A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty, article seventeen, chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the underground storage tank program; increasing maximum amount authorized for underground storage tank annual registration fees; requiring the increase be implemented by emergency rule; increasing cap amount for the fund; and altering requirements for disposal of excess funds.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty, article seventeen, chapter twenty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 17. UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK ACT.

§22-17-20. Appropriation of funds; underground storage tank administrative fund.
(a) The director shall collect annual registration fees from owners of underground storage tanks. The registration fee collected under this section shall not exceed twenty-five seventy- five dollars per tank per year. All such registration fees and the net proceeds of all civil fines, civil penalties and forfeitures collected under this article including accrued interest shall be paid into the state treasury into a special fund designated "the underground storage tank administrative fund" to be used to defray the cost of administering this article in accordance with rules promulgated pursuant to section six of this article. The secretary shall promulgate an emergency rule in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, implementing the increase in registration fees. This fee of up to seventy-five dollars is effective for the fiscal year ending the thirtieth day of June, two thousand three.
(b) The total fee assessed shall be sufficient to assure a balance in the fund of not to exceed four seven hundred thousand dollars at the beginning of each year.
(c) Any amount received pursuant to subsection (a) of this section which exceeds the annual balance required in subsection (b) of this section shall be deposited into the leaking underground storage tank response fund established pursuant to this article to be used for the purposes set forth therein.
(d) (c) The net proceeds of all fines, penalties and forfeitures collected under this article shall be appropriated as directed by article XII, section 5 of the constitution of West Virginia. For the purposes of this section, the net proceeds of such fines, penalties and forfeitures are the proceeds remaining after deducting therefrom those sums appropriated by the Legislature for defraying the cost of administering this article. In making the appropriation for defraying the cost of administering this article, the Legislature shall first take into account the sums included in such the special fund prior to deducting such additional sums as may be needed from the civil fines, civil penalties and forfeitures collected pursuant to this article. At the end of each fiscal year any unexpended balance of such the collected civil fines, civil penalties, forfeitures and registration fees shall not be transferred to the general revenue fund but shall remain in the fund.