H. B. 4049
(By Delegate Warner)
[Introduced January 14, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen-b, article four,
chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend said article
by adding thereto a new section, designated section
seventeen-d, all relating to the payment of utilities on
highway construction projects.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen-b, article four, chapter seventeen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
seventeen-d, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. STATE ROAD SYSTEM.
§17-4-17b. Relocation of public utility lines to accommodate
federal-aid highway projects.
(a) Whenever the commissioner of highways determines that any
public utility line or facility located upon, across or under any
portion of a state highway needs to be relocated in order to
accommodate a federal-aid interstate or Appalachian highway
project, he or she shall notify the public utility owning or
operating the facility which shall relocate the same in accordance
with the order of the commissioner. The cost of the relocation
shall be paid out of the state road fund in all cases involving the
interstate or the Appalachian system where proportionate
reimbursement of the cost shall be obtained by the commissioner of
highways from the United States pursuant to the "Federal Aid
Highway Act of 1956" or the "Appalachian Regional Development Act
of 1965," as amended, and all acts amendatory or supplementary
thereto: Provided,
That the cost of any relocation of municipally
owned utility facilities and water or sanitary districts or
authorities shall be paid out of state road funds in any case
involving any federal-aid system where proportionate reimbursement
of such cost shall be obtained by the commissioner of highways from the United States.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the term, "cost of
relocation," includes the entire amount paid by the utility,
exclusive of any right-of-way costs incurred by the utility,
properly attributable to the relocation after deducting therefrom
any increase in the value of the new facility and salvage value
derived from the old facility.
The cost of relocating utility facilities, as defined in this
section, in connection with any federal-aid interstate or
Appalachian highway project is hereby declared to be a cost of
highway construction.
(c) The commissioner of highways is hereby authorized to
include within the cost of highway construction the cost of
relocation necessarily incurred by any public utility, and any
pipeline company subject to the jurisdiction of the federal energy
regulatory commission, in relocating any public utility line,
pipeline or facility as a result of the construction of any fully
or partially controlled access highway as a part of the national
highway system as authorized by the "Federal Intermodal Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991", and all acts amendatory and
supplementary thereto as of the twentieth day of March, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three. The provisions of article
five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code apply to all work performed
pursuant to the provisions of this subsection.
(d) Any notice required by this section is sufficient if given
by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested,
addressed to any officer of the utility or to an individual if the
person to whom the notice is required is an individual.
§17-4-17d. Relocation of public utility lines owned by county or
municipal bodies on state highway construction
projects.
(a) Whenever the commissioner of highways determines that any
public utility line owned by a county or municipal governmental
body located upon, across or under any portion of a state highway
needs to be relocated in order to accommodate a highway project for
which proportionate reimbursement of the cost is not available from
any federal program, the commissioner shall notify the public
utility owning or operating the facility which shall relocate the
same in accordance with the order of the commissioner, and the cost
of the relocation shall be paid out of the state road fund.
(b) For the purpose of this section, the term "cost of
relocation" includes the entire amount paid by the utility, exclusive of any right-of-way costs incurred by the utility,
properly attributable to the relocation after deducting therefrom
any increase in the value of the new facility and salvage value
derived from the old facility.
(c) Any notice required by this section is sufficient if given
by registered mail or certified mail, return receipt requested,
addressed to any officer of the utility or to an individual if the
person to whom notice is required is an individual.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow the division of
highways to notify public utilities by certified mail and to notify
public utilities owned by counties or municipalities by certified
mail. The bill allows payment of utility relocation costs on work
funded solely with state moneys to be paid from the state road fund
as a cost of highway construction.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
Section 17-d is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.