ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 551
(By Senator Dittmar)
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[Originating in the Committee on Natural Resources;
reported April 2, 1997.]
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A BILL to amend chapter twenty-four-a of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article nine, relating to
findings and declarations; prohibiting local government
entities from competing with private solid waste haulers
unless first meeting certain requirements; providing for
public notice and hearing; requiring a three-year notice to be
given to private solid waste haulers before local government
entities may begin competing in solid waste hauling or the
payment of a sum representing one year of revenue lost by the
private solid waste hauler; defining competition; and making
certain exceptions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter twenty-four-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article nine, to read as follows.
ARTICLE 9. WASTE HAULING BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
§24A-9-1. Prevention of unduly burdensome rates to residential,
commercial, and industrial consumers of solid waste hauling or
collection services; notice and public hearing about the
provision of certain solid waste hauling or collection
services by local government entities; and the creation of an
option on the part of local government entities.
(a) The Legislature finds that residential, commercial and
industrial solid waste customers should pay substantially the same
rates for solid waste hauling services in the same geographical
areas. The Legislature further finds that a local government
entity, defined as a "county, municipality, county solid waste
authority, regional solid waste authority or combination thereof"
may wish to provide solid waste hauling or collection services
within or outside its geographical boundary. When a local
government entity does provide such solid waste hauling or
collection services it may compete with an existing private waste
hauler in the same area. Such competition is not on even terms.
A private solid waste hauler is regulated by the public service
commission of West Virginia and has a duty to serve all the
customers within the private solid waste haulers area. A local
government entity is not regulated by the public service commission
of West Virginia and is not under such an obligation. A local government has the ability to choose which customers it will serve.
A local government entity often chooses to serve only the easiest
to reach and most profitable customers. As the local government
entity obtains customers the existing private solid waste hauler
must charge higher rates to its remaining customers in order to
make up for the customers lost to the local government entity.
This raise in rates is unfair to those remaining customers. In
order to protect solid waste customers from such rate increases,
the Legislature has enacted this section.
(b) No local government entity shall compete with a private
solid waste hauler authorized, pursuant to either section five or
three, article two, chapter twenty-four-a of this code, to provide
solid waste hauling or collection services without first: (i)
Holding at least one public hearing seeking comment on the
advisability of the local government entity providing such service;
(ii) providing at least forty-five days written notice of the
hearing by a Class I legal advertisement and by first class mail to
eleven private solid waste haulers which provide the service in the
prospective local government entity service area; and (iii)
providing public notice of the hearing. Following the public
hearing, but in no event more than one year after the hearing, the
local government entity may decide to provide such service if it
has satisfactorily demonstrated that it is more cost effective to
the affected customers to provide the service than to not provide
the service.
(c) After a local government entity decides to provide such
service it shall give three years notice to any private solid waste
hauler who will be affected before the local government entity
engages in the actual provision of solid waste hauling or
collection services that compete with a private solid waste hauler.
As an alternative to the required three-year notice, the local
government entity may pay any private solid waste hauler with which
it intends to compete an amount equal to the revenues lost in one
year by the affected private solid waste hauler or haulers because
of such competition.
(d) For the purposes of this section, "compete" or
"competition" means a local government entity's provision of a
service which seeks to or does take customers from the existing
private solid waste hauler providing service in the prospective
area.
(e) No provision of this section shall alter or change the
rights that a municipality may exercise within its municipal
boundaries. This section shall apply prospectively. This section
applies only to the provision of solid waste hauling or collection
services. Where a private solid waste hauler is not providing
solid waste hauling or collection services, or is not providing a
particular kind of solid waste hauling or collection services this
section shall not apply.