Senate Bill No. 518
(By Senators McCabe, Caruth, Browning, Barnes, Hall, Sypolt,
Deem, Boley, Guills, K. Facemyer, Minard, Plymale, Wells,
Stollings, Jenkins, Edgell, Williams, D. Facemire, Palumbo,
Green, Tomblin (Mr. President), Yost, Fanning, Helmick, White,
Kessler, Chafin, Laird, Unger, Snyder, Prezioso, Foster and
Oliverio)
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[Introduced February 9, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Energy, Industry and Mining; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §5B-8-1, §5B-8-2,
§5B-8-3, §5B-8-4, §5B-8-5 and §5B-8-6, all relating to the
creation of the Governor's Commission on Shaping the Future of
Energy for the United States; making legislative findings;
setting forth the members and officers of the commission;
setting the compensation and the funding for the expenses of
the commission; granting powers and duties to the commission;
requiring the commission to report to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance and the Governor; and providing for the
termination of the commission.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §5B-8-1, §5B-8-2, §5B-
8-3, §5B-8-4, §5B-8-5 and §5B-8-6, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. THE GOVERNOR'S COMMISSION TO SEIZE THE FUTURE OF
ENERGY FOR AMERICA.
§5B-8-1. Legislative findings.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that:
(a) West Virginia has an abundance of natural resources that
are utilized to create energy for the United States, including
coal, natural gas, wind and biomass;
(b) Due to the scarcity of certain natural resources that are
utilized to create energy and the national concern over
environmental factors regarding energy use, the United States has
made it a priority to rethink its energy policy;
(c) The global pressures of energy demand and environmental
impacts of rapidly growing economies throughout the world has
created uncertainty in the future of energy for the United States;
(d) Coal is a vital resource for the United States as
approximately fifty percent of the power utilized in the United
States comes from coal fired power plants;
(e) Natural gas is also a vital resource for the United States
and the number of power plants burning natural gas is increasing
nation wide;
(f) The implementation of certain technologies known as
transtech energy to reduce greenhouse gases and improve industrial
competitiveness has already occurred in West Virginia and such
implementation will be essential to the transition of energy in the
United States;
(g) The development and commercialization of new energy
technologies will help the United States to recover from its
current economic downturn;
(h) On January 29, 2010, the President of the United States
acknowledged that clean coal technology is of vital importance to
the future of energy in the United States and the transition to the
future of energy for the United States;
(i) The President also stated that he desired that the United
States become the world leader in developing the technologies that
enable a transition to the future of energy that is economically
and environmentally viable and that he wanted to work with West
Virginia to seize the future of energy in the United States;
(j) West Virginia desires to take the lead in seizing the
future of energy for the United States and desires to work with the
President to develop and commercialize and deploy the technologies necessary to make this transition;
(k) With the aid of federal funds, the institutions of higher
education in West Virginia are capable and willing to make the
research investments that are necessary to aid in this objective;
and
(l) A Governor's commission is necessary to work with the
President and his administration to maximize the potential of West
Virginia to lead the United States in seizing the future of energy
for the nation.
§5B-8-2. Governor's Commission to Seize the Future of Energy for
America; appointment of members.
(a) Effective July 1, 2010, the Governor's Commission to Seize
the Future of Energy for America is created.
(b) The commission shall consist of the following members:
(1) One shall be the Governor or designee; (2) one shall be the
Secretary of Commerce or designee; (3) one shall be the Secretary
of the Department of Environmental Protection or designee; and the
Governor shall appoint with the advice and consent of the Senate;
(4) one citizen member with knowledge or expertise in the coal
industry; (5) one citizen member with knowledge or expertise in the
natural gas industry; (6) one citizen member with knowledge or
expertise in transtech energy (7) one citizen member with knowledge
or expertise in the electrical power industry; (8) one citizen member representative of labor; and (9) one citizen member
representative of the environmental community. In addition, the
President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House shall each
appoint two ex officio nonvoting members of the commission.
(c) The Governor or designee shall serve as chairperson and
the Secretary of Commerce or designee shall serve as the vice
chairperson. The commission shall appoint a secretary who need not
be a member of the commission and who shall keep records of its
proceedings. The commission shall utilize the staff of the Division
of Energy in it's performance of all duties.
(d) Five members of the commission shall constitute a quorum
and the affirmative vote of at least the majority of those members
present shall be necessary for any action taken by vote of the
commission.
§5B-8-3. Compensation and expenses of members; expenses of the
commission.
(a) The members of the commission shall be reimbursed for all
reasonable and necessary travel and other expenses incurred in
connection with carrying out their duties as members of the
commission, which expenses shall be paid in the manner and form
prescribed by law or by any rule. The expenses shall be paid from
the Governor's Civil Contingency Fund upon approval of the
Governor.
(b) Other expenses of the commission, which shall be in an
amount not to exceed $500,000, including any fees, salaries, wages
and other expenses, shall be paid from the appropriations made to
the Governor's Civil Contingency Fund, upon approval of the
Governor.
(c) Members of the commission may receive no other
compensation for their services on or with the commission.
§5B-8-4. Powers and duties of the commission.
The commission has the following powers and duties:
(a) Work with the President of the United States and his or
her administration to develop a plan that would allow West Virginia
to become the leader in transitioning the United States to a new
energy future;
(b) Determine the best way for West Virginia to utilize its
resources and any federal funding to develop the technologies that
are necessary for such a transition;
(c) Identify the areas of research and key technologies that
will be necessary for the transition to take place;
(d) Develop a strategic plan to place the research and
development of such technologies in locations across the state and
engage all areas of expertise relevant within the state that will
enable the development of such technologies to the fullest extent;
(e) Conduct or initiate studies, scientific or other investigations, research, experiments and demonstrations pertaining
to energy technologies deemed to be necessary for the transition of
energy;
(f) Recommend methods of facilitating the widespread use of
identified key energy technologies;
(g) Work with any entity deemed desirable to further the above
objectives;
(h) Draft legislation necessary to carry out the above
objectives;
(i) Employ legal, technical, investigative, clerical,
stenographic, advisory and other personnel as necessary and to fix
the reasonable compensation of persons;
(j) Perform any other act necessary to effectuate the
provisions of this article; and
(k) Meet no less than once a month to effectuate the
provisions of this article.
§5B-8-5. Reports of the commission.
The commission shall report its findings and conclusions,
along with any recommendations and legislation, it deems
appropriate, to the Joint Committee on Government & Finance and the
Governor on or before July 1, 2013.
§5B-8-6. Termination of commission.
The commission shall terminate January 1, 2014.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a Governor's
Commission to Seize the Future of Energy for America. The
President has stated that it is his desire to work with West
Virginia to make it the leader in seizing the future of energy in
America. The creation of the commission allows West Virginia to
work with the President and his administration to develop a
strategy for developing such technologies which maximizes the
federal and state dollars and incentives devoted to the research,
development and commercialization of the technologies necessary to
make the transition to economically and environmentally viable
energy.
Article 8 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
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