H. B. 2746
(By Delegates Beane, Douglas,
Staton and Johnson)
[Introduced February 12, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then Government Organization.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections five, six, twelve and
sixteen, article seventeen, chapter twenty-two of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, all relating to incorporating federal updates to
the underground storage tank act and providing subrogation
authority to the director of the division of environmental
protection; and proposal of rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections five, six, twelve and sixteen, article
seventeen, chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 17. UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK ACT.
§22-17-5. Powers and duties of director; integration with other
acts.
(a) In addition to all other powers and duties prescribed in this article or otherwise by law, and unless otherwise
specifically set forth in this article, the director shall
perform any and all acts necessary to carry out the purposes and
requirements of Subtitle I.
(b) The director shall cooperate with and may receive and
expend money from the federal government or other source.
(c) The director may accept applications for and issue
policies of insurance to owners or operators of petroleum
underground storage tanks that are subscribers to the underground
storage tank insurance fund and may accept, review, pay and
settle claims pursuant to those policies of insurance under such
terms as the director may establish by rule proposed for
legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article
three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
(c) (d) The director may enter into any agreements,
including reimbursement
or subrogation agreements, for services
rendered contracts and cooperative arrangements under such terms
and conditions as he or she deems appropriate, with other state
agencies, educational institutions or other organizations and
individuals as necessary to implement the provisions of this
article.
(e) The director may take such actions as are necessary and
appropriate to carry out and enforce any agreements, contracts or
cooperative arrangements entered into as provided in subsection (d) of this section, including the institution and prosecution of
suits in any state or federal court or administrative tribunal,
whether in the director's name or in the name of an insured or a
subrogor.
§22-17-6. Promulgation of rules and standards by director.
(a) The director has overall responsibility for the
promulgation of rules under this article. In promulgating and
revising such rules the director shall comply with the provisions
of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. Such rules shall be no
more stringent than the rules and regulations promulgated by the
United States environmental protection agency pursuant to
Subtitle I.
(b) The director shall promulgate rules applicable to owners
or operators of underground storage tanks or other affected
persons, as appropriate, as follows:
(1) A requirement for a yearly registration fee for
underground storage tanks;
(2) A requirement that an owner or operator register with
the director each underground storage tank after the effective
date of the rules and that an owner or operator report annually
on changes in status of any underground storage tank;
(3) Such release detection, prevention and correction rules
applicable to underground storage tanks as may be necessary to
protect human health and the environment;
(4) Requirements for maintaining a leak detection system,
inventory control systems together with tank testing, or a
comparable system or method designed to identify releases from
underground storage tanks in a manner consistent with the
protection of human health and the environment;
(5) Requirements for maintaining records of any monitoring
or leak detection system or inventory control system or tank
testing system;
(6) Rules for procedures and amount of fees to be assessed
for the underground storage tank administrative fund, the leaking
underground storage tank response fund and the underground
storage tank insurance fund established pursuant to this article,
which shall include a capitalization fee to be assessed against
all owners or operators of underground tanks to be used for
initial establishment of the underground storage tank insurance
fund;
(7) Procedures for making expenditures from the underground
storage tank administrative fund, the leaking underground storage
tank response fund and the underground storage tank insurance
fund;
(8) Acceptable methods by which an owner or operator may
demonstrate financial responsibility;
(9) Requirements for reporting of releases and corrective
action taken in response to a release;
(10) Requirements for taking corrective action in response
to a release from an underground storage tank;
(11) Requirements for the closure of tanks to prevent future
releases of regulated substances to the environment;
(12) Requirements for certification of installation,
removal, retrofit, testing and inspection of underground storage
tanks and leak detection systems by a registered professional
engineer or other qualified person;
(13) Requirements for public participation in the
enforcement of the state underground storage tank program;
(14) Procedures establishing when and how the director
determines if information obtained by any agency under this
article is confidential;
(15) Standards of performance for new underground storage
tanks;
or
(16) Procedures for the review, acceptance, settlements and
payments of claims under policies issued by the director pursuant
to subsection (c) of section five of this article; or
(16) (17) Any other rules or standards necessary and
appropriate for the effective implementation and administration
of this article.
§22-17-12. Confidentiality.
(a) Any records, reports or information obtained from any
persons under this article shall be available to the public, except that upon a showing satisfactory to the director by any
person that records, reports or information, or a particular part
thereof, to which the director or any officer, employee, or
representative thereof has access under this section, if made
public, would divulge information entitled to protection under
section 1905 of title 18 of the United States Code, such
information or particular portion thereof is confidential in
accordance with the purposes of this section, except that such
record, report, document or information may be disclosed to other
officers, employees, or authorized representatives
of the United
States environmental protection agency or of this state
if such
officers, employees or authorized representatives are
implementing the provisions of this article.
(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully divulges or
discloses any information entitled to protection under this
section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned
in the county jail for not more than one year, or both fined and
imprisoned.
(c) In submitting data under this article, a person required
to provide such data may designate the data which he or she
believes is entitled to protection under this section and submit
such designated data separately from other data submitted under
this article. A designation under this subsection shall be made in writing and in such manner as the director may prescribe.
§22-17-16. Civil penalties.
(a) Any violator who fails to comply with an order of the
director issued under subsection (a), section fifteen of this
article within the time specified in the order is liable for a
civil penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars for
each day of continued noncompliance.
(b) Any owner who knowingly:
(1) Fails to register; or
knowingly (2) submits false information pursuant to this article
is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars
for each tank which is not registered or for which false
information is submitted.
(c) Any owner or operator of an underground storage tank who
fails to comply with any requirement or standard promulgated by
the director under section six of this article is subject to a
civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars for each tank
for each day of violation.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to incorporate federal
updates to the Underground Storage Tank Act and to provide
subrogation authority to the Director of the Division of
Environmental Protection.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
