Senate Bill No. 227
(By Senators Snyder, Burnette, Hunter, Kessler, Oliverio and
Unger)
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[Introduced January 16, 2002; referred to the Committee on
Transportation; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend chapter seventeen-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
by adding thereto a new article, designated article ten-a,
relating to the regulation of all-terrain vehicles;
requiring titling and payment of a privilege tax upon the
purchase of all-terrain vehicles; dedicating of privilege
tax; requiring an identification certification card and
identification device for all-terrain vehicles and creating
exceptions thereto; providing requirements for issuing
certification cards and identification on certain new and
previously sold all-terrain vehicles; authorizing the
division of motor vehicles to otherwise regulate the
transfer of ownership of titled and untitled all-terrain
vehicles; requiring visual placement of the identification
device and exceptions thereto; requiring capture of federal funds to the extent funds are available; requiring regional
distribution of registration fees; authorizing the
secretary of transportation to administer the program; and
establishing a special revenue account for the privilege
tax.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article ten-a, to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 10A. ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES TITLING AND REGISTRATION
§17A-10A-1. Numbering of all-terrain vehicles
.
(a) In accordance with the provisions of subsection (c),
section four of article three of this chapter, any all-terrain
vehicle as defined in section one, article one of this chapter
owned by a resident of this state and located within this state
is subject to the titling provisions of this article and payment
of the privilege tax provided by section four, article three of
this chapter. Notwithstanding any other code provision to the
contrary, all privilege taxes collected on all-terrain vehicles
pursuant to this section are to be deposited into the all-
terrain vehicle trails development administration fund
established in section two of this article:
Provided, that the division of motor vehicles shall retain five dollars of the
privilege tax to cover the costs associated with issuing the
identification number certificate and identification device
required pursuant to this section. The division of motor
vehicles shall, on and after the first day of October, two
thousand and two, provide each all-terrain vehicle owner who
obtains a title, an identification number certificate and an
identification device as deemed appropriate by the division.
For the purposes of this section, the term "identification
device" includes, but is not limited to, a decal, tag or plate
designed to be affixed to the all-terrain vehicle by the owner
in the manner designated by the division for purposes of
identification. Any operator of the all-terrain vehicle must
carry the identification number certificate when operating the
all-terrain vehicle. The identification number certificate and
the identification device are valid without need for renewal for
the duration of the owner's interest in the all-terrain vehicle
and will not expire until the all-terrain vehicle
is either sold
or otherwise permanently removed from the service of the owner.
(b) Every owner of an all-terrain vehicle, regardless of
whether such vehicle is properly titled in the name of the
owner, shall, on or after the first day of October, two thousand
and two, but before the first day of October, two thousand and
three, apply to the division for an identification number certificate and an identification device as provided in
subsection (a) of this section. The division shall prescribe
the form and content of the application which shall contain but
is not limited to a statement of ownership, complete description
of the vehicle, manufacturer's identification serial number, and
the name and address of the vehicle owner. The division may
also require that the manufacturer's identification serial
number be verified by a law enforcement officer or a motor
vehicle inspection station authorized under the provisions of
article sixteen, chapter seventeen-c of this code. The division
shall issue the identification number certificate and
identification device in the following manner:
(1) When the all-terrain vehicle is titled in the name of
the owner at the time the application is filed, issue to the
owner-applicant an identification number certificate and
identification device for display in accordance with the
provisions of this section. Any seller of an all-terrain
vehicle shall properly reassign his or her interest in the all-
terrain vehicle to any subsequent purchaser on the reverse side
of the certificate of title and the identification number
certificate.
(2) When the all-terrain vehicle is not titled in the name
of the owner at the time the application is filed, the division
shall require the applicant to submit a statement of ownership and verification of the manufacturer's identification serial
number. The division shall, upon satisfaction that the
applicant is the bona fide owner of the vehicle, issue to the
owner-applicant an identification number certificate and
identification device for display in accordance with the
provisions of this section. Any seller of an all-terrain
vehicle shall properly reassign his or her interest in the all-
terrain vehicle to any subsequent purchaser on the reverse side
of the identification number certificate.
(c) Upon the transfer of ownership of any all-terrain
vehicle which displays an identification device, the seller
shall properly reassign his or her interest in the all-terrain
vehicle on the reverse side of the identification number
certificate and, if applicable, the certificate of title to the
purchaser, who shall, within sixty days of purchase, apply to
the division for a new certificate of title in the purchaser's
name, pay the required privilege tax and obtain a new
identification number certificate and identification device.
(d) Upon the transfer of ownership on or after the first day
of October, two thousand and three, of any all-terrain vehicle
which does not display an identification device, the purchaser
shall, within sixty days of purchase, complete a statement of
ownership, obtain a verification of the manufacturer's
identification serial number and apply to the division for a certificate of title in the purchaser's name, pay the required
privilege tax and obtain an identification number certificate
and identification device.
(e) On or after the first day of October, two thousand and
three, it is unlawful for any person to own or operate an all-
terrain vehicle in this state, unless an identification number
certificate is carried by the operator and the prescribed
identification device is properly displayed on the vehicle in a
proper manner as designated by the division. The penalties
prescribed in section one, article eleven of this chapter apply
to violations of this chapter: Provided, That t
he requirements
of this section concerning display of the identification device
are not required if the all-terrain vehicle is: (1) exclusively
operated on land owned or leased by the vehicle owner, or (2)
exempt from payment of the privilege tax in accordance with the
provisions of section four of this article.
§17A-24-2. All-terrain vehicle trails development
administration fund
.
(a) The privilege tax collected pursuant to section one of
this article is to be used in the development of all-terrain
vehicle recreational trails in this state. The monies collected
shall be administered by the secretary of transportation to
promote trails development as provided by this section. To the
extent federal matching funds are available pursuant to 23 U.S.C. § 206, which provides federal funds to develop
recreational trails to states comporting to federal guidelines,
the secretary shall coordinate disbursements through the state
"recreational trail advisory board" as provided for by federal
law or other appropriate board or process to assure capture of
the maximum federal monies available to the state for
development of public all-terrain vehicle trails. In order to
assure that trails development is done in areas in the state of
greatest need of trails and is allocated to the areas of the
state from which the privilege tax has been collected, the
secretary shall establish a region by region zoning plan, which
may be the same zone design that the department of
transportation currently employs for "work zone" allocations or
other type of region-based mechanism to assure that trails
development monies are returned to the local areas of the state
from which these monies have been collected. The recreational
trail advisory board or other administrative process or entity
as directed by the secretary of transportation shall administer
the fund as established in subsection (c).
(c) The privilege tax collected pursuant to section one of
this article is to be deposited into a all-terrain vehicle
trails development administration fund. This fund shall be
administered through the secretary of transportation as provided
in this section is to take the form of an interest-bearing account, with any interest earned to be compounded to the fund.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require all-terrain
vehicles to be titled and registered in this state; registration
and a vehicle identification devise be issued for each all-
terrain vehicle; and dedication of the privilege tax for all-
terrain vehicles into the state recreational trails development
fund to develop on a regional basis, public trails throughout
the state.
This bill was recommended for introduction and passage this
session by the Joint Judiciary Committee.
This is a new article; therefore, underlining and strike-
throughs have been omitted.