WEST virginia legislature
2019 regular session
ENGROSSED
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 2715
By Delegates Harshbarger, Worrell, McGeehan, Westfall, Miller, Swartzmiller, Kessinger, Cadle, Cooper and Brown, N.
By Request of the Division of Natural Resources
[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary, February 7, 2019.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §20-2-46e of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to Class Q special hunting permit for disabled persons; expanding the conditions of permanent disability for which an individual can obtain a Class Q permit; and providing that physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses may certify Class Q permit applications.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-46e. Class Q special hunting permit for disabled persons.
(a) A Class Q permit is a special statewide hunting permit entitling the permittee to hunt all legal species of game during the designated hunting seasons from a motor vehicle in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(b) A permit form shall
be furnished by the director to an applicant who meets the following
requirements The director shall furnish an application and a Class Q
permit will be issued to applicants who meet one of the following conditions of
permanent disability:
(1) He or she or she is
permanently disabled in the lower extremities; and Permanent or
irreversible physical disability that prevents ability to ambulate without use
of a wheelchair, walker, crutches, one leg brace or external prosthesis above
the knee, or two leg braces or external prostheses below the knees for
mobility.
(2) He holds a valid
resident or nonresident statewide hunting license, a senior citizens license or
is otherwise exempt from the license requirement Multiple conditions
that result in a minimum of 90% loss of use of a lower extremity.
(3) Lung disease to the extent that forced expiratory volume for one second when measured by spirometry is less than one liter or the arterial oxygen tension less than 60 millimeters of mercury on room air at rest.
(4) Cardiovascular disease to the extent that functional limitations are classified in severity as class 3 or 4, according to standards set by the American Heart Association and where ordinary physical activity causes palpitation, dyspnea or anginal pain.
(c) A licensed physician, physician
assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse chiropractic
physician must certify the applicant's
permanent disability by completing the permit form application. When
completed, the permit form constitutes a Class Q permit The Class Q permit and
a completed license application shall be submitted to the division, which
will issue a wallet sized card to the permittee. The card and all other
documents and identification required to be carried by this article shall be in
the permittee's possession when hunting
(d) A person with a Class Q permit may not hunt or trap under the provisions of this section unless he or she is in possession of the Class Q permit card, a valid hunting license issued pursuant to §20-2-1 et seq. of this code or is a person excepted from licensing requirements pursuant to §20-2-27 and §20-2-28 of this code, and all documents or other lawful authorizations as prescribed in §20-2-37 of this code.
(d) (e) A Class Q permit entitles the holder to
hunt from a motor vehicle and, notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision
(9), section five of this article §20-2-5 of this code, to possess a
loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, but only under the following circumstances:
(1) The motor vehicle is stationary;
(2) The engine of the motor vehicle is not operating;
(3) The permittee and one individual, who is at least 16 years of age, to assist the permittee are the only occupants of the vehicle;
(4) The individual assisting the permittee may not hunt with a firearm, bow, or cross-bow while assisting the permittee;
(5) The vehicle is not parked on the right-of-way of any public road or highway; and
(6) The permittee observes all other pertinent laws and regulations.
(e) (f) The director may propose rules for
legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of
this code setting forth the qualifications of applicants and the permitting
process.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to expand the conditions of permanent disability required for issuance of a Class Q permit.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.