Senate Bill No. 727
(By Senators Oliverio and Foster)
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[Introduced February 19, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Economic Development; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §5B-2-6a, relating to
the creation of brownfield economic development districts.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §5B-2-6a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA DEVELOPMENT OFFICE.
§5B-2-6a. Brownfield economic development districts; applications;
fees; rules.
Any property owner of a tract of land that is a brownfield or
voluntary remediated site pursuant to article twenty-two, chapter
twenty-two of this code may, if such site and surrounding area were
involved in the extraction and processing of coal, limestone or
other natural resource, apply to the development office to become a brownfield economic development district.
(1) Applicants for a brownfield economic development district
must demonstrate that the district when designated will create
significant economic development activity;
(2) Applicants shall submit a development plan that provides
specific details on proposed financial investment, direct and
indirect jobs to be created, and the viability of the district;
(3) Brownfield economic development districts:
(A) May not contain single family housing;
(B) Shall provide all the infrastructure within the district
without cost to the state, county, public service district or local
municipal government;
(4) Applicants shall demonstrate that were it not for this
designation the contemplated development would not be possible and
that the development is in the best interest of the state;
(5) All costs for the application process shall be borne by
the applicant;
(6) Applicants shall demonstrate that the applicant has
attempted to work in good faith with local officials in regard to
land use issues;
(7) Brownfield economic development districts are not subject
to the provisions of chapter eight-a of this code;
(8) Prior to granting a designation of brownfield economic
development district, the applicant shall provide documentation that the applicant has met all the requirements set for in article
twenty-two, chapter twenty-two of this code to be designated as a
brownfield site or voluntary remediated site and is in compliance
with the remediation plan;
(9) The development office shall propose rules for legislative
approval in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement this section and
such rules shall include, but not be limited to, the application
and timeline process, notice provisions, additional application
consideration criteria and application fees sufficient to cover the
costs of the consideration of an application. The development
office shall promulgate emergency rules pursuant to the provisions
of section fifteen, article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code by the first day of July, two thousand seven, to facilitate
the initial implementation of this section.
(10) Nothing may be construed by this section to exempt
brownfield economic districts from environmental regulation that
would pertain to the development; and
(11) The decision of the development office in regard to an
application shall be final.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create brownfield
economic development districts in areas involved in the extraction
and processing of coal, limestone or other natural resources and
that are currently designated as brownfield or voluntary remediated
sites by the state.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.