ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 599
(By Senators Ross, Dittmar, Anderson, Deem and Bowman)
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[Originating in the Committee on Natural Resources;
reported March 1, 1996.]
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A BILL to amend article one-a, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section one-a, relating to the public land corporation; federal clean water act; permitting; certification; promulgation of rules; and designating the public land corporation as the appropriate state agency for issuance of all certifications and permits required for debris removal and flood prevention on small streams.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one-a, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section one-a, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 1A. REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT AND PROCEDURES.

§20-1A-1a. Certification and permitting for debris removal and flood prevention.

(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the public land corporation, as the vested title holder of public lands of the state and of all of the state's waterways and streams, is the proper agency in which all responsibility should reside for the protection and supervision of the integrity of such waterways. It is further found that a centralized stewardship of such natural resources will provide greater protection for the state.
(b) The public land corporation is hereby designated the sole state governmental body responsible for issuance of those certifications and permits required by section four hundred one and section four hundred four, respectively, of the federal Clean Water Act, notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary.
(c) Upon receipt of an application for the issuance of the aforementioned certification or permit, the public land corporation shall immediately consider such application. The public land corporation shall approve or deny the application not later than thirty days following the filing thereof. Any application not approved or denied within thirty days shall be deemed to be approved.
(d) The public land corporation shall promulgate rules pursuant to the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code governing the issuance of section four hundred one certifications and section four hundred four permits and establishing a "one-stop- shop" approach for issuance of all permits required for debris removal and flood prevention on small streams of this state.