H. B. 4644
(By Delegate Thompson, By Request)
[Introduced February 27, 1998; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article two, chapter
twenty-four-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the public
service commission; common carriers by motor vehicles; and
removing the requirement that a public convenience and
necessity must exist in order to operate public buses, taxis
or limousine services.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article two, chapter twenty-four-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. COMMON CARRIERS BY MOTOR VEHICLES.
§24A-2-5. Certificate of convenience and necessity.
(a) Required; application; hearing; granting. -- It shall be unlawful for any common carrier by motor vehicle to operate
within this state without first having obtained from the
commission a certificate of convenience and necessity. However,
the provisions of this section and article do not apply to any
common carrier by motor vehicle commonly known as a public bus,
taxi or limousine service. Upon the filing of an application for
such certificate, the commission shall set a time and place for
a hearing on the application: Provided, That the commission may,
after giving proper notice and if no protest is received, waive
formal hearing on the application. Notice shall be by
publication which shall state that a formal hearing may be waived
in the absence of a protest to such application. The notice
shall be published as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance
with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this
code and the publication area for such publication shall be the
proposed area of operation. The notice shall be published at
least ten days prior to the date of the hearing. After the
hearing or waiver by the commission of the hearing, if the
commission finds from the evidence that the public convenience
and necessity require the proposed service or any part thereof,
it shall issue the certificate as prayed for, or issue it for the
partial exercise only of the privilege sought, and may attach to
the exercise of the right granted by such certificate such terms and conditions as in its judgment the public convenience and
necessity may require, and if the commission shall be of the
opinion that the service rendered by any common carrier holding
a certificate of convenience and necessity over any route or
routes in this state is in any respect inadequate or
insufficient to meet the public needs, such certificate holder
shall be given reasonable time and opportunity to remedy such
inadequacy or insufficiency before any certificate shall be
granted to an applicant proposing to operate over such route or
routes as a common carrier. Before granting a certificate to a
common carrier by motor vehicle the commission shall take into
consideration existing transportation facilities in the territory
for which a certificate is sought, and in case it finds from the
evidence that the service furnished by existing transportation
facilities is reasonably efficient and adequate, the commission
shall not grant such certificate.
(b) Rules and regulations; taking evidence at hearings;
burden of proof. -- The commission shall prescribe such rules
and regulations as it may deem proper for the enforcement of the
provisions of this section and in establishing that public
convenience and necessity do exist the burden of proof shall be
upon the applicant. The commission may designate any of its
employees to take evidence at the hearing of any application for a certificate and submit findings of fact as a part of a report
or reports to be made to the commission.
(c) Certificate not franchise, etc.; assignment or transfer.
-- No certificate issued in accordance with the terms of this
chapter shall be construed to be either a franchise or
irrevocable or to confer any proprietary or property rights in
the use of the public highways. No certificate issued under this
chapter shall be assigned or otherwise transferred without the
approval of the commission. Upon the death of a person holding
a certificate, his personal representative or representatives may
operate under such certificate while the same remains in force
and effect and, with the consent of the commission, may transfer
such certificate.
(d) Suspension, revocation or amendment. -- The commission
may at any time, for good cause, suspend and, upon not less than
fifteen days' notice to the grantee of any certificate and an
opportunity to be heard, revoke or amend any certificate.
(e) The commission shall have the authority, after hearing,
to ratify, approve and affirm those orders issued pursuant to
this section since the tenth day of March, nineteen hundred
seventy-nine. For the purposes of this subsection the commission
may give notice by a Class I legal advertisement of such hearing
in any newspaper or newspapers of general circulation in this state, and such other newspapers as the commission may designate.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the requirement
that in order to obtain licensing of public buses, taxis and
limousine services a public convenience and necessity for these
services must exist.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.