H. B. 2367
(By Delegates Iaquinta, Talbott, Martin,
Fragale, Barker and Miley)
[Introduced January 19, 2007; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §22-15A-10 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to permitting the
Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection
to
remediate any waste tire pile consisting of twenty-five tires
or more.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §22-15A-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15A. THE A. JAMES MANCHIN REHABILITATION ENVIRONMENTAL
ACTION PLAN.
§22-15A-10. Department to administer funds for waste tire
remediation; rules authorized; duties of Secretary.
(a) The Department shall administer all funds made available
to the Department by legislative appropriation or by funds made
available by the Division of Highways, as well as federal, state or private grants for remediation of waste tire piles and for the
proper disposal of waste tires removed from waste tire piles.
(b) All authority to promulgate legislative rules necessary to
implement the provisions of this article is hereby transferred from
the Division of Highways to the Secretary of the Department of
Environmental Protection as of the effective date of enactment of
this section and article during the two thousand five session of
the Legislature. Any legislative rules promulgated by the
Commissioner of the Division of Highways in furtherance of the
waste tire remediation program established in former article
twenty-four, chapter seventeen of this code shall remain in force
and effect as if promulgated by the Secretary until they are
amended in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code.
(c) The Secretary also has the following powers:
(1) To apply and carry out the provisions of this article and
the rules promulgated under this article.
(2) To investigate, from time to time, the operation and
effect of this article and of the rules promulgated under this
article and to report his or her findings and recommendations to
the Legislature and the Governor.
(d) On or before the first day of July, two thousand six, the
Secretary shall determine the location, approximate size and
potential risk to the public of all waste tire piles in the state and establish, in descending order, a waste tire remediation list.
Provided, That the Secretary may remediate any waste tire pile
consisting of twenty-five tires or more, provided the removal
criteria meets all other requirements of this article.
(e) The Secretary may contract with the Department of Health
and Human Resources or the Division of Corrections, or both, to
remediate or assist in remediation of waste tire piles throughout
the state. Use of available Department of Health and Human
Resources and the Division of Corrections work programs shall be
given priority status in the contract process so long as such
programs prove a cost-effective method of remediating waste tire
piles.
(f) Waste tire remediation shall be stopped upon the discovery
of any potentially hazardous material at a remediation site. The
department shall respond to the discovery in accordance with the
provisions of article nineteen of this chapter.
(g) The Secretary may establish a tire disposal program within
the Department to provide for a cost effective and efficient method
to accept passenger car and light truck waste tires at locations
designated by the department that have sufficient space for
temporary storage of waste tires and personnel to accept and handle
waste tires. The Secretary may pay a fee for each tire an
individual West Virginia resident or West Virginia business brings
to the department. The Secretary may establish a limit on the number of tires an individual or business may be paid for during
any calendar month. The Secretary may in his or her discretion
authorize commercial businesses to participate in the collection
program: Provided, That no person or business who has a waste tire
pile subject to remediation under this article may participate in
this program.
(h) The Commissioner of the Division of Highways may pledge
not more than two and one-half million dollars annually of the
moneys appropriated, deposited or accrued in the A. James Manchin
Fund created by section nine of this article to the payment of debt
service, including the funding of reasonable reserves, on bonds
issued by the Water Development Authority pursuant to section
seventeen-a, article fifteen-a, chapter thirty-one of this code to
finance infrastructure projects relating to waste tire processing
facilities located in this state: Provided, That a waste tire
processing facility shall be determined by the Solid Waste
Management Board, established pursuant to the provisions of article
three, chapter twenty-two-c of this code, to meet all applicable
federal and state environmental laws and rules and to aid the state
in efforts to promote and encourage recycling and use of
constituent component parts of waste tires in an environmentally
sound manner: Provided, however, That the waste tire processing
facility shall have a capital cost of not less than three hundred
million dollars and the council for community and economic development shall determine that the waste tire processing facility
is a viable economic development project of benefit to the state's
economy.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit the Department of
Environmental Protection to remediate any waste tire pile in the
state consisting of twenty-five or more tires.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.