H. B. 4770


(By Delegates Douglas, Butcher, Caputo, Prunty, Angotti, Stalnaker and Willison)


(Originating in the Committee on Government Organization)

[February 24, 2000]



A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article seven, chapter twenty-two-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section four, relating to continuing the oil and gas inspectors' examining board.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article seven, chapter twenty-two-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be amended to add thereto a new section, designated section four, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. OIL AND GAS INSPECTORS' EXAMINING BOARD.

§22C-7-3. Oil and gas inspectors' examining board created; composition; appointment, term and compensation of members; meetings; powers and duties generally.

(a) There is hereby continued an oil and gas inspectors' examining board consisting of five members, two of whom shall be ex officio members and three of whom shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Appointed members may be removed only for the same causes and like manner as elective state officers. One member of the board shall be the representative of the public at large and shall be a person who is knowledgeable about the subject matter of this article and has no direct or indirect financial interest in oil and gas production other than the receipt of royalty payments which do not exceed a five-year average of six hundred dollars per year; one member shall be a person who by reason of previous training and experience may reasonably be said to represent the viewpoint of independent oil and gas operators; and one member shall be a person who by reason of previous training and experience may reasonably be said to represent the viewpoint of major oil and gas producers.
The chief of the office of oil and gas of the division of environmental protection and the chief of the office of water resources of the division of environmental protection shall be ex officio members.
The appointed members of the board shall be appointed for overlapping terms of six years, except that the original appointments shall be for terms of two, four and six years, respectively. Any member whose term expires may be reappointed by the governor.
The board shall pay each member the same compensation and expense reimbursement as is paid to members of the Legislature for their interim duties as recommended by the citizens legislative compensation commission and authorized by law for each day or portion thereof engaged in the discharge of official duties.
The chief of the office of oil and gas shall serve as chair of the board. The board shall elect a secretary from its members.
Members of the board, before performing any duty, shall take and subscribe to the oath required by section 5, article IV of the constitution of West Virginia.
The board shall meet at such times and places as shall be designated by the chair. It is the duty of the chair to call a meeting of the board on the written request of two members. Notice of each meeting shall be given in writing to each member by the secretary at least five days in advance of the meeting. A majority of members is a quorum for the transaction of business.
(b) In addition to other powers and duties expressly set forth elsewhere in this article, the board shall:
(1) Establish, and from time to time revise, forms of application for employment as an oil and gas inspector and supervising inspector, which shall include the applicant's social security number, and forms for written examinations to test the qualifications of candidates, with such distinctions, if any, in the forms for oil and gas inspector and supervising inspector as the board may from time to time deem necessary or advisable;
(2) Adopt and promulgate reasonable rules relating to the examination, qualification and certification of candidates for appointment, and relating to hearings for removal of inspectors or the supervising inspector, required to be held by this article. All of such rules shall be printed and a copy thereof furnished by the secretary of the board to any person upon request;
(3) Conduct, after public notice of the time and place thereof, examinations of candidates for appointment. By unanimous agreement of all members of the board, one or more members of the board or an employee of the division of environmental protection may be designated to give to a candidate the written portion of the examination;
(4) Prepare and certify to the director of the division of environmental protection a register of qualified eligible candidates for appointment as oil and gas inspectors or as supervising inspectors, with such differentiation, if any, between the certification of candidates for oil and gas inspectors and for supervising inspectors as the board may from time to time deem necessary or advisable. The register shall list all qualified eligible candidates in the order of their grades, the candidate with the highest grade appearing at the top of the list. After each meeting of the board held to examine such candidates and at least annually, the board shall prepare and submit to the director of the division of environmental protection a revised and corrected register of qualified eligible candidates for appointment, deleting from such revised register all persons: (a) Who are no longer residents of West Virginia; (b) who have allowed a calendar year to expire without, in writing, indicating their continued availability for such appointment; (c) who have been passed over for appointment for three years; (d) who have become ineligible for appointment since the board originally certified that such persons were qualified and eligible for appointment; or (e) who, in the judgment of at least three members of the board, should be removed from the register for good cause;
(5) Cause the secretary of the board to keep and preserve the written examination papers, manuscripts, grading sheets and other papers of all applicants for appointment for such period of time as may be established by the board. Specimens of the examinations given, together with the correct solution of each question, shall be preserved permanently by the secretary of the board;
(6) Issue a letter or written notice of qualification to each successful eligible candidate;
(7) Hear and determine proceedings for the removal of inspectors or the supervising inspector in accordance with the provisions of this article;
(8) Hear and determine appeals of inspectors or the supervising inspector from suspension orders made by said director pursuant to the provisions of section two, article six, chapter twenty-two of this code: Provided, That in order to appeal from any order of suspension, an aggrieved inspector or supervising inspector shall file such appeal in writing with the oil and gas inspectors' examining board not later than ten days after receipt of the notice of suspension. On such appeal the board shall affirm the action of said director unless it be satisfied from a clear preponderance of the evidence that said director has acted arbitrarily;
(9) Make an annual report to the governor concerning the administration of oil and gas inspection personnel in the state service; making such recommendations as the board considers to be in the public interest; and
(10) Render such advice and assistance to the director of the division of environmental protection as the director shall from time to time determine necessary or desirable in the performance of such duties.
(c) After having conducted a preliminary performance review through its joint committee on government operations, pursuant to article ten, chapter four of this code, the Legislature hereby finds and declares that the oil and gas inspectors' examining board within the division of environmental protection should be continued and reestablished. Accordingly, notwithstanding the provisions of said article, the oil and gas inspectors' examining board within the division of environmental protection shall continue to exist until the first day of July, two thousand.
§22C-7-4. Termination date.
The oil and gas inspectors' examining board shall terminate on the first day of July, two thousand one, pursuant to the provisions of article ten, chapter four of this code, unless sooner terminated, continued or reestablished pursuant to the provisions of that article.
 Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates language that would be added.

Section four is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.