Senate Bill No. 471
(By Senator Anderson)
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[Introduced February 9, 1999; referred to the Committee on
Energy, Industry and Mining; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section sixty-three, article two,
chapter twenty-two-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
the office of miners' health, safety and training; fees for
permits and certificates of approval; providing that the
fees collected for such certificates be placed in the
operating permit fees fund; and providing for expenditure of
moneys placed in the fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section sixty-three, article two, chapter twenty-two-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. UNDERGROUND MINES.
§22A-2-63. No mine to be opened or reopened without prior approval of the director of the office of miners' health, safety and training; certificate of approval; approval fees; extension of certificate of approval; certificates of approval not transferable; section to be printed on certificates of approval.
(a) No mine may be opened or reopened unless prior approval
has been obtained from the director of the office of miners'
health, safety and training. The director may not unreasonably
withhold approval. The operator shall pay a fee of one hundred
dollars for the approval, which shall be tendered with the
application for approval: Provided, That mines producing coal
solely for the operator's use shall be issued a permit without
charge if coal production will be less than fifty tons a year.
Within thirty days after the first day of January of each
year, the holder of a permit to open a mine shall apply for the
extension of the permit for an additional year. The permit,
evidenced by a document issued by the director, shall be granted
as a matter of right for a fee of one hundred dollars if, at the time application is made, the permit holder is in compliance with
the provisions of section seventy-seven of this article and has
paid or otherwise appealed all coal mine assessments issued to
the mine if operated by the permit holder and imposed under
article one of this chapter. Applications for extension of
permits not submitted within the time required shall be processed
as an application to open or reopen a mine and shall be
accompanied by a fee of one hundred dollars.
(b) Permits issued pursuant to this section are not
transferable.
(c) If the operator of a mine is not the permit holder as
defined in subsection (a) of this section, then the operator
shall apply for and obtain a certificate of approval to operate
the mine on which the permit is held prior to commencing
operations. The operator shall pay a fee of one hundred dollars,
which payment shall be tendered with the application for
approval. The approval, evidenced by a certificate issued by the
director, shall be granted if, at the time application is made,
the applicant is in compliance with the provisions of section
seventy-seven of this article and has paid or otherwise appealed all coal mine assessments imposed on the applicant for the
certificate of approval under article one of this chapter.
(d) In addition to the director's authority to file a
petition for enforcement under subdivision (4), subsection (a),
section twenty-one, article one of this chapter, if an operator
holding a certificate of approval issued pursuant to subsection
(c) of this section, has been assessed a civil penalty in
accordance with section twenty-one, article one of this chapter,
and its implementing rules, and the penalty has become final,
fails to pay the penalty within the time prescribed in the order,
the director or the authorized representative of the director, by
certified mail, return receipt requested, shall send a notice to
the operator advising the operator of the unpaid penalty. If the
penalty is not paid in full within sixty days from the issuance
of the notice of delinquency by the director, then the director
may revoke the operator's certificate of approval: Provided,
That the operator to whom the delinquency notice is issued has
thirty days from receipt of the delinquency notice to request, by
certified mail, return receipt requested, a public hearing held
in accordance with the procedures of section seventeen, article one of this chapter, and its implementing rules, including
application for temporary relief. Once the operator's
certificate of approval is revoked pursuant to this subsection,
the operator may not obtain any certificate of approval under the
provisions of this section to operate any other mine until that
operator pays the delinquent penalties that have become final.
(e) Every firm, corporation, partnership or individual that
contracts to perform services or construction at a coal mine is
considered to be an operator and shall apply for and obtain a
certificate of approval prior to commencing operations:
Provided, That these persons shall only be required to obtain one
certificate annually: Provided, however, That persons such as,
but not limited to, consultants, mine vendors, office equipment
suppliers and maintenance and delivery personnel are excluded
from this requirement to obtain a certificate of approval.
Operators who are required to obtain a certificate of approval
pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall pay a fee of
one hundred dollars which shall be tendered with the application
for approval. Approval evidenced by a certificate issued by the
director, shall be granted if, at the time the application is made, the applicant has paid or otherwise appealed all coal mine
assessments imposed on the applicant under article one of this
chapter.
Within thirty days after the first day of January of each
year, the holder of a certificate of approval shall apply for the
extension of that approval for an additional year. Applications
for extension shall be accompanied by a fee of one hundred
dollars. An extension shall be granted if, at the time
application is made, the applicant has paid or otherwise appealed
all coal mine assessments imposed on the applicant under article
one of this chapter. All delinquent assessments which have been
imposed upon a certificate of approval holder or applicants under
this section may not be imposed upon any permit holder or
certificate of approval holder or any applicant pursuant to
subsection (a) or (c) of section sixty-three.
(f) The provisions of this section shall be printed on the
reverse side of every permit issued under subsection (a) of this
section and certificate of approval issued under subsection (d)
of this section.
(g) The district mine inspector shall conduct a preinspection of the area proposed for underground mining prior
to issuance of any new opening permit approval.
(h) After the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven, all moneys collected by the office of miners'
health, safety and training for the approval fees set forth in
subsections (a), (b) and (e) of this section shall be deposited
with the treasurer of the state of West Virginia to the credit of
the general administration--operating permit fees fund. The
operating permit fees fund shall be used by the director who is
authorized to expend the moneys in the fund for the
administration of this chapter. Provided, That after the
thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight,
all moneys collected by the office of miners' health, safety and
training for the approval fees set forth in subsections (a), (b)
and (e) of this section shall be deposited with the state
treasurer to the credit of the general fund.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to restore spending
authority to the Director of the Office of Miners' Health, Safety
and Training for fees collected for permits and certificates of
approval.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.