WEST virginia legislature

2022 regular session

ENROLLED

House Bill 4827

By Delegates Howell, Riley, B. Ward and Hamrick

[Passed March 12, 2022; in effect from passage.]

AN ACT to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §5B-2K-1, §5B-2K-2, §5B-2K-3, §5B-2K-4 and §5B-2K-5, and §5B-2K-6, all relating to the promotion of the development of public-use vertiports; establishing policy of state; defining “vertiport”; providing for applicability of article; establishing requirements for vertiport design and performance characteristics and vertiport layout plans; prohibiting political subdivisions from exercising zoning and land use authority to grant or permit exclusive rights to vertiport owners or operators; requiring political subdivisions to use zoning and land use authority to promote reasonable access to advanced air mobility operators and public vertiports within their jurisdiction; providing for harmonization of article with federal law.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

CHAPTER 5B. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1985.

ARTICLE 2K. PROMOTING PUBLIC-USE vERTIPORTS ACT.

§5B-2K-1. Policy.

lt is the policy of this state to promote the development of a network of vertiports that will provide equitable access to citizens of this state who may benefit from advanced air mobility operations for cargo and passenger service, and to avoid any vertiport monopolization or discrimination, by: (i) Funding the planning for and construction of public-use vertiports, with any funding appropriated by the Legislature; (ii) encouraging local zoning and other land use authorities to ensure an adequate number and a varied location of vertiports to serve citizens throughout the state; and (iii) promoting competition and equity of access by prohibiting the grant of an exclusive right to one or more vertiport owners and operators or to vertiport operators at one or more vertiports.

§5B-2K-2. Definitions.

For purposes of this article, “vertiport” means infrastructure or a system with supporting services and equipment intended for landing, ground-handling, and take-off of manned or unmanned vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft.

§5B-2K-3. Applicability.

This article applies to any vertiport that is available for public use by any advanced air mobility operator authorized by the U.S. Department of Transportation or Federal Aviation Administration to engage in passenger and/or cargo services in scheduled or non-scheduled service in or affecting interstate commerce.

§5B-2K-4. Vertiport safety.

(a) Vertiport Design. – Each vertiport subject to this article shall comply with any Federal Aviation Administration published rule or advisory circular containing standards for vertiport design and performance characteristics.

(b) Vertiport Layout Plan. – Each vertiport subject to this article shall submit a vertiport layout plan to the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in the form and manner determined by the administrator, and no operations may be conducted at the vertiport until such layout plan is approved.

§5B-2K-5. Exclusionary and discriminatory zoning prohibited.

A political subdivision of this state shall not exercise its zoning and land use authority to grant or permit an exclusive right to one or more vertiport owners or operators and shall use such authority to promote reasonable access to advanced air mobility operators at public-use vertiports within the jurisdiction of the subdivision.

§5B-2K-6. Harmonization.

The provisions of this article are intended to supplement any provision of federal law pertaining to the design, construction, operations, or maintenance of a vertiport designed or constructed with a grant under 49 U.S.C. § 47101 et seq., and any provision of this article found in conflict with or otherwise preempted by federal law shall be null and void, without invalidating any other provision of this article.

The Joint Committee on Enrolled Bills hereby certifies that the foregoing bill is correctly enrolled.

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        Chairman, House Committee

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                             Chairman, Senate Committee

Originating in the House.

In effect from passage.

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                  Clerk of the House of Delegates

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                                                  Clerk of the Senate

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                                                   Speaker of the House of Delegates

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                                                                                     President of the Senate

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      The within ................................................... this the...........................................

day of ..........................................................................................................., 2022.

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                                                                                                Governor