Senate Bill No. 574
(By Senators Caruth, Snyder, Green, Williams, Stollings, Deem and
Guills)
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[Introduced March 12, 2009; referred to the Committee on Energy,
Industry and Mining; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §22-1-8 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the Department of Environmental
Protection; and requiring the supervisory officers of the
offices within the Department of Environmental Protection to
monitor litigation challenging state statutes affecting the
production of natural resources in West Virginia.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §22-1-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.
§22-1-8. Supervisory officers.
(a) The secretary shall appoint a competent and qualified
person to be the chief executive officer of each office specified
in section seven of this article. The chief executive officer is
the principal administrative officer of that office and is accountable and responsible for the orderly and efficient
performance of the duties, functions and services of her or his
office.
The chief executive officer shall monitor legal challenges
to the energy industries in the state and submit a report every
sixty days to the Department of Environmental Protection and the
Department of Revenue. The report shall contain information
relating to any litigation that challenges any statute that could
affect the production of natural resources in this state. The
Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of
Revenue shall make a fiscal and budgetary analysis of the impact of
the litigation for each chief executive officer who shall submit
these to the Governor and Legislature every sixty days.
(b) There shall be in the department such other supervisory
officers as the secretary determines is necessary to administer the
functions of the department. Such supervisory officers are
"administrators" as such term is defined in section two, article
six, chapter twenty-nine of this code, notwithstanding the fact
that the positions filled by such persons are not statutorily
created. Any such supervisory officer may be designated by the
secretary as a deputy director, assistant director, chief,
administrator or other administrative title or designation. Each
of the supervisory officers shall be appointed by the secretary and
serve at the will and pleasure of the secretary. The compensation
of such supervisory officers shall be fixed by the secretary. A single individual may be appointed to serve simultaneously in two
distinct supervisory positions, but in a case where a dual
appointment is made, the supervisory officer shall not receive
additional compensation above that which would be paid for serving
in one supervisory position.
(c) A supervisory officer appointed pursuant to the provisions
of this section shall report directly to the secretary and shall,
in addition to any functions vested in or required to be delegated
to such officer, perform additional functions as the secretary may
prescribe.
(d) Each supervisory officer of the department shall, before
entering upon the discharge of his or her duties, take the oath of
office prescribed by section five, article IV of the Constitution
of West Virginia and shall execute a bond in the penalty of $2,000,
with security to be approved by the Governor, conditioned upon the
faithful discharge of their duties, a certificate of the oath and
bond shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State.
Premiums on the bond shall be paid from the department funds.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the supervisory
officers of the offices within the Department of Environmental
Protection to monitor litigation challenging state statutes
affecting the production of natural resources in West Virginia; and
to report to the Department of Environmental Protection,
Department of Revenue, the Legislature and Governor every sixty
days, with fiscal and budgetary analysis of the impact of any such
litigation.
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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