HB 4091 Text

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4091

(By Delegates Martin, Michael, Border and Evans)

(Originating in the House Committee on Government Organization)

[January 26, 1994]

A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article thirteen, chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to continuation of the oil and gas inspectors' examining board; changing expense reimbursement for board members.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section three, article thirteen, chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 13. OIL AND GAS INSPECTORS' EXAMINING BOARD.

§ 22 - 13 - 3. Oil and gas inspectors' examining board created; composition; appointment, term and compensation of members; meetings; powers and duties generally; continuation following audit.

(a) There is hereby continued an oil and gas inspectors' examining board consisting of five members who, except for the public representative on such board, shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Members may be removed only for the same causes and like manner as elective state officers. One member of the board who shall be the representative of the public, shall be a professor in the petroleum engineering department of the school of mines at West Virginia University appointed by the dean of said school; two members shall be persons who by reason of previous training and experience may reasonably be said to represent the viewpoint of independent oil and gas operators; and two members shall be persons who by reason of previous training and experience may reasonably be said to represent the viewpoint of major oil and gas producers.

The director for the office of oil and gas shall be an ex officio member of the board and shall serve as secretary of the board without additional compensation, but he shall have no right to vote with respect to any matter before the board.
The members of the board, except the public representative, shall be appointed for overlapping terms of eight years, except that the original appointments shall be for terms of two, four, six and eight years, respectively. Any member whose term expires may be reappointed by the governor.
The board shall pay each member the same compensation and expense reimbursement as is paid to members of the Legislature for their interim duties as recommended by the citizens legislative compensation commission and authorized by law for each day or portion thereof engaged in the discharge of official duties ~~and shall reimburse each member for actual and necessary~~ ~~expenses incurred in the discharge of official duties~~.
The public member shall serve as chairman of the board.
Members of the board, before performing any duty, shall take and subscribe to the oath required by section five, article four of the constitution of West Virginia.
The board shall meet at such times and places as shall be designated by the chairman. It shall be the duty of the chairman to call a meeting of the board on the written request of two members, or on the written request of said director or the director of the division of environmental protection. Notice of each meeting shall be given in writing to each member by the secretary at least five days in advance of the meeting. Three voting members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
(b) In addition to other powers and duties expressly set forth elsewhere in this article, the board shall:
(1) Establish, and from time to time revise, forms of application for employment as an oil and gas inspector and supervising inspector and forms for written examinations to test the qualifications of candidates, with such distinctions, if any, in the forms for oil and gas inspector and supervising inspector as the board may from time to time deem necessary or advisable;
(2) Adopt and promulgate reasonable rules and regulations relating to the examination, qualification and certification of candidates for appointment, and relating to hearings for removal of inspectors or the supervising inspector, required to be held by this article. All of such rules and regulations shall be printed and a copy thereof furnished by the secretary of the board to any person upon request;
(3) Conduct, after public notice of the time and place thereof, examinations of candidates for appointment. By unanimous agreement of all members of the board, one or more members of the board or an employee of the division of environmental protection may be designated to give to a candidate the written portion of the examination;
(4) Prepare and certify to said director and the director of the division of environmental protection a register of qualified eligible candidates for appointment as oil and gas inspectors or as supervising inspectors, with such differentiation, if any, between the certification of candidates for oil and gas inspectors and for supervising inspectors as the board may from time to time deem necessary or advisable. The register shall list all qualified eligible candidates in the order of their grades, the candidate with the highest grade appearing at the top of the list. After each meeting of the board held to examine such candidates and at least annually, the board shall prepare and submit to said director and the director of the division of environmental protection a revised and corrected register of qualified eligible candidates for appointment, deleting from such revised register all persons: (a) Who are no longer residents of West Virginia; (b) who have allowed a calendar year to expire without, in writing, indicating their continued availability for such appointment; (c) who have been passed over for appointment for three years; (d) who have become ineligible for appointment since the board originally certified that such persons were qualified and eligible for appointment; or (e) who, in the judgment of at least three members of the board, should be removed from the register for good cause;
(5) Cause the secretary of the board to keep and preserve the written examination papers, manuscripts, grading sheets and other papers of all applicants for appointment for such period of time as may be established by the board. Specimens of the examinations given, together with the correct solution of each question, shall be preserved permanently by the secretary of the board;
(6) Issue a letter or written notice of qualification to each successful eligible candidate;
(7) Hear and determine proceedings for the removal of inspectors or the supervising inspector in accordance with the provisions of this article;
(8) Hear and determine appeals of inspectors or the supervising inspector from suspension orders made by said director pursuant to the provisions of section two, article one, chapter twenty-two-b of this code: Provided, That in order to appeal from any order of suspension, an aggrieved inspector or supervising inspector shall file such appeal in writing with the oil and gas inspectors' examining board not later than ten days after receipt of the notice of suspension. On such appeal the board shall affirm the action of said director unless it be satisfied from a clear preponderance of the evidence that said director has acted arbitrarily;
(9) Make an annual report to the governor concerning the administration of oil and gas inspection personnel in the state service; making such recommendations as the board considers to be in the public interest; and
(10) Render such advice and assistance to the director of the office of oil and gas as he shall from time to time determine necessary or desirable in the performance of his duties.
(c) After having conducted a preliminary performance ~~audit~~ review through its joint committee on government operations, pursuant to ~~section nine,~~ article ten, chapter four of this code, the Legislature hereby finds and declares that the oil and gas inspectors' examining board within the division of environmental protection should be continued and reestablished. Accordingly, notwithstanding the provisions of ~~section four of~~ said article, the oil and gas inspectors' examining board within the division of environmental protection shall continue to exist until the first day of July, ~~one thousand nine hundred ninety-four~~ two thousand.

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