Senate Bill No. 598
(By Senator Macnaughtan)
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[Introduced February 18, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twelve-b, article three,
chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
establishing a rebuttable presumption of responsibility for
any damage resulting from blasting.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twelve-b, article three, chapter twenty-nine of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL ACT.
§29-3-12b. Fees.
(a) The state fire marshal may establish fees in accordance
with the following:
(1) For blasting.
-- Any person storing, selling or using explosives shall first obtain a permit from the state fire
marshal. In any action for damage to property, including damage
to a water supply, within five thousand feet of any site where
explosives are used, there is a rebuttable presumption that the
use of explosives was the proximate cause of any damage that did
not appear in a preblast survey. Such permit shall be valid from
the first day of July through the thirtieth day of June of the
succeeding year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred eighty-nine. The state fire marshal may charge a
fee not to exceed fifty dollars for such permit.
(2) For inspections of schools or day care facilities.
--
The state fire marshal may charge a fee of up to twenty-five
dollars per annual inspection for inspection of schools or day
care facilities: Provided,
That only one such fee may be charged
per year for any building in which a school and a day care
facility are colocated: Provided, however,
That any school or
day care facility may not be charged for an inspection more than
one time per twelve-month period.
(3) For inspections of hospitals or nursing homes.
-- The
state fire marshal may charge an inspection fee of up to one
hundred dollars per annual inspection of hospitals or nursing
homes: Provided,
That any hospital or nursing home may not be
charged for an inspection more than one time per twelve-month
period.
(4) For inspections of personal care homes or board and care
facilities.
-- The state fire marshal may charge an inspection
fee of up to fifty dollars per annual inspection for inspections
of personal care homes or board and care facilities: Provided,
That any personal care home or board and care facility may not be
charged for an inspection more than one time per twelve-month
period.
(5) For inspections of residential occupancies.
-- The state
fire marshal may charge an inspection fee of up to one hundred
dollars for each inspection of a residential occupancy. For
purposes of this subdivision, "residential occupancies" are those
buildings in which sleeping accommodations are provided for
normal residential purposes.
(6) For inspections of mercantile occupancies.
-- The state
fire marshal may charge an inspection fee of up to one hundred
dollars for inspections of mercantile occupancies: Provided,
That if such inspection is in response to a complaint made by a
member of the public, the state fire marshal shall obtain from
the complainant an advance inspection fee of twenty-five dollars.
This fee shall be returned to the complainant if, after the state
fire marshal has made the inspection, he or she finds that the
complaint was accurate and justified, and he or she shall
thereafter collect an inspection fee of up to one hundred dollars
from the mercantile occupancy. If, after the inspection has been performed, it appears to the state fire marshal that such
complaint was not accurate or justified, the state fire marshal
shall keep the twenty-five dollar advance inspection fee obtained
from the complainant and may not collect any fees from the
mercantile occupant. For purposes of this section, "mercantile
occupancy" includes stores, markets and other rooms, buildings or
structures for the display and sale of merchandise.
(7) For business occupancies.
-- The state fire marshal may
charge an inspection fee of up to one hundred dollars for
inspections of business occupancies: Provided,
That the
provisions in subdivision (6) of this section shall apply
regarding complaints by members of the public. For purposes of
this section, "business occupancies" are those buildings used for
the transaction of business, other than mercantile occupancies,
for the keeping of accounts and records, and similar purposes.
(8) For inspections of assembly occupancies.
-- The state
fire marshal may charge an inspection fee not more than one time
per twelve-month period for the inspection of assembly
occupancies. The inspection fee shall be assessed as follows:
For Class C assembly facilities, an inspection fee not to exceed
fifty dollars; for Class B assembly facilities, an inspection fee
not to exceed seventy-five dollars; and for Class A facilities,
an inspection fee not to exceed one hundred dollars.
For purposes of this subdivision, an "assembly occupancy" includes, but is not limited to, all buildings or portions of
buildings used for gathering together fifty or more persons for
such purposes as deliberation, worship, entertainment, eating,
drinking, amusement or awaiting transportation. For purposes of
this section, a "Class C assembly facility" is one that
accommodates fifty to three hundred persons; a "Class B facility"
is one which accommodates more than three hundred persons but
less than one thousand persons; and a "Class A facility" is one
which accommodates more than one thousand persons.
(b) The state fire marshal may collect the following fees
for the fire safety review of plans and specifications for new
and existing construction. Such fees shall be paid by such party
or parties receiving the review.
(1) Structural barriers and fire safety plans review.
--
The fee is one dollar for each one thousand dollars of
construction cost up to the first one million dollars.
Thereafter, the fee is forty cents for each one thousand dollars
of construction cost.
(2) Sprinkler system review.
-- The fee charged for the
review of an individual sprinkler system is as follows: Number
of heads: One to two hundred -- eighty-five dollars; two hundred
one to three hundred -- one hundred dollars; three hundred one to
seven hundred fifty -- one hundred twenty dollars; over seven
hundred fifty -- one hundred twenty dollars plus ten cents per head over seven hundred fifty.
(3) Fire alarm systems review.
-- The fee charged for the
review of a fire alarm system is fifty dollars for each ten
thousand square feet of space with a fifty-dollar minimum charge.
(4) Range hood extinguishment system review.
-- The fee is
twenty-five dollars per individual system reviewed.
(5) Carpet specifications.
-- The fee for carpet review and
approval is twenty dollars per installation.
(c) All fees authorized and collected pursuant to this
article and article three-b of this chapter shall be paid to the
state fire marshal and thereafter deposited into a special
account for the operation of the state fire commission in
administering this article and article three-b of this chapter.
The Legislature shall appropriate the moneys in said account by
a specific numbered account in the budget bill. Beginning on the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two, and
every fiscal year thereafter, at the end of each fiscal year
there shall be transferred from the special account, to the
general revenue fund of the state, ten percent of all money
collected by the fire marshal during the year: Provided,
That
any balance remaining in the special account at the end of any
fiscal year, after the transfer of the ten percent, shall be
reappropriated to the next fiscal year: Provided, however,
That
in addition to said ten percent, amounts collected which are found from time to time to exceed the funds needed for purposes
for which the fees are collected may be transferred to other
accounts or redesignated for other purposes by appropriation of
the Legislature.
(d) If the owner or occupant of any occupancy arranges a
time and place for an inspection with the state fire marshal and
is not ready for the occupancy to be inspected at the appointed
time and place, the owner or occupant thereof shall be charged
the inspection fee provided in this section unless at least
forty-eight hours prior to the scheduled inspection the owner or
occupant requests the state fire marshal to reschedule such
inspection. In the event a second inspection is required by the
state fire marshal as a result of the owner or occupant failing
to be ready for the inspection when the state fire marshal
arrives, the state fire marshal shall charge the owner or
occupant of such occupancy the inspection fees set forth above
for each inspection trip required.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a rebuttable
presumption of responsibility for any damage resulting from
blasting.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.