Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/bill_status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4613%20SUB.htm&yr=2012&sesstype=RS&i=4613
Timestamp: 2018-01-24 09:38:21
Document Index: 38473154

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Committee Substitute House Bill 4613 History
A BILL to amend and reenact §31-15A-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to further amend said code by adding thereto sixteen new sections, designated §31-15A-9a, §31-15A-9b, § 31-15A-10a, §31-15A-11a, §31-15A-12a, §31-15A-13a, §31-15A-14a, §31-15A-15a, §31-15A-17c, §31-15A-18a, §31-15A-19a, §31-15A-20a, §31-15A-21a, §31-15A-22a, §31-15A-23a and §31-15A-24a, all relating generally to development of broadband middle mile infrastructure in this state; defining terms in West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Act; creating separate infrastructure fund for broadband middle mile infrastructure projects and providing for deposits and expenditures from the fund; giving additional powers to Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council and Water Development Authority regarding broadband middle mile infrastructure projects; creating advisory committee to advise Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council on disposition of applications for grants and loans; providing process for review of applications by Development Office; requiring notice of public hearing on applications for grants and loans, providing for hearings and public comment period; creating Infrastructure Fund for Broadband Middle Mile Infrastructure Revenue Debt Service Fund; providing for disposition of funds on termination or dissolution of authority; providing that broadband middle mile projects funded by authority are public improvements under specified circumstances; authorizing authority to issue broadband middle mile revenue bonds; creating Broadband Middle Mile Infrastructure Debt Service Fund; providing for funding of debt service fund; specifying requirements for and manner of issuance of bonds; providing for contents of trust agreement and trustee for bonds; specifying legal remedies of bondholders, noteholders and trustee; making broadband middle mile infrastructure revenue bonds lawful investments; providing for purchase, cancellation and refunding of bonds; specifying that bonds are not debt of state or any political subdivision thereof and are exempt from taxation.
That §31-15A-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said code be further amended by adding thereto sixteen new sections, designated §31-15A-9a, §31-15A-9b, § 31-15A-10a, §31-15A-11a, §31-15A-12a, §31-15A-13a, §31-15A-14a, §31-15A-15a, §31-15A-17c, §31-15A-18a, §31-15A-19a, §31-15A-20a, §31-15A-21a, §31-15A-22a, §31-15A-23a and §31-15A-24a, all to read as follows:
(2) “Broadband infrastructure” means all facilities, hardware and software and other intellectual property necessary to provide broadband services in this state, including, but not limited to, voice, video and data services;
(3) “Broadband infrastructure project” means any middle mile project that deploys equipment, fiber optic cables, facilities, or other technologies necessary to provide broadband transport services: Provided, That nothing in this article may be construed to provide the Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council jurisdiction or oversight over broadband infrastructure projects for the sole use of homeland security agencies in this state.
(5) “Broadband revenue” means all amounts deposited into the Infrastructure Fund for Broadband Middle Mile Development; any amounts received directly or indirectly from any source for the use of all or any part of any broadband project completed pursuant to this article and any other amounts received by the Water Development Authority for the purpose of broadband middle mile development, including the repayments of any loans made for broadband projects.
(b) (6) “Code” means the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended;
(c) (7) “Cost” means, as applied to any project to be financed, in whole or in part, with infrastructure revenues or funds otherwise provided pursuant to this article, the cost of planning, acquisition, improvement and construction of the project; the cost of preliminary design and analysis, surveys, borings; the cost of environmental, financial, market and engineering feasibility studies, assessments, applications, approvals, submissions or clearances; the cost of preparation of plans and specifications and other engineering services; the cost of acquisition of all land, rights-of-way, property rights, easements, franchise rights and any other interests required for the acquisition, repair, improvement or construction of the project; the cost of demolishing or removing any buildings or structures on land so acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which buildings or structures may be moved; the cost of excavation, grading, shaping or treatment of earth, demolishing or removing any buildings or structures; the cost of constructing any buildings or other improvements; the cost of all pumps, tanks, vehicles, apparatus and other machinery, furnishings and equipment; loan or origination fees and all finance charges and interest incurred prior to and during the construction and for no more than six months after completion of construction; the cost of all legal services and expenses; the cost of all plans, specifications, surveys and estimates of cost; all working capital and other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of acquiring, repairing, improving or constructing any project; the cost of placing any project in operation; and all other costs and expenses of any kind or nature incurred or to be incurred by the project sponsor developing the project that are reasonable and necessary for carrying out all works and undertakings necessary or incident to the accomplishment of any project: Provided, That costs shall not include any amounts related to the ongoing operations of the owner or operator, depreciation thereof or any other cost which the council, or the Water Development Authority has not determined to be consistent with the purposes and objectives of this article;
