ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 124
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Sprouse,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced February 15, 2001; referred to the Select Committee
on Economic Development; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend article three, chapter five-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated section fifty-six,
relating to the creation of preferences for the use of
domestic steel products in state-supported projects and
associated exceptions and fines.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter five-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fifty-six, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. PURCHASING DIVISION.
§5A-3-56. Preference for the use of domestic steel products in
state supported projects; exceptions; fines.
(a)(1) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section,
whenever any building or structure, including highway improvements, in whole or in part, supported by the state and not yet bid, is to
be erected or constructed, or whenever additions, alterations or
structural or other improvements are to be made, or heating,
cooling or ventilating plants or other equipment is to be installed
or material supplied therefor, and if any steel products are to be
used or supplied in the construction, repair or improvement
project, only steel products as defined in this section shall be
used or supplied in the project.
(2) As used in this section:
(A) "Steel products" means products rolled, formed, shaped,
drawn, extruded, forged, cast, fabricated or otherwise similarly
processed, or processed by a combination of two or more of such
operations, and used for load-bearing purposes, from steel made in
the United States by the open hearth, basic oxygen, electric
furnace, bessemer or other steel making process.
(B)"United States" means the United States of America and
includes all territory, continental or insular, subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States.
(b) However, in any and all circumstances detailed in
subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section, the director of
the purchasing division may authorize in writing the use of foreign
steel products if either of the following is true:
(1) The cost for each contract item used does not exceed one
tenth of one percent of the total contract cost or two thousand
five hundred dollars, whichever is greater. For the purposes of
this section, the cost is the value of the steel product as delivered to the project.
(2) The director of the purchasing division determines that
specified steel materials are not produced in the United States in
sufficient quantity or otherwise are not reasonably available to
meet contract requirements.
(c) A contractor who uses steel products in violation of
subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall pay a civil penalty
equal to one and one-half times the cost of the steel products used
in violation of said subsections. Upon collection of the civil
penalty pursuant to an action authorized by subsection (d) of this
section, the attorney general of the state of West Virginia shall
pay the money collected to the general revenue fund of the state of
West Virginia: Provided, That any contractor in violation of this
section who relied in good faith upon documents of title and origin
indicating that the steel products were made in the United States
shall not be subject to the civil penalty.
(d) Whenever the director of the purchasing division has
reasonable cause to believe that a contractor has used steel
products in violation of subsections (a) and (b) of this section,
the director of the purchasing division shall conduct an
investigation to determine whether the contractor has used or is
using steel products in violation of said subsections. Upon
conducting the investigation, if the director of the purchasing
division finds that the contractor has used or is using steel
products in violation of said subsections, the director of the
purchasing division shall request the attorney general of the state of West Virginia to commence an action under this section against
the contractor for violating said subsections. Any action under
this section is a civil action.
(e) If any of the requirements or provisions set forth in this
section jeopardize the receipt of federal funds, then such
requirements or provision shall be void and of no force and effect.
(f) This section may be cited as the "West Virginia American
Steel Act of 2001".