H. B. 4242
(By Delegates Tabb, Wysong, Trump, Overington,
Doyle, Blair, Roberts and Duke)
[Introduced January 30, 2006; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §22C-4-23a; and to
amend and reenact §24A-2-5 of said code, all relating to
allowing certain county or regional solid waste authorities in
growth areas to designate carriers of solid waste exempt from
obtaining a certificate of convenience and necessity.
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 section, designated §22-4-23a; and that
§24A-2-5 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 22C. ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES; BOARDS,
AUTHORITIES, COMMISSIONS AND COMPACTS.
ARTICLE 4. COUNTY AND REGIONAL SOLID WASTE AUTHORITIES.
§22C-4-23a. Providing for additional waste haulers in certain growth areas.
(a) The Legislature finds that certain populous counties that
have experienced rapid population growth may, nonetheless, be
served by only one or two common carriers that have certificates of
convenience and necessity from the Public Service Commission
authorizing these carriers to provide solid waste collection and
hauling services. In such counties, solid waste planning for the
effective collection, recycling and disposal of solid waste can be
enhanced by the introduction of additional common carriers to
service the area. However, the requirement that any new carrier
first obtain a certificate of convenience and necessity from the
Public Service Commission causes significant delay and uncertainty,
impeding the ability of the local solid waste authorities to
effectively plan and provide for the rapidly increasing solid waste
burdens imposed upon such counties. The Legislature therefore
finds that the local solid waste authorities in such counties
should be given limited authority to designate one or more common
carriers as exempt from the requirement for a certificate of
convenience and necessity.
(b) Notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the
contrary, a county or regional solid waste authority may designate
a common carrier as exempt from obtaining a certificate of
convenience and necessity from the Public Service Commission for
the operation of motor vehicles for the collection or transportation of solid waste; including, but not limited to,
commercial waste, residential waste, construction waste, demolition
waste or recyclable materials that are generated within the county
or region by residential, commercial, industrial, or institutional
sources if the following conditions exist:
(1) The population of the county has increased by fifteen
percent or more between the 1990 and the 2000 decennial censuses
conducted by the Bureau of the Census of the United States
Department of Commerce;
(2) The population of the county exceeded thirty-thousand
persons at the time of the 2000 decennial census; and
(3) The county, on January 1, 2006, is served by fewer than
three common carriers by motor vehicles authorized to carry solid
waste by certificates of convenience and necessity issued by the
Public Service Commission.
(c) No county or regional solid waste authority may designate
any motor carrier as exempt unless it determines that the above
conditions have been met, and that granting an exemption meets one
or more of the following criteria:
(1) Improvement of the dependability, quality or value of
solid waste collection or recycling services available to the
county or region;
(2) Enhancement of the disposal, recycling or composting
capacity available to the county or region;
(3) Enhancement of economic development in the county or
region; or
(4) Facilitation of the development of the solid waste
infrastructure in the county or region.
(d) Any applicant for an exemption shall establish to the
satisfaction of the county or regional solid waste authority that
it has the financial resources and the ability to provide the
services proposed in its application. An applicant for an
exemption shall be provided with written notice and a reasonable
opportunity to make written and oral submissions to the county or
regional solid waste authority prior to any decision on whether to
grant, deny or revoke an exemption. When granting an exemption,
the county or regional solid waste authority may impose reasonable
conditions not inconsistent with the criteria set forth above.
Prior to granting, denying, transferring or revoking an exemption,
a public hearing shall be conducted by the county or regional solid
waste authority to afford interested persons a reasonable
opportunity to submit written or oral comments.
Notice of the public hearing shall be given a minimum of
thirty days in advance of the said hearing and shall be in the form
of a Class II legal advertisement placed in the newspaper serving
the county with the largest circulation. The county or regional
solid waste authority shall consider written comments for a period
not to exceed 10 days beyond the date of the public hearing.
(e) Any exemption granted shall be effective until revoked or
abandoned. With the exception of the requirement that it obtain a
certificate of convenience and necessity, an exempt carrier shall
be subject to all statutes, rules, regulations and other
requirements applicable to common carriers of solid waste, and
shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Service
Commission for such purposes. Upon finding that a carrier has
violated any of the above conditions or other requirements imposed
upon it by the county or regional solid waste authority or by law,
or for other good cause, the county or regional solid waste
authority may revoke any exemption previously granted.
