H. B. 2058
(By Delegate Givens)
[Introduced January 13, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article twenty-one-a,
chapter nineteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
agriculture; soil conservation districts; the state soil
conservation committee; and authorizing systematic stream
maintenance.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article twenty-one-a, chapter nineteen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 21A. SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS.
§19-21A-4. State soil conservation committee; continuation.
(a) The state soil conservation committee is continued. It
is to serve as an agency of the state and to perform the functions conferred upon it in this article. The committee shall
consist of seven members. The following shall serve, ex officio,
as members of the committee: The director of the state
cooperative extension service; the director of the state
agricultural experiment station; the director of the division of
environmental protection; and the state commissioner of
agriculture, who shall be chairman of the committee.
The governor shall appoint as additional members of the
committee three representative citizens. The term of members
thus appointed shall be four years, except that of the first
members so appointed, one shall be appointed for a term of two
years, one for a term of three years, and one for a term of four
years. In the event of a vacancy, appointment shall be for the
unexpired term.
The committee may invite the secretary of agriculture of the
United States of America to appoint one person to serve with the
committee as an advisory member.
The committee shall keep a record of its official actions,
shall adopt a seal, which seal shall be judicially noticed, and
may perform such any acts, hold such any public hearings and
promulgate such any rules as may be necessary for the execution
of its functions under this article.
(b) The state soil conservation committee may employ an
administrative officer and such technical experts and such other agents and employees, permanent and temporary, as it may require,
and shall determine their qualifications, duties and
compensation. The committee may call upon the attorney general
of the state for such legal services as it may require. It shall
have authority to delegate to its chairman, to one or more of its
members, or to one or more agents or employees, such the powers
and duties as it may deem consider proper. The committee is
empowered to secure necessary and suitable office accommodations,
and the necessary supplies and equipment. Upon request of the
committee, for the purpose of carrying out any of its functions,
the supervising officer of any state agency, or of any state
institution of learning shall, insofar as may be possible, under
available appropriations, and having due regard to the needs of
the agency to which the request is directed, assign or detail to
the committee, members of the staff or personnel of such the
agency or institution of learning, and make such special reports,
surveys or studies as the committee may request.
(c) A member of the committee shall hold office so long as
he or she shall retain the office by virtue of which he or she
shall be serving on the committee. A majority of the committee
shall constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of a majority in
any matter within their duties shall be required for its
determination. The chairman and members of the committee shall
receive no compensation for their services on the committee, but shall be entitled to expenses, including traveling expenses,
necessarily incurred in the discharge of their duties on the
committee. The committee shall provide for the execution of
surety bonds for all employees and officers who shall be
entrusted with funds or property; shall provide for the keeping
of a full and accurate public record of all proceedings and of
all resolutions, rules and orders issued or adopted; and shall
provide for an annual audit of the accounts of receipts and
disbursements.
(d) In addition to the duties and powers hereinafter
conferred upon the state soil conservation committee, it shall
have the following duties and powers:
(1) To offer such any assistance as may be appropriate to
the supervisors of soil conservation districts, organized as
provided hereinafter in this section, in the carrying out of any
of their powers and programs;
(2) To keep the supervisors of each of the several
districts, organized under the provisions of this article,
informed of the activities and experience of all other districts
organized hereunder under this article, and to facilitate an
interchange of advice and experience between such the districts
and cooperation between them;
(3) To coordinate the programs of the several soil
conservation districts organized hereunder under this article so far as this may be done by advice and consultation;
(4) To secure the cooperation and assistance of the United
States and any of its agencies, and of agencies of this state, in
the work of such the districts;
(5) To disseminate information throughout the state
concerning the activities and programs of the soil conservation
districts organized hereunder under this article, and to
encourage the formation of such the districts in areas where
their organization is desirable;
(6) To accept and receive donations, gifts, contributions,
grants and appropriations in money, services, materials or
otherwise, from the United States or any of its agencies, from
the state of West Virginia, or from other sources, and to use or
expend such money, services, materials or other contributions in
carrying out the policy and provisions of this article, including
the right to allocate such the money, services or materials in
part to the various soil conservation districts created by this
article in order to assist them in carrying on their operations,
which shall include a line item special funding program of
systematic stream maintenance to prevent flooding and stream bank
erosion from encroaching on works of improvement and valuable
land; and
(7) To obtain options upon and to acquire by purchase,
exchange, lease, gift, grant, bequest, devise or otherwise, any property, real or personal, or rights or interests therein; to
maintain, administer, operate and improve any properties
acquired, to receive and retain income from such the property and
to expend such the income as required for operation, maintenance,
administration or improvement of such the properties or in
otherwise carrying out the purposes and provisions of this
article; and to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of any of its
property or interests therein in the property in furtherance of
the purposes and the provisions of this article. Money received
from the sale of land acquired in the small watershed program
shall be deposited in the special account of the state soil
conservation committee and expended as herein provided.
After having conducted a performance audit through its joint
committee on government operations, pursuant to article ten,
chapter four of this code, the Legislature hereby finds and
declares that the state soil conservation committee should be
continued and reestablished. Accordingly, pursuant to the
provisions of section five of said article, the state soil
conservation committee shall continue to exist until the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine two thousand.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the state
soil conservation committee to develop a program of stream
maintenance.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
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