Senate Bill No. 59
(By Senators Bailey and Buckalew)
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[Introduced January 15, 1996; 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 three, article two-a, chapter
sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend article nine-a
of said chapter by adding thereto a new section, designated
section eight, all relating to authorizing the secretary of
the department of health and human resources to promulgate
rules dealing with the use of tobacco products in this
state; and limiting the authority of local boards of health
to promulgate rules relating to the use of tobacco.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article two-a, chapter sixteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that article nine-a of
said chapter be amended by adding thereto a new section,
designated section eight, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF ORGANIZING LOCAL HEALTH
AGENCIES.
§16-2A-3. Powers and duties of county and municipal boards of
health; promulgating and filing of rules.
County or municipal boards of health created and established
pursuant to the provisions of this article shall direct,
supervise and control all matters relating to the general health
and sanitation of their respective counties or municipalities,
and shall possess and exercise such power in relation thereto as
may be exercised and is possessed by the state board of health or
the director, as the case may be, so far as such powers are
applicable to the county or municipality. The Local boards of
health shall also have the power and authority to adopt and
promulgate and from time to time amend rules, consistent with the
public health laws of this state and the rules of the West
Virginia state department of bureau of public health, and human
resources as may be necessary and proper for the protection of
the general health of the county or municipality and the prevention of the introduction, propagation and spread of disease
therein. All rules shall be filed, in the case of a county
board, with the clerk of the county commission, and in the case
of a municipal board, with the clerk, recorder or similar officer
of the municipality. The rules shall be kept by the clerk or
recording officer in a separate book and shall be public records:
Provided, That effective the first day of March, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-six, local boards of health shall not be
authorized to promulgate rules dealing with the use, sale,
distribution, marketing or promotion of tobacco products. The
authority to regulate tobacco products within this state is to be
vested exclusively in the department of health and human
resources, subject to the rule-making procedures in chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code.
It is the duty of local boards of health to protect the
general health and supervise and control the sanitation of their
respective counties and municipalities; to enforce the laws of
this state pertaining to public health, and the rules of the
department of health and human resources bureau of public health,
insofar as they are applicable to such counties or
municipalities, and to perform such duties in relation to public health as may be prescribed by order of the county commission or
by ordinance of the municipality of such counties or ordinances
of such municipalities, consistent with the public health laws of
this state and the regulations rules duly adopted by the
department of health and human resources bureau of public health.
All such local boards of health receiving state or federal funds
for health purposes shall submit a general plan of operation for
health purposes to the commissioner of the bureau of public
health for approval. The commissioner may first receive approval
by the commissioner of the bureau of public health of their
general plan of operation for health purposes. Such commissioner
may, if deemed necessary or expedient by him or her, act through
any county or municipal board of health created, established and
operated pursuant to the provisions of this article.
Local departments of health created and established pursuant
to the provisions of either this article or article two of this
chapter shall be notified of each immunization for hepatitis-b
and other blood borne pathogens received by firefighters within
the service area of the local department of health. Local
departments of health shall maintain, for a period of not less
than thirty years, a record of the date of the immunization and the name of each firefighter within the service area of the local
health department immunized against hepatitis-b and other blood
borne pathogens.
ARTICLE 9A. TOBACCO USAGE RESTRICTIONS.
§16-9A-8. Regulation of tobacco products.
The secretary of the department of health and human
resources shall, on or before the first day of May, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-seven, promulgate legislative rules pursuant
to chapter twenty-nine-a of this code dealing with the use of
tobacco products in this state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that,
effective March 1, 1996, local boards of health will no longer be
authorized to promulgate rules relating to the use, sale,
distribution, marketing or promotion of tobacco products. The
sole authority to promulgate rules relating to tobacco use shall
be vested in the department of health and human resources,
subject to the rule-making procedures in chapter 29A. The
department is to promulgate rules by May 1, 1997.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
§16-9A-8 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.