H. B. 2861
(By Delegate Blair)
[Introduced
March 3, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §24-2-1
of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §24A-1-2
; to amend and
reenact §24A-2-3 of said code; and
to amend and reenact
§24A-6-3
of said code, all relating to removing the authority
of the Public Service Commission to regulate
a common or
contract carrier by motor vehicle of property and of
passengers by taxicab for hire
.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §24-2-1
of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that §24A-1-2
of said code be amended and
reenacted; that §24A-2-3
of said code be amended and reenacted; and
that §24A-6-3
of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 24. PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
ARTICLE 2. POWERS AND DUTIES OF PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
§24-2-1. Jurisdiction of commission; waiver of jurisdiction.
(a) The jurisdiction of the Commission shall extend to all
public utilities in this State, and shall include any utility
engaged in any of the following public services:
Except, effective the first day of July, two thousand five,
taxicabs
for hire
, common carriage of passengers or goods, whether
by air, railroad, street railroad, motor or otherwise, by express
or otherwise, by land, water or air, whether wholly or partly by
land, water or air; transportation of oil, gas or water by
pipeline; transportation of coal and its derivatives and all
mixtures and combinations thereof with other substances by
pipeline; sleeping car or parlor car services; transmission of
messages by telephone, telegraph or radio; generation and
transmission of electrical energy by hydroelectric or other
utilities for service to the public, whether directly or through a
distributing utility; supplying water, gas or electricity, by
municipalities or others; sewer systems servicing twenty-five or
more persons or firms other than the owner of the sewer systems;
any public service district created under the provisions of article
thirteen-a, chapter sixteen of this code; toll bridges, wharves,
ferries; solid waste facilities; and any other public service:
Provided, That natural gas producers who provide natural gas
service to not more than twenty-five residential customers are
exempt from the jurisdiction of the Commission with regard to the provisions of such residential service: Provided, however, That
upon request of any of the customers of such natural gas producers,
the Commission may, upon good cause being shown, exercise such
authority as the Commission may deem appropriate over the
operation, rates and charges of such producer and for such length
of time as the Commission may consider to be proper: Provided
further, That the jurisdiction the Commission may exercise over the
rates and charges of municipally operated public utilities is
limited to that authority granted the Commission in section four-b
of this article: And provided further, That the decision-making
authority granted to the Commission in sections four and four-a of
this article shall, in respect to an application filed by a public
service district, be delegated to a single hearing examiner
appointed from the Commission staff, which hearing examiner shall
be authorized to carry out all decision-making duties assigned to
the Commission by said sections, and to issue orders having the
full force and effect of orders of the Commission.
(b) The Commission may, upon application, waive its
jurisdiction and allow a utility operating in an adjoining state to
provide service in West Virginia when:
(1) An area of West Virginia cannot be practicably and
economically served by a utility licensed to operate within the
State of West Virginia;
(2) Said area can be provided with utility service by a utility which operates in a state adjoining West Virginia;
(3) The utility operating in the adjoining state is regulated
by a regulatory agency or commission of the adjoining state; and
(4) The number of customers to be served is not substantial.
The rates the out-of-state utility charges West Virginia customers
shall be the same as the rate the utility is duly authorized to
charge in the adjoining jurisdiction. The Commission, in the case
of any such utility, may revoke its waiver of jurisdiction for good
cause.
(c) Any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary
notwithstanding:
(1) An owner or operator of an electric generating facility
located or to be located in this State that has been designated as
an exempt wholesale generator under applicable federal law, or will
be so designated prior to commercial operation of the facility, and
for which such facility the owner or operator holds a certificate
of public convenience and necessity issued by the Commission on or
before the first day of July, two thousand three, shall be subject
to subsections (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j), section eleven-c of
this article as if the certificate of public convenience and
necessity for such facility were a siting certificate issued under
said section eleven-c and shall not otherwise be subject to the
jurisdiction of the Commission or to the provisions of this chapter
with respect to such facility except for the making or constructing of a material modification thereof as provided in subdivision (5)
of this subsection.
(2) Any person, corporation or other entity that intends to
construct or construct and operate an electric generating facility
to be located in this State that has been designated as an exempt
wholesale generator under applicable federal law, or will be so
designated prior to commercial operation of the facility, and for
which facility the owner or operator does not hold a certificate of
public convenience and necessity issued by the Commission on or
before the first day of July, two thousand three, shall, prior to
commencement of construction of the facility, obtain a siting
certificate from the Commission pursuant to the provisions of
section eleven-c of this article in lieu of a certificate of public
convenience and necessity pursuant to the provisions of section
eleven of this article. An owner or operator of an electric
generating facility as is described in this subdivision for which
a siting certificate has been issued by the Commission shall be
subject to subsections (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j), section
eleven-c of this article and shall not otherwise be subject to the
jurisdiction of the Commission or to the provisions of this chapter
with respect to such facility except for the making or constructing
of a material modification thereof as provided in subdivision (5)
of this subsection.