(d) (8) “Council” means the West Virginia infrastructure and jobs development council created in section three of this article;
(9) “Department of Administration” means the Department of Administration established under article one, chapter five-a of this code, or any successor to all or any substantial part of its powers and duties;
(e) (10) “Division Department of Environmental Protection” means the Division Department of Environmental Protection established under article one, chapter twenty-two of this code, or any successor to all or any substantial part of its powers and duties;
(f) (11) “Division of Health” means the Division of Health created in article one, chapter sixteen of this code, or any successor to all or any substantial part of its powers and duties;
(g) (12) “Economic development authority” means the economic development authority established under article fifteen, chapter thirty-one of the code, or any successor to all or any substantial part of its powers and duties;
(h) (13) “Emergency project” means a project which the council has determined: (1) Is essential to the immediate economic development of an area of the state; and (2) will not likely be developed in that area if construction of the project is not commenced immediately;
(i) (14) “Governmental agency” means any county; municipality; watershed improvement district; assessment district; soil conservation district; sanitary district; public service district; drainage district; regional governmental authority and any other state governmental agency, entity, political subdivision or public corporation or agency authorized to acquire, construct or operate water or wastewater facilities or broadband middle mile infrastructure projects;
(j) (15) “Housing Development Fund” means the West Virginia Housing Development Fund established under article eighteen of this chapter, or any successor to all or any substantial part of its powers and duties;
(16) “Includes” and “including”, when used in this article, do not exclude other things otherwise within the definition or the sentence in which the term is used;
(k) (17) “Infrastructure Fund” means the West Virginia Infrastructure Fund created and established in section nine of this article;
(l) (18) “Infrastructure project” means a project in the state which the council determines is likely to foster and enhance economic growth and development in the area of the state in which the project is developed, for commercial, industrial, community improvement or preservation or other proper purposes, including, without limitation, tourism and recreational housing, land, air or water transportation facilities and bridges, industrial or commercial projects and facilities, mail order, warehouses, wholesale and retail sales facilities, and other real and personal properties, including facilities owned or leased by this state or any other project sponsor, and includes, without limitation: (1) The process of acquiring, holding, operating, planning, financing, demolition, construction, improving, expanding, renovation, leasing or otherwise disposing of the project or any part thereof or interest therein; and (2) preparing land for construction and making, installing or constructing improvements on the land, including water or wastewater facilities or any part thereof, steam, gas, telephone and telecommunications and electric lines and installations, roads, bridges, railroad spurs, buildings, docking and shipping facilities, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and drainage and flood control facilities, whether on or off the site;
(m) (19) “Infrastructure revenue” means all amounts appropriated by the Legislature; all amounts deposited into the infrastructure fund; any amounts received, directly or indirectly, from any source for the use of all or any part of any project completed pursuant to this article; and any other amounts received by the State Treasurer, council, or the Water Development Authority for the purposes of this article: Provided, That funds for water and sewer infrastructure projects and funds for broadband middle mile infrastructure projects shall be kept separate;
(20) “Middle mile” when used in the context of broadband means any wired or wireless facilities, or portions thereof, which facilitate transport service for service providers or carriers, and provides connectivity between communities, community access points, network access points and carrier access points, but does not include any last mile facilities (or portions thereof) that provide connectivity to end-users;
(21) “Middle mile fiber threshold” means a fiber optic cable containing no less than seventy-two individual strands of fiber with minimum performance characteristics consistent with nonzero dispersion shifted single mode optical fiber cable as defined by the International Telecommunication Union standard ITU-T G.655;
(n) (22) “Need of the project sponsors” means there is a public need for a project. The council shall for water and sewer projects construe a population increase evidenced by the last two decennial censuses in a county in which a project is proposed, as a factor supporting the conclusion that a need exists for projects in that county;
(23) “Network access point” when used in the context of broadband means a direct connection to carriers that provide core interstate TCPIP backbone networks that comprise or make up primary portions of the national Internet backbone system and which provide direct connectivity on a national scale throughout the United States in addition to direct or indirect connectivity to international networks throughout the world;
(24) “Open access” when used in the context of broadband means the equitable and nondiscriminatory use of the new lines by all broadband service providers including the grant of indefeasible rights to use particular strands if such rights can be granted on an equitable and non-discriminatory manner, subject to such appropriate limitations and restrictions as the council may determine.
