WEST virginia Legislature
2016 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 592
By Senator Hall
[Introduced February 12, 2016;
Referred
to the Committee on Government Organization.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §24B-5-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to pipeline safety and the method of calculating the amount of special license fees paid by pipeline companies to the Public Service Commission.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §24B-5-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. EMPLOYEES OF COMMISSION; FUNDING.
§24B-5-3. Funding; property and revenue license fees.
(a) Every pipeline company
shall pay a special license fee in addition to those now required by law. The
amount of such the fees shall be fixed by the Public Service
Commission and levied by it annually upon each of such pipeline
companies on each pipeline company at a rate of $18.60 per according
to the number mile of three-inch equivalent pipeline miles
included in the company’s its pipeline facilities. The number
of miles of three-inch equivalent pipeline shall be determined and shall
be apportioned among such pipeline companies upon on the basis of
the pipeline companies’ reports submitted to the commission in such form as the
commission may prescribe, so as to produce a revenue of not more than
$385,000 per annum, which and the special license fees shall be paid
on or before July 1 in each year.
(b) Such sums collected under subsection (a) of this section shall be paid into the State Treasury and kept as a special fund, designated the Public Service Commission Pipeline Safety Fund, to be appropriated as provided by law for the purpose of paying the salaries, compensation, costs and expenses of its employees to the extent of the employee’s direct involvement in the enforcement of the provisions of this article. Any balance in said fund at the end of any fiscal year shall not revert to the treasury, but shall remain in said fund and may be appropriated as provided in this subsection. All funds which heretofore were in the Public Service Commission Gas Pipeline Safety Fund shall be transferred to the Public Service Commission Pipeline Safety Fund.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the method used to calculate the amount of special license fees paid by pipeline companies to the Public Service Commission, both to make the amount of the annual fee easier for pipeline companies to determine, and to reflect the growth in pipeline mileage within the state that will be subject to the safety standards and practices of the West Virginia Gas Pipeline Safety Act. The bill is revenue neutral for pipeline mileage existing at the time of passage. New pipeline mileage added after passage of the bill will be subject to the stated charge per mile. The total amount to be collected annually will no longer be capped (currently $385,000.), and the cap instead will apply to the charge per mile in order to accomplish the two goals stated above.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.