Senate Bill No. 57
(By Senator Bowman)
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[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure; 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 §19-1B-15, relating
to timbering operators; requiring repair and restoration of
roads; and providing civil and criminal penalties.
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 §19-1B-15, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1B. SEDIMENT CONTROL DURING COMMERCIAL TIMBER HARVESTING
OPERATIONS.
§19-1B-15. Repair and restoration of roads; civil and criminal
penalties.
(a) Effective July 1, 2010, any person conducting timbering
operations who causes damages to public or private roads or rights-of-way is responsible for the repair and restoration of the public
or private roads or rights-of-way. This includes any damage caused
by any person severing evergreens grown and severed for the
traditional Christmas season.
The director shall promulgate legislative rules in accordance
with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, which
provide the procedure by which any operator may be held responsible
for the repair and restoration of public or private roads or
rights-of-way.
Any person who knowingly or willingly fail to comply with the
requirement to repair and restore damage to public or private roads
or rights-of-way is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than $500 and not more than $1,000
for each violation and shall be required to post a bond with
sufficient surety to guarantee the proper and prompt repair and
restoration of public or private roads or rights-of-way damaged
while in the course of timbering operations.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require timbering
operators to repair and restore roads and rights-of-way damaged by
their operations. It also provides civil and criminal penalties.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.