Senate Bill No. 378
(By Senators Macnaughtan, Withers and Wagner)
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[Introduced February 18, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section nine, article one, chapter
sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring septic
system installers to be bonded; and to require that the
commissioner of health certify the system before releasing
the bond.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article one, 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 1. STATE BUREAU OF PUBLIC HEALTH.
§16-1-9. Supervision over local sanitation.
No person, firm, company, corporation, institution or
association, whether public or private, county or municipal,
shall install or establish any system or method of drainage,
water supply, or sewage or excreta disposal without firstobtaining a written permit to install or establish such system or
method from the commissioner of the bureau of public health or
his or her authorized representative. All such systems or
methods shall be installed or established in accordance with
plans, specifications and instructions issued by the commissioner
or which have been approved in writing by the commissioner or his
or her authorized representative.
Whenever the commissioner of the bureau of public health or
his or her authorized representative finds upon investigation
that any system or method of drainage, water supply, or sewage or
excreta disposal, whether publicly or privately owned, has not
been installed in accordance with plans, specifications and
instructions issued by the commissioner approved in writing by
the commissioner or his or her duly authorized representative,
the commissioner or his or her duly authorized representative may
issue an order requiring the owner of such system or method to
make alterations as may be necessary to correct the improper
condition. Such alterations shall be made within a reasonable
time which shall not exceed thirty days, unless a time extension
is authorized by the commissioner or his or her duly authorized
representative.
The presence of sewage or excreta being disposed of in a
manner not approved by the commissioner of the bureau of public
health or his or her authorized representative shall constitute
prima facie evidence of the existence of a condition endangering
public health.
The personnel of the bureau of public health shall be
available to consult and advise with any person, firm, company,
corporation, institution or association, whether publicly or
privately owned, county or municipal, or public service
authority, as to the most appropriate design, method of operation
or alteration of any such system or method.
A licensed contractor or any other person or corporation
employed or under contract to an owner of private property for
the purpose of installing a sewage or excreta disposal system,
including a septic system, for a single family dwelling shall
post a bond in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars with the
commissioner to ensure the faithful performance and reliability
of the system. The bond shall be maintained for a period of at
least twenty-four months after installation and may only be
released at the end of twenty-four months if the commissioner,
his or her designee or the local health department inspect the
system and certify that the system is operating in conformance
with state and local health laws, rules and ordinances.
Any person, firm, company, corporation, institution or
association, whether public or private, county or municipal, who
shall violate any provisions of this section shall be deemed
guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more
than five hundred dollars. The continued failure or refusal of
such convicted person, firm, company, corporation, institution or
association, whether public or private, county or municipal, tomake the alterations necessary to protect the public health
required by the commissioner of the bureau of public health or
his or her duly authorized representative shall constitute a
separate, distinct and additional offense for each twenty-four
hour period of such failure or refusal, and, upon conviction
thereof, the violator shall be fined not less than twenty-five
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars for each such
conviction:
Provided,
That none of the provisions contained in
this section shall apply to those commercial or industrial wastes
which are subject to the regulatory control of the West Virginia
division of natural resources or the West Virginia air pollution
control commission.
Magistrates shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the
circuit courts of this state for violations of any provisions of
this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require septic system
installers to be bonded and to require that the commissioner of
health certify the system before releasing the bond.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.