Senate Bill No. 206
(By Senators
Oliverio, Dempsey, Fanning, Foster, Hunter, Jenkins,
Kessler, Barnes, Weeks, Unger, McKenzie, McCabe and Sharpe)
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[Introduced January 18, 2006; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §7-1-3u of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §19-21A-4 of said
code, all relating to floodplain management and flood debris
generally; requiring floodplain management plans to prohibit
or regulate placement of manufactured housing and storage of
materials which may become flood debris or present
additional flood hazards; requiring local governments
establish penalties for violations of
floodplain management
plans; and authorizing the conservation agency to remove
debris and other impediments during flood emergencies.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §7-1-3u of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §19-21A-4 of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. COUNTY COMMISSIONS GENERALLY.
§7-1-3u. Authority of counties and municipalities to treat
streams to prevent floods.
(a) To protect people and property from floods, counties and municipalities are hereby empowered to rechannel and dredge
streams; remove accumulated debris, snags, sandbars, rocks and
any other kinds of obstructions from streams; straighten stream
channels; and carry out erosion and sedimentation control
measures and programs.
(b) For stream treatment to prevent floods as provided in
this section, counties and municipalities are hereby further
empowered to levy, within all constitutional and statutory
limitations; acquire property by purchase, exercise of the right
of eminent domain, lease, gift or grant; accept any and all
benefits, moneys, services and assistance which may be available
from the federal and state government or any private source;
issue and sell bonds within the constitutional and statutory
limitations prescribed by law for the issuance and sale of bonds
by counties and municipalities for public purposes generally.
Any such levy shall be equal and uniform throughout the county or
municipality.
(c) The power and authority granted in this section, may be
exercised by any county or municipality in cooperation with each
other or separately as provided in section three-i of this
article. Any county or municipality which exercises any power or
authority set forth in this section shall comply with all
applicable provisions of federal and state laws and rules and
regulations lawfully promulgated thereunder.
(d) Each county commission and municipal governing body
shall, as part of its flood plain management plan, on before June 30, 2008, prohibit location of manufactured housing whether
permanent or temporary, utilized for a residence, vacation home
or camp and storage of hazardous or floatable materials,
outbuildings, culverts, pipes and fuel oil and propane tanks
within the regulated flood plain.
(1) The county commission or municipal governing body may,
in lieu of a total prohibition, require such items to be elevated
above the level of the one hundred year flood plain on reinforced
piers, securely anchored to a fixed structure on a permanent
foundation, relocated out of the regulated flood plain or utilize
other appropriate measures designed to keep such items out of
streams, resist expected flood waters and impact from debris.
(2) For purposes of this section "manufactured housing"
means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which
is built and remains on a permanent chasse and designed to be
used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation; the
term includes any structure commonly referred to as factory built
home, mobile home, house trailer, modular home and any camper,
trailer or recreational vehicle located permanently or
temporarily in a flood plain.
(3) Each county commission and municipal governing body
shall establish penalties for violations of its flood plain
management plan.
(e) The term "stream" as used in this section means any
watercourse, whether natural or man-made, distinguishable by
banks and a bed, regardless of their size, through which water flows continually or intermittently, regardless of its volume.
ARTICLE 21A. CONSERVATION DISTRICTS.
§19-21A-4. State conservation committee; continuation.
(a) The State Conservation Committee is continued. It
serves as an agency of the state and is to perform the functions
conferred upon it in this article. The committee consists of the
following ten members:
(1) Four citizen members;
(2) The following ex officio members:
(A) The Director of the State Cooperative Extension Service;
(B) The Director of the State Agricultural and Forestry
Experiment Station;
(C) The Secretary of the Department of Environmental
Protection;
(D) The State Commissioner of Agriculture, who is the
chairperson of the committee;
(E) The Director of the Division of Forestry; and
(F) The President of the West Virginia Association of
Conservation Districts.
(b) The Governor shall appoint, by and with the consent of
the Senate, the four citizen members. Members shall be appointed
for four-year terms, which are staggered in accordance with the
initial appointments under prior enactment of this section. In
the event of a vacancy, the appointment is 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.
(d) The Committee shall keep a record of its official
actions, shall adopt a seal, which shall be judicially noticed,
and may perform those acts, hold public hearings and adopt or
propose for legislative approval rules necessary for the
execution of its functions under this article.
(e) The State Conservation Committee may employ an
administrative officer, technical experts and other agents and
employees, permanent and temporary, as it requires. The
administrative officer and support staff shall be known as the
West Virginia Conservation Agency. The Committee shall determine
their qualifications, duties and compensation. The Committee may
call upon the Attorney General of the state for legal services it
requires. It may delegate to its chairperson, to one or more of
its members, or to one or more agents or employees powers and
duties it considers proper. The Committee may 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 the agency or institution of learning and
make special reports, surveys or studies required by the Committee.
(f) A member of the Committee holds office so long as he or
she retains the office by virtue of which he or she is serving on
the Committee. A majority of the Committee is a quorum and the
concurrence of a majority in any matter within their duties is
required for its determination. The chairperson and members of
the Committee may receive no compensation for their services on
the Committee, but are entitled to reimbursement of expenses,
including traveling expenses necessarily incurred in the
discharge of their duties on the Committee. The Committee shall:
(1) Require the execution of surety bonds for all employees
and officers who are entrusted with funds or property;
(2) 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
(3) Provide for an annual audit of the accounts of receipts
and disbursements.
(g) In addition to other duties and powers conferred upon
the State Conservation Committee, it may:
(1) Offer appropriate assistance to the supervisors of
conservation districts, organized as provided in this article, in
the carrying out of any of their powers and programs;
(2) 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 under
this article and facilitate an interchange of advice and experience between the districts and cooperation between them;
(3) Coordinate the programs of the several conservation
districts so far as this may be done by advice and consultation;
(4) Secure the cooperation and assistance of the United
States and any of its agencies and of agencies of this state in
the work of the districts;
(5) Disseminate information throughout the state concerning
the activities and programs of the conservation districts and
encourage the formation of the districts in areas where their
organization is desirable;
(6) 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 use or expend
the money, services, materials or other contributions in carrying
out the policy and provisions of this article, including the
right to allocate the money, services or materials in part to the
various conservation districts created by this article in order
to assist them in carrying on their operations; and
(7) Obtain options upon and acquire by purchase, exchange,
lease, gift, grant, bequest, devise or otherwise any property,
real or personal, or rights or interests in the property;
maintain, administer, operate and improve any properties
acquired; receive and retain income from the property and to
expend the income as required for operation, maintenance,
administration or improvement of the properties or in otherwise carrying out the purposes and provisions of this article; and
sell, lease or otherwise dispose of any of its property or
interests 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 Conservation Committee and expended
as provided in this article.
(8) To promulgate emergency and legislative rules to
effectuate the provisions of this article as amended and
reenacted by the Legislature during the regular session of the
Legislature in the year two thousand five.
(9) During and after a flood event agency employees, its
agents or contractors may enter any water of the state for the
purpose of removing debris and other obstructions which impede
water flow and present additional flood hazards. The agency
shall conduct this effort as part of its current stream recovery
programs in cooperation with other federal, state and local
entities. In exercising this emergency power agency employees,
its agents and contractors are authorized to enter any property
regardless of ownership when and where necessary to most
efficiently carry out the tasks necessary to reduce additional
flood hazzards during a flood event. The exercise of this
limited authority does not constitute taking of private property
or trespass.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is enact measures to assist
local and state authorities in flood plain management and flood
clean up.
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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