H. B. 3038
(By Delegates Moore, Paxton, Proudfoot, Evans, and Wells)
[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §29-27-3 and §29-27-5 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to authorizing
the National Coal Heritage Area Authority to assist in the
historical, cultural, recreational and economic development of
Coalwood Way and related sites in the Big Creek District of
McDowell County; and adding the Commissioner of the Division
of Highways as a nonvoting member of the authority board.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §29-27-3 and §29-27-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 27. NATIONAL COAL HERITAGE AREA AUTHORITY.
§29-27-3. Creation; appointment of board; terms; expenses;
executive director.
(a) There is hereby created the "National Coal Heritage Area
Authority" which is a public corporation and a government
instrumentality existing for the purposes of providing direction to and assistance with state and federal historic preservation,
economic development, and tourism projects in the national coal
heritage area and aiding in the development and implementation of
integrated cultural, historical, and land resource management
policies and programs in order to retain, enhance, and interpret
the significant values of the lands, waters and structures in the
national coal heritage area.
(b) The authority board shall be comprised of seventeen
members. The following six persons shall be nonvoting members and
shall serve by virtue of their offices and may be represented at
meetings of the board by designees: The Secretary of the
Department of Education and the Arts, the Commissioner of the
Bureau of the Environment,
the Commissioner of the Division of
Highways, the Commissioner of the Division of Tourism, the
Commissioner of the Division of Culture and History, the Director
of the Division of Natural Resources and the Executive Director of
the West Virginia Development Office. The remaining eleven members
shall be appointed for terms of four years by the Governor with the
advice and consent of the Senate. Of the eleven members appointed
by the Governor, one member must reside in Boone County; one member
must reside in Cabell County; one member must reside in Fayette
County; one member must reside in Logan County; one member must
reside in McDowell County; one member must reside in Mercer County;
one member must reside in Mingo County; one member must reside in Raleigh County; one member must reside in Summers County; one
member must reside in Wayne County; one member must reside in
Wyoming County; and the appointees must be representative of the
tourism industry, the coal industry, the United Mine Workers of
America, economic development activity, historic preservation
activity and higher education.
(c) Of the eleven members first appointed to the board, two
shall be appointed for a term ending the thirtieth day of June, two
thousand three, and three members for terms ending one, two and
three years thereafter as the Governor shall designate at the time
of the appointments. Thereafter, the terms of office shall be four
years. No appointed member may serve more than two consecutive
full terms. A member shall continue to serve until his or her
successor has been appointed and qualified.
(d) If an appointed member is unable to complete a term, the
Governor shall appoint a person to complete the unexpired term.
Each vacancy occurring on the board must be filled within sixty
days after the vacancy is created.
(e) Any appointed member of the board shall immediately and
automatically forfeit his or her membership on the board if he or
she becomes a nonresident of the county from which he or she was
appointed.
(f) Each member of the board shall serve without compensation,
but shall receive expense reimbursement for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of the
duties of the office, in the same amount paid to members of the
Legislature for their interim duties as recommended by the Citizens
Legislative Compensation Commission and authorized by law:
Provided, That no member shall be reimbursed for expenses paid by
a third party.
(g) The board shall appoint an executive director to act as
its chief executive officer, to serve at the will and pleasure of
the board. The board, acting through its executive director, may
employ any other personnel considered necessary and may appoint
staff for the authority and retain such temporary consultants or
technicians as may be required for any special study or survey
consistent with the provisions of this article. The executive
director shall carry out plans to implement the provisions of this
article and to exercise those powers. The executive director shall
prepare annually a budget to be submitted to the board for its
review and approval.
§29-27-5. Powers of authority.
The authority, as a public corporation and governmental
instrumentality exercising public powers of the state, may exercise
all powers necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of
this article, including, but not limited to, the power:
(1) To assist in the development and implementation of
integrated cultural, historical and land resource management policies and programs in the national coal heritage area;
(2) To advise the executive director of the National Coal
Heritage Authority in retaining, enhancing and interpreting the
significant values of the lands, waters and structures of the area;
(3) To enter into partnerships with various preservation
groups, landmark commissions, certified local governments, county
commissions and other entities to undertake the preservation,
restoration, maintenance, operation, development, interpretation
and promotion of lands and structures that possess unique and
significant historic, architectural and cultural value associated
with the coal mining heritage of the national coal heritage area;
(4) To make, amend, repeal and adopt bylaws for the management
and regulation of its affairs;
(5) To appoint officers, agents and employees, and to contract
for and engage the services of consultants;
(6) To execute contracts necessary or convenient for carrying
on its business, including contracts with any other governmental
agency of this state or of the federal government or with any
person, individual, partnership or corporation to effect any or all
of the purposes of this article;
(7) Without in any way limiting any other subdivision of this
section, to accept grants and loans from and enter into contracts
and other transactions with any federal agency;
(8) To maintain an office at such places within the state as it may designate;
(9) To accept gifts or grants of property, funds, money,
materials, labor, supplies or services from the federal government
or from any governmental unit or any person, firm or corporation;
(10) To construct, reconstruct, improve, maintain, repair,
operate and manage certain facilities in the national coal heritage
area as may be determined by the authority;
(11) To enter into contract with landowners and other persons
holding an interest in the land being used for its recreational
facilities to hold those landowners and other persons harmless with
respect to any claim in tort growing out of the use of the land for
public recreation or growing out of the public activities operated
or managed by the authority from any claim except a claim for
damages proximately caused by the willful or malicious conduct of
the landowner or other person or any of his or her agents or
employees;
(12) To assess and collect a reasonable fee from those persons
who use the designated facilities which are part of the national
coal heritage area, and to retain and utilize that revenue for any
purposes consistent with this article;
and
(13) To assist in the historical, cultural, recreational and
economic development of Coalwood Way and related sites in the Big
Creek District of McDowell County. The authority shall appoint a
ten-member advisory committee to study and make recommendations to the authority regarding development projects. The advisory
committee shall be comprised of not less than three citizen members
from McDowell County, not less than three state and local
government members from McDowell County, a representative from the
State Historic Preservation Office, a representative from the
Division of Tourism and other members the authority may appoint for
particular expertise; and
(13) (14) To propose rules for legislative approval in
accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, as are necessary to effectuate the
provisions of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the National
Coal Heritage Area Authority to assist in the historical, cultural,
recreational and economic development of Coalwood Way and related
sites in the Big Creek District of McDowell County.
This bill is recommended for passage by the Parks, Recreation
and Natural Resources interim subcommittee.
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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