Introduced Version
House Bill 2907 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2907
(By Delegates L. Phillips, R. Phillips, Tomblin,
Eldridge, Stowers, White, Craig, Moore and Barill)
[Introduced March 12, 2013; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §61-3F-1, §61-3F-2,
§61-3F-3, §61-3F-4 and §61-3F-5, all relating to property
crimes committed against coal mines and other industrial
facilities; making legislative findings; defining terms;
providing for additional criminal penalties for trespass at a
coal mine or industrial facility; providing for criminal
penalties and restitution for the removal, destruction, injury
or defacement of real or personal property belonging
to a coal
mine or industrial facility; and providing that prosecution
for other crimes is not precluded.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §61-3F-1, §61-3F-2,
§61-3F-3, §61-3F-4 and §61-3F-5, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3F. OFFENSES INVOLVING COAL MINES AND INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES.
§61-3F-1. Legislative findings.
_____The Legislature finds that:
_____(1) Coal mines and other industrial facilities are targeted
for a variety of property crimes.
_____(2) These property crimes cause imminent danger to the health
and safety of the public, a coal mine or industrial facility's
employees, first responders, law-enforcement officers and utility
workers.
_____(3) These property crimes imperil the lives of those who
depend on the products and services provided by the coal mines and
other industrial facilities, including communications transmission,
electricity transmission and natural resource extraction.
_____(4) These crimes against property cause hardship for those who
operate coal mines and other industrial facilities through lost
production or transmission time, repair and/or replacement costs,
increased security expenses and other financial burdens not
normally associated with operating in the State of West Virginia.
§61-3F-2. Definitions.
_____As used in this article:
_____(1) "Approved access" means access granted to a coal mine or
other industrial facility.
_____(2) "Coal mine" means any mine, preparation plant, loading
facility, storage facility, building, complex of buildings, bonded property and associated facilities and apparatus used by the owner
of the coal or another for the performance of the act or process of
exploring, developing, severing, extracting, reducing to
possession, washing, processing, loading for shipment and shipment
for sale of any coal or coal product including any reclamation,
waste disposal or environmental activities associated with coal
production and includes the surface structures or equipment
connected or associated therewith which contribute directly or
indirectly to the mining, preparation or handling of coal, or
construction thereof.
_____(3) "Imminent danger" means any condition that could hinder or
disrupt the normal operation of equipment, systems, or services
provided for the health and safety of the public, employees of
metal owners, first responders, law enforcement, or utility workers
or that cause an interruption in communications services or
electric utility services.
_____(4) "Industrial facility" means:
_____(A) Any facility that is required to submit a risk management
plan to the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant
to regulations promulgated under Section 112(r) of the Clean Air
Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §7412(r), including the property where the
facility is located and any buildings located on the property,
including storage facilities; or
_____(B) A facility that is a factory, mill, plant or refinery, other than a coal facility, including the property upon which a
factory, mill, plant or refinery is located and any buildings
located on the property, including storage facilities.
_____(5) "Metal property" means metals as defined in this section
as ferrous or nonferrous.
_____(6) "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation,
joint venture, trust, association or any other legal entity.
_____(7) "Real or personal property" means and includes at a
minimum:
_____(A) Telecommunications, cable communications or electric power
transmission pedestal or pole owned or operated by a
telecommunications, cable or electric power company or cooperative,
or electric power supplier or railroad.
_____(B) Telecommunications, cable communications or electric power
grounding or any other equipment or materials used in the delivery
of electricity, wire, fiber insulator, power supply transformer,
ground wire or other apparatus, equipment or fixture used in the
transmission of telecommunications, cable communications or
electric power owned or operated by a telecommunications, cable or
electric power company or cooperative or electric power supplier or
railroad.
_____(C) Equipment used in the transmission or wireless
communications or related to wireless communications.
_____(D) Equipment used at any facility of over the air broadcast companies.
_____(E) Railroad materials and lading, including, but not limited
to, any rail telecommunications, cable communications, power and
signal equipment and wires, road or rail crossing signals,
equipment and wires, metal property lading being transported by a
railroad, and any railroad tracks and other operating materials,
including switch component, spike, angle bar, tie plate or bolt of
the type used in constructing railroads.
_____(F) A copper, aluminum, or aluminum-copper condensing or
evaporating coil, including its tubing or rods, from a heating or
air conditioning unit, excluding scrap from window air conditioning
units and automobile condenser coils, unless any one of the
following criteria are satisfied:
_____(i) The condenser coils are being sold by a licensed
contractor, HVAC contractor, plumber, or electrician and a current
and valid license is provided and copied or scanned by the
secondary metals recycler at the time of sale.
_____(ii) The condenser coils are being sold by a person with
verifiable documentation, indicating that the condenser coils are
the result of a replacement of an air conditioner unit or condenser
coils performed by a licensed contractor.
_____(G) Utility access covers, manhole covers, or storm drain
covers, unless the seller is a company that deals in the
manufacture or sale of the aforementioned products.
§61-3F-3. Entry of a coal mine or other industrial facility;
_penalties.
_Notwithstanding the provision of section three, article
three-b of this chapter any person who knowingly and without
approved access, invitation or license who enters or remains on a
coal mine or other industrial facility is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than $500 nor more
than $1,000 and may be required to perform twenty hours in a
community corrections program for the first and each subsequent
offense. In the event a community corrections program is not
available a comparable remedy may be assigned.
§61-3F-4. Removal, injury to and destruction of property; ___
penalties.
_If any person removes, destroys, injures or defaces or causes
to be removed, destroyed, injured or defaced any real or personal
property belonging to a coal mine or other industrial facility, he
or she shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be
confined to a correctional facility not less than one nor more than
three years and fined not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000,
plus the value of full replacement or repair of the property. Upon
release from confinement the person is required to perform a
minimum of one hundred hours in a community corrections program. If
no community corrections program is available a comparable remedy may be assigned.
§61-3F-5. Prosecution under other statutes not prohibited.
_This article does not prevent or preclude prosecution pursuant
to any other provision of this code.
_NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for protection
against property crimes committed against coal mines and other
industrial facilities. The bill makes legislative findings. The
bill defines terms. The bill provides for additional criminal
penalties for trespass at a coal mine or industrial facility. The
bill provides for criminal penalties and restitution for the
removal, destruction, injury or defacement of real or personal
property belonging to a coal mine or industrial facility. The bill
provides that prosecution for other crimes is not precluded.
This article is new; therefore, it has been completely
underscored.