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Introduced Version House Bill 2483 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2483


(By Delegates DeLong, Mahan, Morgan,
Azinger and Hamilton)

[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]



A BILL to amend and reenact §20-1A-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to granting the public land corporation the authority to condemn certain abandoned structures in the waters of the state causing or contributing to flooding or erosion; requiring owner to remove certain abandoned structures; authorizing repayment to public land corporation for certain costs incurred; authorizing citations for violations of right of entry; and establishing civil penalties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-1A-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1A. REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT AND PROCEDURES.

§20-1A-3. Public land corporation, powers and duties.
(a) The corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to:
(1) Acquire from any persons or the State Auditor or any local, state or federal agency, by purchase, lease or other agreement, any lands necessary and required for public use;
(2) Acquire by purchase, condemnation, lease or agreement, receive by gifts and devises, or exchange, rights-of-way, easements, waters and minerals suitable for public use;
(3) Condemn by right of eminent domain, in accordance with the procedures set forth in chapter fifty-four, article two of this code, any structure, including, but not limited to, culverts, pipes, bridges, railroad trestles and low water crossings located in a streambed of the state, which was granted a right of entry by the public land corporation, upon a finding that the structure is abandoned, that the structure obstructs, inhibits or otherwise alters the flow of the watercourse and causes or increases the likelihood of flooding or streambed erosion, or causes accumulation of materials behind the structure that alters or otherwise inhibits the flow and direction of the watercourse. Any such structure that has been placed in a streambed without the required right of entry into the streambed from the public land corporation or any structure that varies from the structure which was granted a right of entry, shall be removed at the owner's expense upon request of the corporation. Any such structure which is not removed within a reasonable amount of time by the owner shall be removed by the public land corporation at the owner's expense. The public land corporation may use any lawful means necessary to collect reimbursement from the owner. All reimbursement moneys shall be deposited into the Planning and Development-Public Land Corporation Fund;
(3) (4) Sell or exchange public lands where it is determined that the sale or exchange of such tract meets any or all of the following disposal criteria:
(A) The tract was acquired for a specific purpose and the tract is no longer required for that or any other state purpose;
(B) Disposal of the tract serves important public objectives including, but not limited to, expansion of communities and economic development which cannot be achieved on lands other than public lands and which clearly outweigh other public objectives and values including, but not limited to, recreation and scenic values which would be served by maintaining the tract in state ownership; or
(c) The tract, because of its location or other characteristics, is difficult and uneconomic to manage as part of the public lands and is not suitable for management by another state department or agency.
(4) (5) Sell, purchase or exchange lands or stumpage for the purpose of consolidating lands under state or federal government administration subject to the disposal criteria specified in subdivision (3) of this section;
(5) (6) Negotiate and effect loans or grants from the government of the United States or any agency thereof for acquisition and development of lands as may be authorized by law to be acquired for public use;
(6) (7) Expend the income from the use and development of public lands for the following purposes:
(A) Liquidate obligations incurred in the acquisition, development and administration of lands, until all obligations have been fully discharged;
(B) Purchase, develop, restore and preserve for public use, sites, structures, objects and documents of prehistoric, historical, archaeological, recreational, architectural and cultural significance to the State of West Virginia; and
(c) Obtain grants or matching moneys available from the government of the United States or any of its instrumentalities for prehistoric, historic, archaeological, recreational, architectural and cultural purposes.
(7) (8) Designate lands, to which it has title, for development and administration for the public use including recreation, wildlife stock grazing, agricultural rehabilitation and homesteading or other conservation activities;
(8) (9) Enter into leases as a lessor for the development and extraction of minerals, including coal, oil, gas, sand or gravel, except as otherwise circumscribed herein: Provided, That leases for the development and extraction of minerals shall be made in accordance with the provisions of sections five and six of this article. The corporation shall reserve title and ownership to the mineral rights in all cases;
(9) (10) Convey, assign, or allot lands to the title or custody of proper departments or other agencies of state government for administration and control within the functions of departments or other agencies as provided by law;
(10) (11) Make proper lands available for the purpose of cooperating with the government of the United States in the relief of unemployment and hardship or for any other public purpose.
(b) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special Public Land Corporation Fund into which shall be paid all proceeds from public land sales and exchanges and rents, royalties and other payments from mineral leases. The corporation may acquire public lands from use of the payments made to the fund, along with any interest accruing to the fund. The corporation shall report annually, just prior to the beginning of the regular session of the Legislature, to the finance committees of the Legislature on the financial condition of the special fund. The corporation shall report annually to the Legislature on its public land holdings and all its leases, its financial condition and its operations and shall make such recommendations to the Legislature concerning the acquisition, leasing, development, disposition and use of public lands.
(c) All state agencies, institutions, divisions and departments shall make an inventory of the public lands of the state as may be by law specifically allocated to and used by each and provide to the corporation a list of such public lands and minerals, including their current use, intended use or best use to which lands and minerals may be put: Provided, That the Division of Highways need not provide the inventory of public lands allocated to and used by it. The inventory shall identify those parcels of land which have no present or foreseeable useful purpose to the State of West Virginia. The inventory shall be submitted annually to the corporation by the first day of August. The corporation shall compile the inventory of all public lands and minerals and report annually to the Legislature by no later than the first day of January, on its public lands and minerals and the lands and minerals of the other agencies, institutions, divisions or departments of this state which are required to report their holdings to the corporation as set forth in this subsection, and its financial condition and its operations.
(d) A right of entry granted by the public land corporation is a privilege in the nature of a permit. Failure to obtain a right of entry into a streambed or changing the structure permitted in a streambed without obtaining an amended right of entry is a violation punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars per day the violation exists. Any employee of the public land corporation and any conservation officer may enter private property to investigate a potential violation and may issue a citation to a landowner if a violation exists. A landowner may appeal a citation as a final agency decision under the provisions of article five, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. All fines collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Planning and Development-Public Land Corporation Fund.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Public Land Corporation to condemn abandoned structures located in waterways that it finds inhibits water flow and exacerbates flooding or stream-bank erosion and to grant the Corporation enforcement authority.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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