H. B. 2310


(By Delegates Amores, Staton,

Beane and Mahan)


[Introduced February 19, 2001 ; referred to the

Committee on Banking and Insurance then the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article one; and section five, article five, chapter twenty-four-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to minimum amounts of financial responsibility required of certain motor carriers and that said insurance amounts shall be regulated by the commission.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section three, article one; and section five, article five, chapter twenty-four-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 1. PURPOSES, DEFINITIONS AND EXEMPTIONS.

§24A-1-3. Exemptions from chapter.

The provisions of this chapter, except where specifically otherwise provided, do not apply to:

(1) Motor vehicles operated exclusively in the transportation of United States mail or in the transportation of newspapers: Provided, That the vehicles and their operators shall be subject to the safety rules promulgated by the commission;

(2) Motor vehicles owned and operated by the United States of America, the state of West Virginia or any county, municipality or county board of education, urban mass transportation authority established and maintained pursuant to article twenty-seven, chapter eight of this code, or by any department thereof, and any motor vehicles operated under a contract with a county board of education exclusively for the transportation of children to and from school or other legitimate transportation for the schools as the commission may specifically authorize;

(3) Motor vehicles used exclusively in the transportation of agricultural or horticultural products, livestock, poultry and dairy products from the farm or orchard on which they are raised or produced to markets, processing plants, packing houses,
canneries, railway shipping points and cold storage plants, and in the transportation of agricultural or horticultural supplies to farms or orchards to be used thereon;
(4) Motor vehicles used exclusively in the transportation of human or animal excreta;

(5) Motor vehicles used exclusively in ambulance service or duly chartered rescue squad service;

(6) Motor vehicles used exclusively for volunteer fire department service;

(7) Motor vehicles used exclusively in the transportation of coal from mining operations to loading facilities for further shipment by rail or water carriers: Provided, That the vehicles and their operators shall be subject to the safety rules promulgated by the commission;

(8) Motor vehicles used by petroleum commission agents and oil distributors solely for the transportation of petroleum products and related automotive products when the transportation is incidental to the business of selling the products: Provided, That the vehicles and their operators shall be subject to the safety rules promulgated by the commission;

(9) Motor vehicles owned, leased by or leased to any person
and used exclusively for the transportation of processed source-separated recycled materials, generated by commercial, institutional and industrial customers, transported free of charge from the customers to a facility for further processing: Provided, That the vehicles and their operators shall be subject to the safety rules promulgated by the commission;
(10) Motor vehicles specifically preempted from state economic regulation of intrastate motor carrier operations by the provisions of the federal aviation administration authorization act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-305 §601 108 Stat. 1605 (1994)) interstate commerce commission termination act of 1995 (49 U.S.C.A. § 14501(c) (1995): Provided, That the vehicles and their operators shall be subject to the safety rules promulgated by the commission: Provided, however, That the vehicles and their operators shall be subject to the authority of the commission to impose highway route controls or limitations based on the size or weight of the motor vehicle or the hazardous nature of the cargo: Provided further, That the commission shall retain the authority to regulate motor carriers with regard to minimum amounts of financial responsibility relating to insurance requirements and self-insurance authorization: And Provided
further, That the commission shall regulate vehicles and their operators which transport household goods: And Provided further, That the commission shall regulate the price of for-hire motor vehicle transportation by a tow truck, if the transportation is preformed without the prior consent or authorization of the owner or operator of the motor vehicle; and
(11) Motor vehicles designated by the West Virginia bureau of senior services for use and operation by local county aging programs: Provided, That the vehicles and their operators shall be subject to the safety rules promulgated by the commission.

§24A-5-5. Further regulatory powers of the commission.