(3) An owner or operator of an electric generating facility located in this State that had not been designated as an exempt
wholesale generator under applicable federal law prior to
commercial operation of the facility, that generates electric
energy solely for sale at retail outside this State or solely for
sale at wholesale in accordance with any applicable federal law
that preempts state law or solely for both such sales at retail and
such sales at wholesale, and that had been constructed and had
engaged in commercial operation on or before the first day of July,
two thousand three, shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of the
Commission or to the provisions of this chapter with respect to
such facility, regardless of whether such facility subsequent to
its construction has been or will be designated as an exempt
wholesale generator under applicable federal law: Provided, That
such owner or operator shall be subject to subdivision (5) of this
subsection if a material modification of such facility is made or
constructed.
(4) Any person, corporation or other entity that intends to
construct or construct and operate an electric generating facility
to be located in this State that has not been or will not be
designated as an exempt wholesale generator under applicable
federal law prior to commercial operation of the facility, that
will generate electric energy solely for sale at retail outside
this State or solely for sale at wholesale in accordance with any
applicable federal law that preempts state law or solely for both such sales at retail and such sales at wholesale, and that had not
been constructed and had not been engaged in commercial operation
on or before the first day of July, two thousand three, shall,
prior to commencement of construction of the facility, obtain a
siting certificate from the Commission pursuant to the provisions
of section eleven-c of this article in lieu of a certificate of
public convenience and necessity pursuant to the provisions of
section eleven of this article. An owner or operator of an
electric generating facility as is described in this subdivision
for which a siting certificate has been issued by the Commission
shall be subject to subsections (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j),
section eleven-c of this article and shall not otherwise be subject
to the jurisdiction of the Commission or to the provisions of this
chapter with respect to such facility except for the making or
constructing of a material modification thereof as provided in
subdivision (5) of this subsection.
(5) An owner or operator of an electric generating facility
described in this subsection shall, before making or constructing
a material modification of the facility that is not within the
terms of any certificate of public convenience and necessity or
siting certificate previously issued for the facility or an earlier
material modification thereof, obtain a siting certificate for the
modification from the Commission pursuant to the provisions of
section eleven-c of this article in lieu of a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the modification pursuant to the
provisions of section eleven of this article and, except for the
provisions of section eleven-c of this article, shall not otherwise
be subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission or to the
provisions of this chapter with respect to such modification.
(6) The Commission shall consider an application for a
certificate of public convenience and necessity filed pursuant to
section eleven of this article to construct an electric generating
facility described in this subsection or to make or construct a
material modification of such electric generating facility as an
application for a siting certificate pursuant to section eleven-c
of this article if the application for the certificate of public
convenience and necessity was filed with the Commission prior to
the first day of July, two thousand three, and if the Commission
has not issued a final order thereon as of that date.
(7) The limitations on the jurisdiction of the Commission
over, and on the applicability of the provisions of this chapter
to, the owner or operator of an electric generating facility as
imposed by, and described in this subsection, shall not be deemed
to affect or limit the Commission's jurisdiction over contracts or
arrangements between the owner or operator of such facility and any
affiliated public utility subject to the provisions of this
chapter.
CHAPTER 24A. COMMERCIAL MOTOR CARRIERS.
ARTICLE 1. PURPOSES, DEFINITIONS AND EXEMPTIONS.
§24A-1-2. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Commission" means the Public Service Commission of West
Virginia;
(2) "Common carrier by motor vehicle" means any person who
undertakes, whether directly or by lease or any other arrangement,
to transport passengers or property, or any class or classes of
property, for the general public over the highways of this State by
motor vehicles for hire, whether over regular or irregular routes,
including such motor vehicle operations of carriers by rail, water
or air and of express or forwarding agencies, and leased or rented
motor vehicles, with or without drivers
but does not include a
person who operates a taxicab for hire;
(3) "Contract carrier by motor vehicle" means any person
not
an operator of a taxicab for hire and not included in subdivision
(2) of this section, who under special and individual contracts or
agreements, and whether directly or by lease or any other
arrangement, transports passengers or property over the highways in
this State by motor vehicles for hire ;
(4) "Driveaway operation" means an operation in which any
vehicle or vehicles, operated singly or in lawful combinations, new
or used, not owned by the transporting motor carrier, constitute
the commodity being transported;
(5) "Exempt carrier" means any person operating a motor
vehicle exempt from the provisions of this chapter under section
three thereof;
(6) "I.C.C." means the Interstate Commerce Commission;
(7) "Motor carrier" includes both a common carrier by motor
vehicle and a contract carrier by motor vehicle;
(8) "Motor vehicle" means, and includes, any automobile,
truck, tractor, truck-tractor, trailer, semitrailer, motorbus,
taxicab, any self-propelling motor-driven motor vehicle or any
combination thereof, used upon any public highway in this State for
the purpose of transporting persons or property;
(9) "NARUC" means the national association of regulatory
utility commissioners;
(10) "Operations within the borders of this State" means
interstate or foreign operations to, from, within or traversing
this State;
(11) "Person" means and includes any individual, firm,
copartnership, corporation, company, association or joint-stock
association, and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee or
personal representative thereof;
(12) "Planting and harvesting season" means the first day of
January through the thirty-first day of December of each calendar
year only as it relates to the administration of rules promulgated
pursuant to subsection (j), section five, article five of this chapter;
(13) "Private commercial carrier" means and includes any
person who undertakes, whether directly or by lease or other
arrangement, to transport property, including hazardous materials
as defined in rules
and regulations promulgated by the Commission,
for himself over the public highways of this State, in interstate
or intrastate commerce, for any commercial purpose, by motor
vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand one
pounds or more, by motor vehicle designed to transport more than
fifteen passengers, including the driver; or by any motor vehicle
used to transport hazardous materials in a quantity requiring
placarding under federal hazardous material regulations as adopted
by the Commission;
(14) "Power unit" means any vehicle which contains within
itself the engine, motor or other source of power by which said
vehicle is propelled; and
(15) "Public highway" means any public street, alley, road or
highway, or thoroughfare of any kind in this State, used by the
public.
