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Introduced Version House Bill 4605 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 4605


(By Delegate McGeehan)

[Introduced February 22, 2010 ; referred to the

Committee on Energy, Industry and Labor, Economic Development and Small Business then the Judiciary.]





A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §22-1-18, relating to establishing that the environmental regulation of business activities performed within the state is not subject to federal regulation; and providing exceptions.

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 section, designated §22-1-18, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 1. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.

§22-1-l8. Environmental regulation by the Federal Government.

(a) The Legislature declares that the authority for this section is as follows:

(1) The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the Federal Government elsewhere in the Constitution and reserves
to the state and people of West Virginia certain powers as they were understood at the time that West Virginia was admitted to statehood in 1863. The guaranty of those powers is a matter of contract between the state and people of West Virginia and the United States at the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by West Virginia and the United States in 1863.
(2) The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees to the people rights not granted in the Constitution and reserves to the people of West Virginia certain rights as they were understood at the time West Virginia was admitted as a state in 1863. The guaranty of those rights is a matter of contract between the state and people of West Virginia and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by West Virginia and the United States in 1963.

(3) The regulation of intrastate commerce, including the natural environment as affected by intrastate business, is vested in the states under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

(b) Therefore, all environmental regulation in West Virginia for all purposes of regulating business activity performed in West Virginia, especially when such services are held, maintained or retained within West Virginia, shall not be subject to the
authority of the United States
Congress under its Constitutional power to regulate commerce. Any regulation or other action of the Environmental Protection Agency in such instances shall not apply to this state, except as otherwise prescribed by law. However, this section does not relate to: (1) Any goods or services ordered, procured, or purchased by the United States Government; or (2) ordered, procured, or purchased by any contractor pursuant to any agreement with the United States Government.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish that the environmental regulation of business activities performed within the state is not subject to federal regulation. The bill excepts goods or services procured by the Federal Government or by one of its contractors.

This section is new; therefore, it has been completely underscored.
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