Senate Bill No. 210

(By Senator Snyder)

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[Introduced January 15, 2002; 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 nine, article one, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring the commissioner of the bureau for public health to promulgate emergency rules for design standards for private water well construction by the thirty-first day of December, two thousand two.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article one, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. STATE PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM.
§16-1-9. Duties and powers of the commissioner; supervision over local sanitation; violations; jurisdiction; penalties.

No person, firm, company, corporation, institution or association, whether public or private, county or municipal, may install or establish any system or method of drainage, water supply or sewage or excreta disposal without first obtaining a written permit to install or establish the system or method from the commissioner or his or her authorized representative. All systems or methods shall be installed or established in accordance with plans, specifications and instructions issued by the commissioner or which have been approved in writing by the commissioner or his or her authorized representative: Provided, That the commissioner shall promulgate emergency rules by the thirty-first day of December, two thousand two, setting design standards for private water well construction.
Whenever the commissioner or his or her authorized representative finds, upon investigation, that any system or method of drainage, water supply or sewage or excreta disposal, whether publicly or privately owned, has not been installed in accordance with plans, specifications and instructions issued by the commissioner or approved in writing by the commissioner or his or her authorized representative, the commissioner or his or her authorized representative shall issue an order requiring the owner of the system or method to make alterations necessary to correct the improper condition. The alterations shall be made within a reasonable time, which shall not exceed thirty days, unless a time extension is authorized by the commissioner or his or her authorized representative.
The presence of sewage or excreta being disposed of in a manner not approved by the commissioner or his or her authorized representative constitutes prima facie evidence of the existence of a condition endangering public health.
The personnel of the bureau for public health shall be available to consult and advise with any person, firm, company, corporation, institution or association, whether publicly or privately owned, county or municipal, or public service authority, as to the most appropriate design, method of operation or alteration of any system or method.
Any person, firm, company, corporation, institution or association, whether public or private, county or municipal, violating any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. Any continuing failure or refusal of the convicted person, firm, company, corporation, institution or association, whether public or private, county or municipal, to make the alterations necessary to protect the public health required by the commissioner or his or her authorized representative is a separate, distinct and additional offense for each 24-hour period of failure or refusal and, upon conviction thereof, the violator shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars for each conviction: Provided, That none of the provisions contained in this section apply to those commercial or industrial wastes that are subject to the regulatory control of the West Virginia division of environmental protection.
Magistrates have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit courts of this state for violations of any provisions of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the commissioner of the bureau of public health to promulgate emergency rules for design standards for private water well construction by December, 31, 2002.

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