H. B. 4692


(By Delegates P. White and Doyle)


(Originating in the Committee on Finance)


[March 2, 1994]



A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article twenty, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the compensation of air pollution control commission members.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section four, article twenty, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 20. AIR POLLUTION CONTROL.

§ 16 - 20 - 4. Air pollution control commission - - Composition; appointment and terms of members; vacancies; compensation and expenses of members; organization and personnel; appointment of director; records; meetings.

The "air pollution control commission," heretofore created, shall continue in existence as an agency of the state and shall consist of seven members, including the commissioner of the bureau of public health and the commissioner of agriculture, or their designees, both of whom shall be members ex officio, and five other members to be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, two of whom shall be representative of industries engaged in business in this state, and three of whom shall be representative of the public at large. The three appointed members of the commission in office on the effective date of this article shall, unless sooner removed, continue to serve until their terms expire and until their successors have been appointed and have qualified. On or before June fifteen, one thousand nine hundred sixty-seven, the governor shall appoint one member to serve until June thirty, one thousand nine hundred seventy, and one member to serve until June thirty, one thousand nine hundred seventy-one, or until their successors have been appointed and have qualified. As the terms of the three appointed members of the commission in office on the effective date of this article expire and as the terms of the two members to be appointed by the governor on or before June fifteen, one thousand nine hundred sixty-seven, expire, members shall be appointed for overlapping terms of five years, so that one term expires each year, or until their successors have been appointed and have qualified. Any vacancy in the office of an appointed member of the commission shall be filled by appointment by the governor for the unexpired term of the appointed member whose office shall be vacant.

The ex officio members of the commission shall receive no salary or remuneration for their services as such but they shall be reimbursed, out of moneys appropriated for such purpose, for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the discharge of their duties as such.
As compensation for his services on the commission, each appointed member shall receive, out of moneys appropriated for such purpose, the sum of seventy-five dollars a sum equal to the daily amount paid to each member of the Legislature during special session for each day or substantial portion thereof that he or she is actually engaged in the work of the commission. Each member shall also be entitled to be reimbursed, out of moneys appropriated for such purpose, for any reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the discharge of his or her duties as a member of the commission.
At its first meeting the commission shall elect from its membership a chairman, and at the first meeting in each fiscal year thereafter the commission shall elect from its membership a chairman to act during such fiscal year. At similar times the commission shall elect from its membership a vice chairman and appoint a secretary. The secretary need not be a member of the commission. The vice chairman shall preside over the meetings and hearings of the commission in the absence of the chairman. The commission shall appoint and employ a director and such personnel as may be required, whose duties shall be defined by the commission and whose compensation, to be fixed by the commission, shall be paid out of the state treasury, upon the requisition of the commission, from moneys appropriated for such purposes.
The commission may establish rules for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of all proceedings before it. All proceedings of the commission shall be entered in a permanently bound record book, properly indexed, and the same shall be carefully preserved. Copies of orders entered by the commission, as well as copies of papers or documents filed with it, or the records of proceedings before the commission, shall be attested by the secretary of the commission. The commission shall meet at such times and places as may be agreed upon by the commissioners, or upon the call of the chairman of the commission or any two commissioners, all of which meetings shall be general meetings for the consideration of any and all matters which may properly come before the commission

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to restructure the compensation paid to commission members to mirror the compensation paid to legislators during special sessions.