Senate Bill No. 590
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Buckalew
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced February 18, 1998; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article seventeen-a,
relating to the transfer of certain jurisdiction and
employees from the department of transportation to the
public service commission, where such jurisdiction and
employees involve the administration and enforcement of
statutes and regulations as to vehicular size and weight;
purposes; findings; effective date of transfer of
jurisdiction; funding of inspection by public service
commission; and exceptions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be further amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article seventeen-a,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 17A. TRANSFER OF CERTAIN JURISDICTION AND EMPLOYEES TO
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
§17C-17A-1. Purposes of article.
The purposes of this article are: (1) To transfer
jurisdiction over the enforcement of state statutes and
regulations including, but not limited to, the provisions of
article seventeen of this chapter relating to vehicular size and
weight, from the commissioner of highways, division of highways,
and department of transportation to the public service commission
of West Virginia; and (2) to transfer to the public service
commission of West Virginia those employees of the division of
highways and department of transportation whose primary
governmental duties involve the administration and enforcement of
such statutes and regulations.
§17C-17A-2. Legislative findings.
The Legislature finds: (1) That enforcement officers of the
public service commission of West Virginia are, as part of their
enforcement of chapters twenty-four and twenty-four-a of this
code with respect to common and contract carriers by motor
vehicle, other for-hire carriers, and private commercial
carriers, already inspecting for safety many of the same vehicles and loads that are inspected for size and weight by employees of
the department of transportation; (2) that to effectuate the
legislative findings and declarations heretofore set forth in
section one, article one, chapter five-f of this code, the
jurisdiction over the administration and enforcement of state
statutes and regulations relating to vehicular size and weight
should be transferred to said public service commission; (3)
that, to preserve continuity and to maximize efficiency, those
employees of the department of transportation who are employed
primarily in the performance of the governmental duties described
in this section should be transferred to said public service
commission; (4) that all inspections of vehicles and loads
relating to size and weight, regardless of which agency of the
state conducts such inspections, fall within the scope of
"maintenance of public highways" as that term is used in section
fifty-two, article six of the constitution of this state; and (5)
that revenues in the state road fund, heretofore established
pursuant to the provisions of section one, article three, chapter
seventeen of this code may and should continue to be used to fund
such inspections and all expenditures incidental thereto.
§17C-17A-3. Transfer of jurisdiction over vehicle size, weight,
and height enforcement to public service
commission.
Effective July one, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight,
the jurisdiction over the enforcement of state statutes and
regulations including, but not limited to, applicable provisions
of article seventeen of this chapter relating to vehicular size
and weight shall be transferred from the commissioner of
highways, division of highways, and department of transportation
to the public service commission of West Virginia.
§17C-17A-4. Transfer of certain employees from department of
transportation to public service commission.
Effective July one, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight,
those employees of the division of highways and department of
transportation whose primary governmental duties as of the
thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight,
involve the administration and enforcement of state statutes and
regulations relating to vehicular size and weight shall be
transferred from the division of highways and department of
transportation to the public service commission of West Virginia.
§17C-17A-5. Inspections performed by public service commission
to be funded from revenues in state road fund.
(a) On and after July one, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight, the cost of all inspections of vehicles and loads
relating to vehicular size and weight conducted by the public
service commission of West Virginia, which inspections were formerly conducted by the division of highways and department of
transportation, shall be funded by revenues in the state road
fund heretofore established pursuant to the provisions of section
one, article three, chapter seventeen of this code.
(b) The commissioner of highways and treasurer shall take
all actions necessary to implement such funding of such
inspections, and expenditures incidental thereto.
§17C-17A-6. Exceptions.
(a) Nothing in this article shall be construed to reduce or
eliminate the authority of a police officer to enforce the
provisions of article seventeen of this chapter.
(b) Nothing in this article shall be construed to reduce or
eliminate the jurisdiction of the commissioner of highways,
division of highways, and/or department of transportation to
administer and enforce sections eleven, eleven-a, eleven-b,
eleven-c, and twelve, article seventeen of this chapter.
(c) Nothing in this article shall be construed to expand,
reduce, or eliminate the liability imposed by section thirteen of
article seventeen of this chapter.
NOTE: This bill would transfer certain jurisdiction and
employees from the West Virginia Department of Transportation to
the Public Service Commission of West Virginia by creating a new
article, Article 17A, in Chapter 17C.
The transfer would involve the administration and
enforcement of statutes and regulations as to vehicular size and weight.
The effective date of the transfer would be July 1, 1998.
The bill would also establish that, effective July 1, 1998,
all inspections of vehicles and loads relating to vehicular size
and weight by the commission, and any expenses incidental thereto
would be funded by revenues in the state road fund.
Most of the jurisdiction being transferred involves
provisions of Article 17 of Chapter 17C. However, the bill also
lists certain sections of Article 17 that would not be affected
if the legislation passes.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.