SB 593 Text

Introduced Version Senate Bill 593 History

DOWNLOAD wpd |

sb593 intr Senate Bill No. 593
(By Senator Yoder)
____________
[Introduced March 18, 2005; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
____________

A BILL to amend and reenact §20-7-25 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to establishing a volunteer litter reporting program.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-7-25 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 7. LAW ENFORCEMENT, MOTORBOATING, LITTER.

§20-7-25. West Virginia litter control and recycling programs; additional duties of director; grants to counties and municipalities; and regulations relating thereto.

(a) In addition to all other powers, duties and responsibilities granted and assigned to the Director of the ~~department~~ Division of Natural Resources in this chapter and elsewhere by law, the Director, in the administration of the West Virginia Litter Control Program created by this section, shall:
(1) Coordinate all industry and business organizations seeking to aid in the litter control and recycling effort;
(2) Cooperate with all local governments to accomplish coordination of local litter control and recycling efforts;
(3) Encourage, organize, coordinate and increase public awareness of and participation in all voluntary litter control and recycling campaigns, including citizen litter watch programs, seeking to focus the attention of the public on the litter control and recycling programs of the state and local governments and of private recycling centers;
(4) Encourage, organize, coordinate and increase public awareness of, and participation in, a volunteer litter reporting program. The Director shall assist the county commission and the county sheriff in establishing the program, which shall utilize trained volunteers to report and collect information necessary to enable the county sheriff to issue citations to persons violating the litter laws of this state. The scope of duty of a volunteer participating in the litter reporting program may include: Reporting the motor vehicle registration plate number, the date, time and location of a person observed littering; collecting other evidence as may be requested by the county sheriff, including taking photographs of a litter site; providing testimony in court proceedings as to litter violations observed or evidence collected by the volunteer; and providing other assistance in litter enforcement as may be requested by the county sheriff, except that in no event may a volunteer participate in the direct apprehension or arrest of a litter violator. The county sheriff, may seek the assistance of the law-enforcement section of the Division of Natural Resources, to provide a training course for volunteers to instruct them in proper reporting procedures and the collection of evidence, and may provide reporting forms for volunteers to record their observations of litter violations. Upon completion of the course and approval from the county sheriff, a volunteer may begin participation in the program. Volunteers participating in the program are responsible for providing their own vehicles, gasoline, cameras, cell phones and other items they may use while participating in the program, and are responsible for other incidental expenses they may incur in the course of participating in the program, except as otherwise provided in this section. The Commissioner of the Division of Highways may cause appropriate signs to be placed along primary and secondary highways to inform motorists of the volunteer litter reporting program;
~~(4)~~ (5) Recommend to local governing bodies that they adopt ordinances similar to the provisions of section twenty-six of this article;
~~(5)~~ (6) Investigate the methods and success of techniques of litter control, removal and disposal utilized in other states, and develop, encourage, organize and coordinate local litter control programs funded by grants awarded pursuant to subsection (b) of this section utilizing such successful techniques;
~~(6)~~ (7) Investigate the availability of, and apply for, funds available from any and all private or public sources to be used in the litter control program created by this section;
~~(7)~~ (8) Promulgate regulations pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code establishing criteria for the awarding of direct and/or matching grants for the study of available research and development in the fields of litter control, removal and disposal, methods for the implementation of such research and development, and the development of public educational programs concerning litter control;
~~(8)~~ (9) Promulgate regulations pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code designating public areas where litter receptacles shall be placed in accordance with subsection (d), section twenty-six of this article. The Director is further authorized to specify within such regulations the minimum number of litter receptacles required to be placed at each designated public area;
~~(9)~~ (10) Attract to the state persons or industries that purchase, process or use recyclable materials; and
~~(10)~~ (11) Contract for the development, production and broadcast of radio and television messages promoting the West Virginia Litter Control Program. The messages should increase public awareness of and promote citizen responsibility toward the reduction of litter. The Director shall undertake the activities authorized in this subdivision no later than the fifteenth day of September, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight.
(b) Commencing on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-six, the Director shall expend annually at least fifty percent of the moneys credited to the "litter control fund" in the previous fiscal year for matching grants to counties and municipalities for the initiation and administration of litter control programs. The Director may promulgate regulations pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code establishing criteria for the awarding of matching grants.
(c) The Director of the Department of Natural Resources in cooperation with the Commissioner of Highways, the Department of Commerce, the ~~department of public safety~~ West Virginia State Police, the United States Forestry Service, and other local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies, shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of all laws and regulations relating to the maintenance of cleanliness and improvement of appearances on and along highways, roads, streets, alleys and any other private or public areas of the state and these other agencies shall make recommendations to the Director from time to time concerning means and methods of accomplishing litter control consistent with the provisions of this chapter. Such cooperation shall include, but not be limited to, contracts with the Commissioner of Highways to operate the litter control program.
(d) All other state agencies and local governments shall cooperate with the Director in effecting the purposes of the litter control program.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a volunteer litter reporting program.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.