The commission shall:
(a) Rules and practice and procedure. -- Prescribe rules of practice and procedure, the method and manner of holding hearings, and for taking evidence on all matters that may come before it, and enter such orders as may be just and lawful. In the investigations, preparations, and hearings of cases, the commission shall not be bound by the technical rules of pleading and evidence, but in that respect it may exercise such discretion as will facilitate its efforts to understand and learn all the facts bearing upon the right and justness of the matters before it.
(b) Employees. -- Appoint such employees as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, and shall fix their respective salaries or compensation. Such The employees shall hold office during the pleasure of the commission. The commission may designate such employees as it deems considers necessary to take evidence at any hearing held or required by the provisions of this chapter, which employees are hereby empowered to administer oaths in all parts of the state so far as the exercise of such power is properly incidental to the performance of their duties in connection with the provisions of this chapter.
(c) Schedule of fees. -- Prescribe a schedule of fees to accompany applications for certificates of convenience and necessity and permits and for the filing and recordation of other papers with the commission. The commission shall likewise prescribe a schedule of fees to be charged for the certification of all records and papers and sums to be paid witnesses and other costs necessary and incident to hearings before it or its employees and order the same paid by the unsuccessful party. Sums collected in this manner, except witness fees, shall be paid into the state treasury and be credited to the public service commission motor carrier fund provided for in section six of article six of this chapter. The witness fees shall be paid to the persons who are entitled thereto.
(d) System of accounts. -- Establish a system of accounts to be kept by motor carriers or classify motor carriers and establish a system of accounts for each class, and prescribe the manner in which such the accounts shall be kept. It may also in its discretion prescribe the form of accounts, records, and memoranda to be kept by such the motor carriers, including the accounts, records, and memoranda for the movement of traffic as well as the receipts and expenditures of money, and any other forms, records and memoranda which in the judgment of the commission may be necessary to carry out any of the provisions of this chapter.
(e) Information to be furnished commission. -- Require persons subject to the provisions of this chapter, to furnish any information which may be in their possession, or obtainable from their accounting or other records, respecting rates, charges, classifications or practices in conducting their business, and to furnish the commission at all times for inspection any books or papers or reports and statements, which reports and statements shall be under oath, when so required by the commission, and the form of all reports required under this chapter shall be prescribed by the commission.
(f) Witnesses; testimony; subpoenas. -- Either as a commission or by any of its members, or by designated employees, subpoena witnesses and take testimony, and administer oaths to any witness in any proceeding or examination instituted before it or conducted by it with reference to any matter within its jurisdiction. In all hearings or proceedings before the commission or its designated employees the evidence of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence may be required at any designated place of hearing within the state; and in the case of disobedience to a subpoena or other process the commission or any party to the proceedings before the commission may invoke the aid of any circuit court in the state in requiring the evidence and testimony of witnesses and the production of papers, books and documents. And such the court, in case of refusal to obey the subpoena issued to any person or to any motor carrier subject to the provisions of this chapter, shall issue an order requiring such the motor carrier or any person to appear before the commission or designated employees and produce all books and papers, if so ordered, and give evidence touching the matter in question. Any failure to obey such the order of the court may be punished by such the court as contempt thereof. A claim that such testimony or evidence may tend to incriminate the person giving the same shall not excuse such witness from testifying, but such witness shall not be prosecuted for any offense concerning which he or she is compelled hereunder to testify.
(g) Insurance. -- Require common carriers by motor vehicle and contract carriers by motor vehicle subject to the provisions of this chapter either to procure insurance from a company authorized to write such insurance in West Virginia, or to qualify as a self-insurer, or to deposit such security, upon such terms and conditions and for such limits of liability as the commission shall determine to be necessary for the reasonable protection of the traveling, shipping, and general public against injury, loss, damage or default for which such the carrier may be liable, and prescribe rules and regulations governing the filing of evidence of such the insurance and such the security with the commission. In fixing the amount of such the insurance policy or policies, the qualifications as a self-insurer, or the deposit of security, the commission shall give due consideration to the character and amount of traffic, the value of the property transported, the number of persons affected, and the degree of danger involved in any such motor carrier operation : Provided, That the amount set by the commission for for-hire vehicles, hauling nonhazardous property with a gross weight of ten thousand or more pounds, not be set below the minimum amount set by the federal government in the federal motor carrier safety regulations. (Pub. L. 49 C.F.R. § 1043.1 (1994), et seq.; 49 C.F.R. § 387.9 (1994).
(h) Cooperation with federal government. -- Cooperate with the federal government and the interstate commerce commission of the United States or any other commission or organized delegated authority to regulate interstate or foreign commerce by motor vehicles, and it shall be its duty so to do, to the end that the transportation of persons and property by motor vehicles in interstate and foreign commerce into and through the state of West Virginia may be regulated and the laws of the United States and the state of West Virginia enforced and administered cooperatively in the public interest.
(i) Reciprocal agreements. -- Make agreements on behalf of the state of West Virginia with any other state or states providing for reciprocal rights, privileges, and courtesies between the licensees or holders of certificates and permits of the said state or states and the state of West Virginia respecting certificates and permits, fees, assessments and uniform vehicle identification cards, and the transportation of either persons or property into or through the respective state or states and the state of West Virginia, and all existing agreements between a state or states and the state of West Virginia for reciprocal rights, privileges, and courtesies may, provided constitutional and contractual rights are not violated, be declared void by the commission, and new agreements negotiated.
(j) Safety rules. and regulations -- Promulgate safety rules and regulations applicable to motor vehicles subject to the provisions of this chapter and promulgate regulations governing the qualifications and maximum hours of service of drivers and chauffeurs of common and contract carriers by motor vehicle of passengers and property subject to the provisions of this chapter, and promulgate any other rules and regulations which the commission may deem consider proper to carry out the provisions and intent of this chapter.

 NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to direct the public service commissioner to regulate the minimum amount of liability insurance carried by motor carriers. The bill also provides that the commission may not set minimum insurance requirements for vehicles hauling nonhazardous property below the minimum amount set by the federal government.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.