ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 431
(By Senators Helmick, Love, Ross, Anderson and Rowe)
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[Passed February 28, 2002; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact sections four, six and seven, article
one-b, chapter nineteen 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 twelve-a, all relating to timbering operations and the
licensure thereof; establishing modified notification
requirements and supervisory requirements for timbering
operations; establishing criminal penalties for certain
violations of said article; and providing for the enforcement
thereof by the division of forestry.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections four, six and seven, article one-b, chapter
nineteen 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 twelve-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1B. SEDIMENT CONTROL DURING COMMERCIAL TIMBER HARVESTING
OPERATIONS.
§19-1B-4. Timbering license required; requirement for license;
exemption; annual fee; rules.
(a) No person may conduct timbering operations, purchase
timber or buy logs for resale until he or she has obtained the
license pursuant to this article from the division and met all
other requirements pertaining to his or her timbering operation or
other wood product business contained in this article: Provided,
That
a person who severs or removes, or hires or contracts with
another to sever or remove, standing trees from his or her own land
is specifically exempted from the timbering operations licensure
requirement of this section during any calendar year in which all
trees severed or removed by or for this owner have an aggregate
stumpage value that does not exceed fifteen thousand five hundred
twenty-eight dollars: Provided, however, That a person hired or
contracted to sever or remove standing trees from the land of
another is specifically exempted from the timbering operations
licensure requirement of this section during any calendar year in
which all trees severed or removed by this hired or contracted
person have an aggregate stumpage value that does not exceed
fifteen thousand five hundred twenty-eight dollars.
(b) An applicant for a license shall submit an application on a form to be designed and provided by the director. A fee of fifty
dollars shall be submitted with each application and with each
annual renewal of the license. The application shall, at a
minimum, contain the following information:
(1) Name, address and telephone number of the applicant and if
the applicant is a business entity other than a sole proprietor,
the names and addresses of the principals, officers and resident
agent of the business entity;
(2) The applicant's West Virginia business registration number
or a copy of the current West Virginia business registration
certificate. The division of forestry shall submit this
information and a list of all applicants to the tax commissioner
each quarter of the calendar year to ensure compliance with payment
of severance, income withholding and all other applicable state
taxes; and
(3) Any other information required by the director.
(c) The director shall promulgate legislative rules pursuant
to the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code which provide procedures by which a license may be acquired,
suspended or revoked under this article. The Legislature expressly
finds that these legislative rules are the proper subject of
emergency legislative rules which may be promulgated in accordance
with the provision of section fifteen, article three, section
twenty-nine-a of this code.
(d) The director shall prescribe a form providing the contents
and manner of posting notice at the timbering operation. The
notice shall include, at a minimum, the operator's name and license
number.
§19-1B-6. Notification of duration of timbering operations or
harvesting of timber for sale; requirements thereof.
(a) In addition to any other requirement of this article, no
person may conduct timbering operations and no person may sever
trees for sale unless the person notifies the director of the
specific location on which the timbering operations or harvesting
of timber are to be conducted. The notification shall be made in
a manner designated by the director.
(1) All persons who conduct timbering operations or who
harvest timber for sale, including those persons who are
specifically exempted from the licensure requirements of section
four of this article, shall provide to the director of the division
notification of harvesting of timber, which shall include:
(A) The name and address of the harvester of timber;
(B) The name and addresses of the owner or owners of the
property upon which the timber is located;
(C) The business tax number or social security number of the
harvester of timber; and
(D) An acknowledgment that the harvester of timber will
conduct the harvest according to best management practices.
(2) In addition to the requirements of subdivision (1) of this
subsection, persons who are subject to the licensure requirements
of section four of this article shall provide to the director of
the division
notification of timbering operations, which shall
include, at a minimum, the following:
(A) The specific topographic location where the timbering
operations are to be conducted;
(B) The approximate dates that the timbering operation will
begin and end;
(C) The approximate acreage over which timbering operations
are contemplated;
(D) The names and addresses of the owner or owners of the
timber to be harvested and, if different, the names and addresses
of the owner or owners of the property upon which the timber is
located;
(E) A sketch map of the proposed logging operation, including
haul roads, landings and stream crossings;
(F) A description of the sediment control practices to be used
by the logger during the timber harvesting operation;
(G) An acknowledgment that the operator will conduct the
operations in compliance with the provisions of this article and
any applicable rules promulgated pursuant to this article;
(H) A certification satisfactory to the director that all
permits required under state law have been obtained or applied for and that all pertinent requirements for obtaining any permit
applied for, but not yet obtained, have been complied with; and
(I) The name or names of the person or persons who will be
supervising the timbering operations at the site of the operations
and his or her logger certification numbers.
