Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb2985%20intr.htm&yr=2011&sesstype=RS&i=2985
Timestamp: 2018-03-20 04:44:27
Document Index: 79094944

Matched Legal Cases: ['§19', '§19', '§19', '§19', '§19', '§19', '§19', '§19']

HB 2985 Text
Introduced Version House Bill 2985 History
H. B. 2985
(By Delegates Hartman, Michael, Crosier,
D. Campbell, Shaver, Williams and Romine)
[Introduced February 2, 2011; referred to the
That §19-1B-3, §19-1B-4, §19-1B-5, §19-1B-7, §19-1B-11 and §19-1B-12a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted all to read as follows:
(e) "Timbering operations operation” or “logging operation,” or the plural, means activities directly related to the severing or removal of standing trees from the forest as a raw material for commercial processes or purposes. For the purpose of this article, timbering operations do not include the severing of evergreens grown for and severed for the traditional Christmas holiday season, or the severing of trees incidental to ground-disturbing construction activities, including well sites, access roads and gathering lines for oil and natural gas operations, or the severing of trees for maintaining existing, or during construction of, rights-of-way for public highways or public utilities or any company subject to the jurisdiction of the federal energy regulatory commission unless the trees so severed are being sold or provided as raw material for commercial wood product purposes, or the severing of trees by an individual on the individual's own property for his or her individual use provided that the individual does not have the severing done by a person whose business is the severing or removal of trees.
(a) No A person may not conduct timbering operations, purchase timber or buy logs for resale until he or she has obtained the license pursuant to this article from the division and met all other requirements pertaining to his or her timbering operation or other wood product business contained in pursuant to this article: Provided, That a person who severs or removes, or hires or contracts with another to sever or remove, standing trees from his or her own land is specifically exempted from the timbering operations licensure requirement of this section during any calendar year in which all trees severed or removed by or for this owner have an aggregate stumpage value that does not exceed $15,528: Provided, however, That a person hired or contracted to sever or remove standing trees from the land of another is specifically exempted from the timbering operations licensure requirement of this section during any calendar year in which all trees severed or removed by this hired or contracted person have an aggregate stumpage value that does not exceed $15,528.
(b) An applicant for a license shall submit an application on a form to be designed and provided by the director. A fee of fifty dollars $150 shall be submitted with each application and with each annual biennial renewal of the license. The application shall, at a minimum, contain the following information:
(3) Any other information required by the director.
(c) The director shall promulgate legislative rules propose rules for legislative approval pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code which provide procedures by which a license may be acquired, suspended or revoked under this article. The Legislature expressly finds that these legislative rules are the proper subject of emergency legislative rules which may be promulgated in accordance with the provision of section fifteen, article three, section twenty-nine-a of this code.
(d) The director shall prescribe a form providing the contents and manner of posting notice at the timbering operation. The notice shall include, at a minimum, the operator's name and license number.
§19-1B-5. Compliance orders, suspension of timbering operating license.
(b) Upon notification of the chief or upon a finding by the director that failure to use a particular best management practice is causing or contributing, or has the potential to cause or contribute, to soil erosion or water pollution, the director shall issue a written compliance order requiring the person conducting the timber operation to take corrective action. The order shall mandate compliance within a reasonable and practical time, not to exceed ten days. The person subject to the order may appeal the order within forty-eight hours of its issuance to the conference panel in accordance with section eleven of this article.
(3) A certified logger is not supervising the timbering operation. the director shall order the immediate suspension of the timber operation and the
(d) (e) For a second violation within any two year-year period, the The director may suspend the license of any person operator conducting a timbering operation or the certification of any certified logger supervising a timbering operation, for no less than thirty nor more than ninety days if the person operator is found in violation of this article or article eleven, chapter twenty-two of this code: for a second time within any two-year period Provided, That one or more violations for the same occurrence incident is only one violation for purposes of this subsection.
(e) (f) For a third violation within any two year-year period, the director may revoke the license of any person operator conducting timbering operations or the certification of any certified logger if the person operator is found in violation of this article or article eleven, chapter twenty-two of this code: for a third time within any two-year period Provided, That one or more violations for the same occurrence incident is only one violation for purposes of this subsection. A revoked license is not subject to reissue during the current licensing period. for which it was issued.
§19-1B-7. Certification of persons supervising timbering operations, timbering operations to be supervised, promulgation of rules.
(b) The director is responsible for the development of standards and criteria for establishment of a regularly scheduled program of education, training and examination that all persons must successfully complete in order to be certified to supervise any timbering operation. The program for certified loggers shall provide, at a minimum, for education and training in the safe conduct of timbering operations, in first aid procedures and in the use of best management practices to prevent, insofar as possible, soil erosion on timbering operations. The goals of this program will be to assure that timbering operations are conducted in accordance with applicable state and federal safety regulations in a manner that is safest for the individuals conducting the operations and that they are performed in an environmentally sound manner.
(c) The director shall provide for such programs by using the resources of the division, other appropriate state agencies, educational systems and other qualified persons. Each inspector under the jurisdiction of the chief shall attend a certification program free of charge and complete the certification requirements of this section.
(d) The director shall promulgate legislative rules propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, which provide the procedure by which certification pursuant to this article may be obtained and shall require the payment of an application fee and an annual a biennial renewal fee of fifty dollars $150.
(g) Every timbering operation that is required to be licensed under section four of this article must have at least one person certified pursuant to this section supervising the operation at any time the timbering operation is being conducted and all timbering operators shall be guided by the West Virginia forest practice standards and the West Virginia silvicultural best management practices in selecting practices appropriate and adequate for reducing sediment movement during a timber operation.
(h) The director shall, at no more than three-year five-year intervals after the effective date of this article, convene a committee to review the best management practices so as to ensure that they reflect and incorporate the most current technologies. The committee shall, at a minimum, include a person doing research in the field of silvicultural best management practices, a person doing research in the field of silviculture, two loggers certified under this article, a representative of the office of water resources of the Department of Environmental Protection and a representative of an environmentally active organization. The director shall chair the committee and may adjust the then current best management practices according to the suggestions of the committee in time for the next certification cycle.
(a) Each forestry district region in this state shall contain an informal conference panel composed of three persons which shall act on behalf of the state to decide appeals of orders of the director. One member of the panel shall be selected by the director, one member shall be selected by the chief and one member shall be selected by agreement between the chief and the director. If a vacancy exists on the panel, the vacancy shall be filled by whomever made the initial selection. The members of the panel shall serve without compensation.
(c) A party aggrieved by a decision of a panel may appeal to the circuit court of the county wherein the cause for the order arose. Such appeal must be filed with the circuit court within twenty days of the date of decision of the panel and shall be heard de novo by the court. The court may reverse, vacate or modify the decision of the panel. The decision of the circuit court shall be final unless reversed, vacated or modified on appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals. Any such appeal shall be sought in the manner provided by law for appeals from circuit courts in other civil cases.
(4) Continues to conduct timbering or logging operations in violation of an existing suspension or revocation order that has been issued by the Director of the Division of Forestry or a conference panel under section five, ten or eleven of this article.
(c) In addition to any other law-enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction over criminal violations, any forester or forest ranger technician employed by the Division of Forestry, who, as a part of his or her official duties is authorized or designated by the Director of the Division of Forestry to inspect logging or timbering activities, is hereby authorized to issue citations for any of the listed violations set forth above in this section that he or she has personally witnessed. The limited authority granted by this section to employees of the Division of Forestry to issue citations to enforce the provisions of this section does not include the power to place any individual or person under arrest.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update the Logging Sediment Control Act and to include a biennial licensure and fee.