Senate Bill No. 553
(By Senators McCabe, Caruth, Bowman, Jenkins, Unger, Plymale and
Foster)
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[Introduced February 4, 2008; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §5A-6A-1, §5A-6A-2,
§5A-6A-3, §5A-6A-4, §5A-6A-5, §5A-6A-6, §5A-6A-7, §5A-6A-8,
§5A-6A-9 and §5A-6A-10, all relating to legislative findings;
definitions; creating position of Permitting Information
Ombudsman; authority of Permitting Information Ombudsman; duty
of agencies to provide permitting information; agencies
providing newly adopted, revised or terminated permitting
information to ombudsman; provision for failure to provide
permitting information to Permitting Information Ombudsman;
reporting of status of permitting information repository to
Legislature and Governor; promulgation of rules; and
severability.
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 §5A-6A-1, §5A-6A-2,
§5A-6A-3, §5A-6A-4, §5A-6A-5, §5A-6A-6, §5A-6A-7, §5A-6A-8,
§5A-6A-9 and §5A-6A-10, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6A. PERMITTING INFORMATION ACT.
§5A-6A-1. Short title.
Short title. -- This article may be known and cited as the
"Permitting Information Act."
§5A-6A-2. Legislative findings.
(a) The Legislature finds that persons conducting various
business activities in this state are required to obtain permits
and licenses from agencies that regulate those activities.
(b) The Legislature further finds that the efficiency of the
permitting process is an integral component of effective
government, business development and public participation.
(c) The Legislature further finds that it is the public policy
of the State of West Virginia that the process of permitting of
various activities should be efficient and streamlined.
(d) The Legislature further finds that communication and
coordination among permitting and other agencies, applicants and
the public is essential to the efficiency of the permitting
process.
§5A-6A-3. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article, the following words have the meaning assigned unless the context indicates otherwise:
(1) "Agency" means any board, department, division, authority,
commission or any other public entity that requires a permit to
perform an activity.
(2) "Permit" means any permit, license, authorization,
certification, registration or other approval required to perform
an activity.
§5A-6A-4. Creation of permitting information ombudsman function;
authority of permitting information ombudsman.
The Legislature hereby creates the function of permitting
information ombudsman in the Governor's Office of Technology for
the purpose of facilitating the dissemination of information
regarding the state's permits, who shall have authority as follows:
(1) To establish a central information repository and to
require each agency to fully cooperate in providing information
relating to the types and purposes of all permits issued;
(2) To determine the information that each agency must submit
in order to provide adequate information to the public regarding
the types of permits needed for a particular activity;
(3) To require local agencies, including regional, county and
municipal public entities to fully cooperate in providing
information relating to the types and purposes of all permits
issued; and
(4) To work toward the creation of an online permitting e-government solution by making recommendations on and monitoring
the functionality of the central information repository to ensure
its accessibility and reliability for use by government agencies
and the public.
§5A-6A-5. Duty of agencies to provide permitting information;
development of permitting information repository.
(a) On or before the first day of October, two thousand eight,
every agency that issues any permit shall identify itself to the
permitting information ombudsman and shall identify the types of
permits the agency issues.
(b) On or before the first day of December, two thousand
eight, the permitting information ombudsman shall establish and
provide to agencies that issue permits the procedures and methods
for submission of required permitting information for the
permitting information repository.
(c) On or before the first day of February, two thousand nine,
every agency that issues permits shall submit the required
permitting information in accordance with the procedures and
methods established by the permitting information ombudsman in
subsection (b).
(d) On or before the first day of July, two thousand nine, the
permitting information ombudsman will create an Internet-based,
publicly accessible permitting information repository that contains
a comprehensive detailed listing of the types of permits, the purposes of the permits, and the agencies responsible for issuance
of permits, including agency contact information. The permitting
information repository shall allow individuals to obtain a listing
of the types of permits required for specific regulated activities.
(e) On or before the first day of July, two thousand nine, the
permitting information ombudsman will make recommendation to the
Governor's Office of Technology as to steps needed to assure that
the public can readily access from the central information
repository, such Web site or Web sites as may be needed to make
application for appropriate permits and related governmental
certifications or approvals.
§5A-6A-6. Provision of newly adopted, revised, or terminated
permitting information to permitting information
ombudsman.
Each agency subject to this article is required to provide to
the permitting information ombudsman current information relating
to any permit no later than thirty days prior to the effective date
of implementation, revision, or termination of any permitting
requirement.
§5A-6A-7. Failure to provide permitting information to permitting
information ombudsman.
At the recommendation of the permitting information ombudsman,
the Governor's Office of Technology may assess to any agency the
costs of obtaining and preparing permitting information from an agency that fails to provide such information to the permitting
information ombudsman or otherwise fails to cooperate with the
permitting information ombudsman in a timely manner. Any agency
assessed costs under this section shall pay such costs in a timely
manner.
§5A-6A-8. Reporting of status of permitting information repository
to Legislature and Governor.
No later than the thirtieth day of December of each calendar
year, the permitting information ombudsman shall report to the
Legislature and the Governor the status of the permitting
information repository, and shall identify any agency that has
failed to comply with the requirements of this article.
§5A-6A-9. Promulgation of rules.
Pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code,
the permitting information ombudsman may propose rules for
legislative approval to effectuate the purpose and provisions of
this article.
§5A-6A-10. Severability.
If any provision of this article, or the application thereof
to any provision or circumstance, shall be held unconstitutional or
otherwise invalid, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not
affect the provisions or application of this article which can be
given effect without the unconstitutional or invalid provisions of
application, and to this end the provisions of this article are declared to be severable.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the permitting
information ombudsman in the Governor's Office of Technology; to
establish the ombudsman's authority; establishing the duty of
agencies to provider permitting information; development of
permitting information repository available to the public;
providing procedures for an agency's failure to provide permitting
information; the reporting of status of the permitting information
repository to the Legislature and the Governor; and allowing for
the promulgation of rules by the permitting information ombudsman.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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