ARTICLE 2. COMMON CARRIERS BY MOTOR VEHICLES.
§24A-2-3. Regulatory powers of commission.
The Commission is vested with power and authority to supervise
and regulate all common carriers by motor vehicle
except, effective
the first day of July, two thousand five, a common or contract carrier by motor vehicle of property and of passengers by taxicab
for hire, and to fix, alter, regulate, and determine just, fair,
reasonable, and sufficient rates, joint rates, charges and
classifications; to regulate the facilities, accounts, service and
safety of operations of each such carrier, to regulate operating
and time schedules so as to meet the reasonable needs of any
community, so as to provide adequate transportation service to the
territory traversed by such carriers, and so as to prevent
unnecessary multiplication of service among common carriers by
motor vehicle and between them and steam and electric railroads, to
require the coordination of the service facilities and schedules of
competing common carriers by motor vehicle or electric and steam
railroads; to require the filing of annual and other reports,
tariff, schedules, and other data by such common carriers, in all
matters affecting the relation between such carriers and the public
and between such carriers and other common carriers. The
Commission shall have power and authority, by general order or
otherwise, to prescribe rules
and regulations in conformity with
this chapter applicable to any and all such common carriers by
motor vehicle and to do all things necessary to carry out and
enforce the provisions of this chapter.
ARTICLE 6. DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF MOTOR CARRIERS SUBJECT TO
REGULATION OF THE COMMISSION.
§24A-6-3. Procedure as to certificates of convenience and necessity and permits issued prior to chapter.
Certificates of convenience and necessity and permits issued
to motor carriers by state authorities under the authority of the
laws of this State in effect prior to the date this chapter becomes
effective shall remain in effect until confirmed, revoked or
suspended by the Commission, but persons who are the holders of
such certificates and permits shall be subject to all provisions of
this chapter. The procedure for confirming such certificates and
permits shall be the same as is herein provided for issuing
certificates and permits in the first instance:
Provided, That if
any common or contract carrier by motor vehicle of passengers,
except by taxicab, was in operation on or prior to
the first day of
March,
one one thousand nine hundred thirty-seven,
and any common
or contract carrier by motor vehicle of property and of passengers
by taxicab for hire was in operation on or prior to January one,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-nine, over the route or routes or
within the territory for which application is made and has so
operated since the respective dates, except as to interruptions
over which the applicant has no control, the Commission shall issue
such certificate or permit without requiring further proof that the
public convenience and necessity will be served by such operation
and without further proceedings if application for such certificate
or permit to operate is made to the Commission within ninety days
from the effective date of this chapter:
Provided, however, That the applicant in the case of a common carrier or contract carrier
by motor vehicle of passengers
except by taxicab, shall be required
to submit proof of operation on or prior to
the first day of March,
one one thousand nine hundred thirty-seven,
and in the case of a
common or contract carrier by motor vehicle of property and of
passengers by taxicab, of operation on or prior to January one, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-nine and continuously thereafter:
Provided further, That pending determination of any application
hereunder, the continuance of operation in which a common or
contract carrier by motor vehicle of passengers,
except by taxicab,
was so engaged on or prior to
the first day of March,
one one
thousand nine hundred thirty-seven
and the continuance of operation
in which any common or contract carrier by motor vehicle of
property and of passengers by taxicab was so engaged on or prior to
January one, one thousand nine hundred thirty-nine, shall be
lawful.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the authority of
the Public Service Commission to regulate
a common or contract
carrier by motor vehicle of property and of passengers by taxicab
for hire.
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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