(b) The notification shall be made within at least three days
of the beginning of the operation.
(c) Further notice shall be given if the operation is to be,
for any reason, closed more than seven days before the estimated
date for closing provided under paragraph (B), subdivision (2),
subsection (a) of this section.
§19-1B-7. Certification of persons supervising timbering
operations, timbering operations to be supervised,
promulgation of rules .
(a)
Any individual supervising any licensed timbering operation, or any
individual supervising any timbering operation that is not exempted
from the licensing requirements set forth in section four of this
article, must be certified pursuant to this section.
(b) The director is responsible for the development of
standards and criteria for establishment of a regularly scheduled
program of education, training and examination that all persons
must successfully complete in order to be certified to supervise
any timbering operation. The program for certified loggers shall provide, at a minimum, for education and training in the safe
conduct of timbering operations, in first aid procedures and in the
use of best management practices to prevent, insofar as possible,
soil erosion on timbering operations. The goals of this program
will be to assure that timbering operations are conducted in
accordance with applicable state and federal safety regulations in
a manner that is safest for the individuals conducting the
operations and that they are performed in an environmentally sound
manner.
(c) The director shall provide for such programs by using the
resources of the division, other appropriate state agencies,
educational systems and other qualified persons. Each inspector
under the jurisdiction of the chief shall attend a certification
program free of charge and complete the certification requirements
of this section.
(d) The director shall promulgate legislative rules in
accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code,
which provide the procedure by which certification pursuant to this
article may be obtained and shall require the payment of an
application fee and an annual renewal fee of fifty dollars.
(e) Upon a person's successful completion of the certification
requirements, the director shall provide that person with proof of
the completion by issuing a numbered certificate and a wallet-sized
card to that person. The division shall maintain a record of each certificate issued and the person to whom it was issued.
(f) A certification granted pursuant to this section is
renewable only for two succeeding years. For the third renewal and
every third renewal thereafter, the licensee shall first attend a
program designed by the director to update the training.
(g) Every timbering operation that is required to be licensed
under section four of this article must have at least one person
certified pursuant to this section supervising the operation at any
time the timbering operation is being conducted and all timbering
operators shall be guided by the West Virginia forest practice
standards and the West Virginia silvicultural best management
practices in selecting practices appropriate and adequate for
reducing sediment movement during a timber operation.
(h) The director shall, at no more than three-year intervals
after the effective date of this article, convene a committee to
review the best management practices so as to ensure that they
reflect and incorporate the most current technologies. The
committee shall, at a minimum, include a person doing research in
the field of silvicultural best management practices, a person
doing research in the field of silviculture, two loggers certified
under this article, a representative of the office of water
resources of the division of environmental protection and a
representative of an environmentally active organization. The
director shall chair the committee and may adjust the then current best management practices according to
the suggestions of the committee in time for the next certification
cycle.
19-1B-12a. Criminal penalties.
(a) After the first day of July, two thousand two, any person
who knowingly or willingly commits one of the following violations
is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars and not more than
five hundred dollars for each violation:
(1)
Conducts timbering operations or purchases timber or buys logs for
resale in this state without holding a valid license from the
director of the division of forestry, as required by subsection a,
section four of this article;
(2)
Conducts timbering operations or severs trees for sale at a
location in this state, without providing the director of the
division of forestry with notice of the location where the
timbering or harvesting operations are to be conducted, as required
by section six of this article;
(3)
Conducts a timbering operation in this state that is not supervised
by a certified logger who holds a valid certificate from the
director of the division of forestry, as required by section seven of this article; or
(4) Continues to conduct timbering or logging operations in
violation of an existing suspension or revocation order that has
been issued by the director of the division of forestry or a
conference panel under section five, ten or eleven of this article.
(b) For the purposes of this section, each day that a person
conducts logging or timbering operations in this state without a
license that is required by this article, without the supervision
of a certified logger as required by this article, without
providing notice of the location to the director of forestry as
required by this article, or in violation of an outstanding
suspension or revocation order shall constitute a separate offense.
(c)
In addition to any other law-enforcement agencies that
have jurisdiction over criminal violations
, any forester or forest
ranger employed by the division of forestry, who, as a part of his
or her official duties is authorized or designated by the director
of the division of forestry to inspect logging or timbering
activities, is hereby authorized to issue citations for any of the
listed violations set forth above that he or she has personally
witnessed.
The limited authority granted by this section to
employees of the division of forestry to issue citations to enforce
the provisions of this section does not include the power to place
any individual or person under arrest.