(o) (25) “Project” means any wastewater facility, water facility project or any combination thereof, constructed or operated or to be constructed or operated by a project sponsor;
(p) (26) “Project sponsor” means any governmental agency or person, or any combination thereof, including, but not limited to, any public utility which intends to plan, acquire, construct, improve or otherwise develop a project;
(q) (27) “Public Service Commission” means the Public Service Commission of West Virginia created and established under section three, article one, chapter twenty-four of this code, or any successor to all or any substantial part of its powers and duties;
(r) (28) “Person” means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, limited liability company or any other form of business organization;
(s) (29) “Public utility” means any person or persons, or association of persons, however associated, whether incorporated or not, including, without limitation, any governmental agency, operating a wastewater facility or water facility as a public service, which is regulated by the Public Service Commission as a public utility under chapter twenty-four of this code or which is required to file its tariff with the Public Service Commission;
(30) “Service provider” when used in the context of broadband means any service provider that provides broadband service and is certified to provide services in accordance with state and federal regulations;
(t) (31) “State Development Office” means the West Virginia Development Office established under article two, chapter five-b of this code, or any successor to all or any substantial part of its powers and duties;
(u) (32) “State infrastructure agency” means the division of health, Division Department of Environmental Protection, Housing Development Fund, Public Service Commission, State Development Office, Water Development Authority, Economic Development Authority, and any other state agency, division, body, authority, commission, instrumentality or entity which now or in the future receives applications for the funding of, and provides funding or technical assistance to, the planning, acquisition, construction or improvement of a project;
(33) “Transport service” when used in the context of broadband means any service that provides a service provider or carrier with the ability to transport high-capacity voice, data, graphics or video between communities, community access points, network access points and carrier access points. Transport services do not include any last mile broadband services or other services provided directly to end-users;
(v) (34) “Wastewater facility” means all facilities, land and equipment used for or in connection with treating, neutralizing, disposing of, stabilizing, cooling, segregating or holding wastewater, including, without limitation, facilities for the treatment and disposal of sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes, wastewater, and the residue thereof; facilities for the temporary or permanent impoundment of wastewater, both surface and underground; and sanitary sewers or other collection systems, whether on the surface or underground, designed to transport wastewater together with the equipment and furnishings therefor or thereof and their appurtenances and systems, whether on the surface or underground including force mains and pumping facilities therefor;
(w) (35) “Water development authority” means the West Virginia water development authority continued pursuant to the provisions of article one, chapter twenty-two-c of this code, or any successor to all or any substantial part of its powers and duties; and
(x) (36) “Water facility” means all facilities, land and equipment used for or in connection with the collection and/or storage of water, both surface and underground, transportation of water, storage of water, treatment of water and distribution of water all for the purpose of providing potable, sanitary water suitable for human consumption and use; and
(37) “West Virginia Network for Educational Telecomputing” means the network managed by the vice chancellor for administration of the Higher Education Policy Commission as provided in section two, article four, chapter eighteen-b of this code.
(h) The Water Development Authority shall cause an annual audit to be made by an independent certified public accountant of its books, accounts and records, with respect to the receipts, disbursements, contracts, leases, assignments, loans, grants and all other matters relating to the financial operation of the Infrastructure Fund for Broadband middle Mile Development, including the operating of any sub-account within that infrastructure fund. The person performing such audit shall furnish copies of the audit report to the Secretary of the Department of Administration, where they shall be placed on file and made available for inspection by the general public. The person performing such audit shall also furnish copies of the audit report to the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance.
(1) The Secretary of the Department of Administration, or his or her designee;
(4) The member of the Broadband Deployment Council who represents rural communities; and
(c) Applications for a grant or loan for a broadband middle mile infrastructure project pursuant to section nine-a of this article shall be submitted to the Director of the Development Office, Department of Commerce, for review and to determine whether any additional information is needed from the applicant. If the application is complete, the Director of the Development Office shall forward the application to the chairman of the Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council along with the recommendation of that office regarding disposition of the application.
(d) After receipt of the application from the Development Office, the advisory committee shall publish in the state register notice to the public that the application has been filed by a project sponsor. This notice shall identify the project sponsor, provide a meaningful description and the specific location of the project, the amount of the loan or grant requested, where the application may be viewed in person and on the Internet by the public, and shall also include the date, time and place where the committee will hold a public hearing, and any other information the committee believes necessary or desirable to advise the public of the application. The advisory committee shall also respond to requests for additional information from the public concerning the application or the project sponsor in a timely manner within the public comment period.
(e) This notice shall be published in the state register at least sixty days prior to the date of the public hearing. The purpose of the public hearing is to receive comments on the application and on whether the application should be approved or denied. The public may submit written comments to the committee either prior to the hearing, during the hearing, or within thirty days after the day of the hearing.
(f) Anytime after the thirty day public comment period expires, the advisor committee may submit its recommendation to the Infrastructure and Jobs Development who shall make the final decision on whether to approve or reject an application.
