H. B. 4718
(By Delegates Blair, Overington, Faircloth,
Duke, Trump, Tabb and Manuel)
[Introduced
February 27, 2004
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §20-7-25 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to establishing a three-year pilot
project in Berkeley County creating a volunteer litter
reporting program.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-7-25 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. LAW ENFORCEMENT, MOTORBOATING, LITTER.
§20-7-25. West Virginia litter control and recycling programs;
additional duties of director; grants to counties and
municipalities; and regulations relating thereto.
(a) In addition to all other powers, duties and
responsibilities granted and assigned to the director of the
department of natural resources in this chapter and elsewhere by
law, the director, in the administration of the West Virginia
litter control program created by this section, shall:
(1) Coordinate all industry and business organizations seeking
to aid in the litter control and recycling effort;
(2) Cooperate with all local governments to accomplish
coordination of local litter control and recycling efforts;
(3) Encourage, organize, coordinate and increase public
awareness of and participation in all voluntary litter control and
recycling campaigns, including citizen litter watch programs,
seeking to focus the attention of the public on the litter control
and recycling programs of the state and local governments and of
private recycling centers;
(4) Encourage, organize, coordinate and increase public
awareness of, and participation in, a volunteer litter reporting
program to be undertaken in Berkeley County as a pilot project for
a period of three years. The director shall assist the county
commission and the county sheriff in establishing the program,
which shall utilize trained volunteers to report and collect
information necessary to enable the county sheriff to issue
citations to persons violating the litter laws of this state. The
scope of duty of a volunteer participating in the litter reporting
program includes: Reporting the motor vehicle registration plate
number, the date, time and location of a person observed littering;
collecting other evidence as may be requested by the county
sheriff, including taking photographs of a litter site; providing
testimony in court proceedings as to litter violations observed or evidence collected by the volunteer; and providing other assistance
in litter enforcement as may be requested by the county sheriff,
except that in no event may a volunteer participate in the direct
apprehension or arrest of a litter violator. The county sheriff,
with the assistance of the law-enforcement section of the division
of natural resources, shall provide a training course for
volunteers to instruct them in proper reporting procedures and the
collection of evidence, and shall provide reporting forms for
volunteers to record their observations of litter violations.
Upon
completion of the course and approval from the county sheriff, a
volunteer may begin participation in the program. All volunteer
participants in the program shall be provided liability insurance
coverage, to be paid by the director from the litter control fund
established in section twenty-six of this article.
Volunteers
participating in the program are responsible for providing their
own vehicles, gasoline, cameras, cell phones and other items they
may use while participating in the program, and are responsible for
other incidental expenses they may incur in the course of
participating in the program, except as otherwise provided in this
section. The commissioner of the division of highways shall cause
appropriate signs to be placed along primary and secondary highways
in Berkeley County to inform motorists of the volunteer litter
reporting program;
(4) (5) Recommend to local governing bodies that they adopt ordinances similar to the provisions of section twenty-six of this
article;
(5) (6) Investigate the methods and success of techniques of
litter control, removal and disposal utilized in other states, and
develop, encourage, organize and coordinate local litter control
programs funded by grants awarded pursuant to subsection (b) of
this section utilizing such successful techniques;
(6) (7) Investigate the availability of, and apply for, funds
available from any and all private or public sources to be used in
the litter control program created by this section;
(7) (8) Promulgate regulations pursuant to article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code establishing criteria for the
awarding of direct and/or matching grants for the study of
available research and development in the fields of litter control,
removal and disposal, methods for the implementation of such
research and development, and the development of public educational
programs concerning litter control;
(8) (9) Promulgate regulations pursuant to article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code designating public areas where
litter receptacles shall be placed in accordance with subsection
(d), section twenty-six of this article. The director is further
authorized to specify within such regulations the minimum number of
litter receptacles required to be placed at each designated public
area;
(9) (10) Attract to the state persons or industries that
purchase, process or use recyclable materials; and
(10) (11) Contract for the development, production and
broadcast of radio and television messages promoting the West
Virginia litter control program. The messages should increase
public awareness of and promote citizen responsibility toward the
reduction of litter. The director shall undertake the activities
authorized in this subdivision no later than the fifteenth day of
September, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight.
(b) Commencing on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred eighty-six, the director shall expend annually at least
fifty percent of the moneys credited to the "litter control fund"
in the previous fiscal year for matching grants to counties and
municipalities for the initiation and administration of litter
control programs. The director may promulgate regulations pursuant
to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code establishing
criteria for the awarding of matching grants.
(c) The director of the department of natural resources in
cooperation with the commissioner of highways, the department of
commerce, the department of public safety West Virginia state
police, the United States forestry service, and other local, state
and federal law-enforcement agencies, shall be responsible for the
administration and enforcement of all laws and regulations relating
to the maintenance of cleanliness and improvement of appearances on and along highways, roads, streets, alleys and any other private or
public areas of the state and these other agencies shall make
recommendations to the director from time to time concerning means
and methods of accomplishing litter control consistent with the
provisions of this chapter. Such cooperation shall include, but
not be limited to, contracts with the commissioner of highways to
operate the litter control program.
(d) All other state agencies and local governments shall
cooperate with the director in effecting the purposes of the litter
control program.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a three-year
pilot project in Berkeley County creating a volunteer litter
reporting program.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.