(f) A copy of the county or regional solid waste authority's
decision granting, denying, transferring or revoking an exemption
shall be supplied to the Motor Carrier Division of the Public
Service Commission along with a notarized statement by the county
or regional solid waste authority's chairperson or secretary that
the copy accurately represents the action taken.
(g)No exemption granted under this section may be assigned or
transferred without the written approval of the county or regional
waste authority.
CHAPTER 24A. COMMERCIAL MOTOR CARRIERS.
ARTICLE 2. COMMON CARRIERS BY MOTOR VEHICLES.
§24A-2-5. Certificate of convenience and necessity.
(a)
Required; application; hearing; granting. -- It shall be unlawful for any common carrier by motor vehicle to operate within
this state without first having obtained from the commission a
certificate of convenience and necessity:
Provided, That a county
or regional solid waste authority may grant an exemption to this
requirement pursuant to §22C-4-23a of this code. Upon the filing
of an application for such certificate, the commission shall set a
time and place for a hearing on the application:
Provided,
however, That the commission may, after giving proper notice and if
no protest is received, waive formal hearing on the application.
Notice shall be by publication which shall state that a formal
hearing may be waived in the absence of a protest to such
application. The notice shall be published as a Class I legal
advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three,
chapter fifty-nine of this code and the publication area for such
publication shall be the proposed area of operation. The notice
shall be published at least ten days prior to the date of the
hearing. After the hearing or waiver by the commission of the
hearing, if the commission finds from the evidence that the public
convenience and necessity require the proposed service or any part
thereof, it shall issue the certificate as prayed for, or issue it
for the partial exercise only of the privilege sought, and may
attach to the exercise of the right granted by such certificate
such terms and conditions as in its judgment the public convenience
and necessity may require, and if the commission shall be of the opinion that the service rendered by any common carrier holding a
certificate of convenience and necessity over any route or routes
in this state is in any respect inadequate or insufficient to meet
the public needs, such certificate holder shall be given reasonable
time and opportunity to remedy such inadequacy or insufficiency
before any certificate shall be granted to an applicant proposing
to operate over such route or routes as a common carrier. Before
granting a certificate to a common carrier by motor vehicle the
commission shall take into consideration existing transportation
facilities in the territory for which a certificate is sought, and
in case it finds from the evidence that the service furnished by
existing transportation facilities is reasonably efficient and
adequate, the commission shall not grant such certificate.
(b)
Rules and regulations; taking evidence at hearings; burden
of proof. -- The commission shall prescribe such rules
and
regulations as it may deem proper for the enforcement of the
provisions of this section and in establishing that public
convenience and necessity do exist the burden of proof shall be
upon the applicant. The commission may designate any of its
employees to take evidence at the hearing of any application for a
certificate and submit findings of fact as a part of a report or
reports to be made to the commission.
(c)
Certificate not franchise, etc.; assignment or transfer.
-- No certificate issued in accordance with the terms of this chapter shall be construed to be either a franchise or irrevocable
or to confer any proprietary or property rights in the use of the
public highways. No certificate issued under this chapter shall be
assigned or otherwise transferred without the approval of the
commission. Upon the death of a person holding a certificate, his
or her personal representative or representatives may operate under
such certificate while the same remains in force and effect and,
with the consent of the commission, may transfer such certificate.
(d)
Suspension, revocation or amendment. -- The commission may
at any time, for good cause, suspend and, upon not less than
fifteen days' notice to the grantee of any certificate and an
opportunity to be heard, revoke or amend any certificate.
(e) The commission shall have the authority, after hearing, to
ratify, approve and affirm those orders issued pursuant to this
section since the tenth day of March, nineteen hundred
seventy-nine. For the purposes of this subsection the commission
may give notice by a Class I legal advertisement of such hearing in
any newspaper or newspapers of general circulation in this state,
and such other newspapers as the commission may designate.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow certain county or
regional solid waste authorities in growth areas to designate
carriers of solid waste exempt from obtaining a certificate of
convenience and necessity.
§22C-4-23a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.