(c) The Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council shall, in its sole discretion, decide whether to accept or reject an application for a grant or loan to a project sponsor if it finds that the broadband middle mile infrastructure project is essential for economic development, the realization of educational opportunities, modernization of government, or facilitation of the ability of businesses and residents to use the Internet employing state-of-the art technologies. No project sponsor shall receive infrastructure grant money in an amount in excess of fifty percent of the total cost of the project. Therefore, the Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council may consider the economic or financial conditions of the area to be served.
(g) The Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council shall report to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Delegates and the President of the Senate during each regular and interim session of the Legislature, on its activities and decisions relating to distribution or planned distribution of grants and loans under the criteria to be developed pursuant to this article. To the extent known, the economic activity and jobs created as a result of the council funding a broadband middle mile infrastructure project shall be include in the report required by this subsection.
(a) No broadband middle mile infrastructure project acquired, constructed or maintained or financed, in whole or in part, by the Water Development Authority shall be considered to be a “public improvement” within the meaning of the provisions of article five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code for purposes of the financing of the project.
(b) The state and its subdivisions shall, except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, solicit competitive bids and require the payment of prevailing wage rates as provided in article five-a, chapter twenty-one of this code for the construction of every broadband middle mile infrastructure project funded pursuant to this article exceeding $25,000 in total cost.
(2) Prevent students enrolled in vocational educational schools from being used in the construction or repair projects when such use is a part of the students’ training program;
(3) Apply to emergency repairs to building components and systems: Provided, That the term “emergency repairs” means repairs that, if not made immediately, will seriously impair the use of the building components and systems or cause danger to those persons using the building components and systems; or
(d) There is hereby created in the Water Development Authority a special fund which shall be designated and known as the “West Virginia Broadband Middle Mile Infrastructure Revenue Debt Service Fund,” into which shall be transferred solely from the loan repayments deposited in the Infrastructure Fund for Broadband Middle Mile Development the amounts certified by the authority as necessary to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on broadband middle mile infrastructure revenue bonds and any reserve requirements, subject to the terms of any agreement with the holders of the broadband middle mile infrastructure revenue bonds. All amounts deposited in the West Virginia Broadband Middle Mile Infrastructure Revenue Debt Service Fund shall be pledged to the repayment of the principal, interest and redemption premium, if any, on any broadband middle mile infrastructure revenue bonds authorized by this article: Provided, That amounts on deposit in the fund may be used to establish or maintain reserves created for the purposes of securing the broadband middle mile infrastructure revenue bonds. The pledge shall be valid and binding from the time the pledge is made, and the West Virginia Broadband Middle Mile Infrastructure Revenue Debt Service Fund so pledged shall immediately be subject to the lien of the pledge without any physical delivery thereof or further act, and the lien of any such pledge shall be valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract or otherwise against the Water Development Authority irrespective of whether the parties have notice thereof.
(h) In the event that the sum of all reserves pledged to the payment of the bonds is less than the minimum reserve requirements established in any resolution or resolutions authorizing the issuance of the bonds, the chairman of the Water Development Authority shall certify, on or before December 1 of each year, the amount of such deficiency to the Governor of the state for inclusion, if the Governor shall so elect, of the amount of such deficiency in the budget to be submitted to the next session of the Legislature for appropriation to the Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council to be pledged for payment of such bonds: Provided, That the Legislature shall not be required to make any appropriations so requested, and the amount of such deficiencies shall not constitute a debt or liability of the state.
Any broadband middle mile infrastructure revenue bonds issued pursuant to the provisions of this article and at any time outstanding may at any time and from time to time be refunded by the Water Development Authority by the issuance of its refunding revenue bonds in an amount it deems necessary to refund the principal of the bonds to be refunded, together with any unpaid interest thereon, to provide additional funds for the Water Development Authority to, in its discretion, issue additional revenue bonds, and to pay any premiums and commissions necessary to be paid in connection therewith. Any refunding may be effected whether the broadband middle mile infrastructure revenue bonds to be refunded shall have then matured or shall thereafter mature: Provided, That the holders of any broadband middle mile infrastructure revenue bonds so to be refunded shall not be compelled without their consent to surrender their broadband middle mile infrastructure revenue bonds for payment or exchange prior to the date on which they are payable or, if they are called for redemption, prior to the date on which they are by their terms subject to redemption. Any refunding revenue bonds issued pursuant to this article shall be payable from the West Virginia Broadband Middle Mile Infrastructure Revenue Debt Service Fund, and shall be subject to the provisions contained in section seventeen-c of this article, and shall be secured in accordance with the provisions of sections seventeen-c and eighteen-a of this article.