenue Fund of the state: Provided, however, That no
sale may be concluded until on or after March 15, 1991, except with respect to:
(A) Properties located at institutions closed on or before the effective date
of this section, March 10, 1990; or (B) properties conveyed to or from the Farm
Management Commission to or from any other entity in order to facilitate the
construction of a regional jail or correctional facility by the Regional Jail
and Correctional Facilities Authority or the state Building Commission, with
the decision to execute any such conveyance being solely within the discretion
of, and at the direction of, the Regional Jail and Correctional Facilities Authority;
(3) Develop lands to which
it has title for the public use including forestation, recreation, wildlife,
stock grazing, agricultural production, rehabilitation and/or other
conservation activities and may contract or lease for the proper development of
timber, oil, gas or mineral resources, including coal by underground mining or
by surface mining where reclamation as required by specifications of the
Division of Environmental Protection will increase the beneficial use of such
property. Any such contract or lease shall be by sealed bid auction as provided
for in subdivision (1) above;
(4) Exercise all other
powers and duties necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article.
(e) Notwithstanding the
provisions of subsection (d) herein, no timberland may be leased, sold,
exchanged or otherwise disposed of unless the Division of Forestry of the
Department of Commerce, labor and environmental resources Agriculture
certifies that there is no commercially salable timber on the timberland, an
inventory is provided, an appraisal of the timber is provided, and the sale,
lease, exchange or other disposition is accomplished by the sealed bid auction
procedure provided above in subdivisions (1) or (2), as applicable.
(f) The commission shall
promulgate, pursuant to chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, rules and
regulations relating to the powers and duties of the commission as enumerated
in this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to transfer the Division of Forestry and its authorities, powers and duties
from the Department of Commerce to the Department of Agriculture.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.