WV Code § 16-1-4 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 16. Public Health|Article 1. State Public Health System|§16-1-4. Proposal of Rules by the Secretary

(a) The secretary may propose rules in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code that are necessary and proper to effectuate the purposes of this chapter. The secretary may appoint or designate advisory councils of professionals in the areas of hospitals, nursing homes, barbers and beauticians, postmortem examinations, mental health and intellectual disability centers and any other areas necessary to advise the secretary on rules.(b) The rules may include, but are not limited to, the regulation of:(1) Land usage endangering the public health: Provided, That no rules may be promulgated or enforced restricting the subdivision or development of any parcel of land within which the individual tracts, lots or parcels exceed two acres each in total surface area and which individual tracts, lots or parcels have an average frontage of not less than 150 feet even though the total surface area of the tract, lot or parcel equals or exceeds two acres in total surface area, and which tracts are sold, leased or utilized only as single-family dwelling units. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, nothing in this section may be construed to abate the authority of the department to:(A) Restrict the subdivision or development of a tract for any more intense or higher density occupancy than a single-family dwelling unit;(B) Propose or enforce rules applicable to single-family dwelling units for single-family dwelling unit sanitary sewerage disposal systems; or(C) Restrict any subdivision or development which might endanger the public health, the sanitary condition of streams or sources of water supply;(2) The sanitary condition of all institutions and schools, whether public or private, public conveyances, dairies, slaughterhouses, workshops, factories, labor camps, all other places open to the general public and inviting public patronage or public assembly, or tendering to the public any item for human consumption and places where trades or industries are conducted;(3) Occupational and industrial health hazards, the sanitary conditions of streams, sources of water supply, sewerage facilities and plumbing systems and the qualifications of personnel connected with any of those facilities, without regard to whether the supplies or systems are publicly or privately owned; and the design of all water systems, plumbing systems, sewerage systems, sewage treatment plants, excreta disposal methods, and swimming pools in this state, whether publicly or privately owned;(4) Safe drinking water, including:(A) The maximum contaminant levels to which all public water systems must conform in order to prevent adverse effects on the health of individuals and, if appropriate, treatment techniques that reduce the contaminant or contaminants to a level which will not adversely affect the health of the consumer. The rule shall contain provisions to protect and prevent contamination of wellheads and well fields used by public water supplies so that contaminants do not reach a level that would adversely affect the health of the consumer;(B) The minimum requirements for: Sampling and testing; system operation; public notification by a public water system on being granted a variance or exemption, or upon failure to comply with specific requirements of this section and rules promulgated under this section; record keeping; laboratory certification; as well as procedures and conditions for granting variances and exemptions to public water systems from state public water systems rules; and(C) The requirements covering the production and distribution of bottled drinking water and may establish requirements governing the taste, odor, appearance and other consumer acceptability parameters of drinking water;(5) Food and drug standards, including cleanliness, proscription of additives, proscription of sale and other requirements in accordance with §16-7-1 et seq. of this code as are necessary to protect the health of the citizens of this state;(6) The training and examination requirements for emergency medical service attendants and emergency medical care technician-paramedics; the designation of the health care facilities, health care services, and the industries and occupations in the state that must have emergency medical service attendants and emergency medical care technician-paramedics employed, and the availability, communications and equipment requirements with respect to emergency medical service attendants and to emergency medical care technician-paramedics. Any regulation of emergency medical service attendants and emergency medical care technician- paramedics may not exceed the provisions of §16-4C-1 et seq. of this code;(7) The health and sanitary conditions of establishments commonly referred to as bed and breakfast inns. For purposes of this article, "bed and breakfast inn" means an establishment providing sleeping accommodations and, at a minimum, a breakfast for a fee. The secretary may not require an owner of a bed and breakfast providing sleeping accommodations of six or fewer rooms to install a restaurant-style or commercial food service facility. The secretary may not require an owner of a bed and breakfast providing sleeping accommodations of more than six rooms to install a restaurant-type or commercial food service facility if the entire bed and breakfast inn or those rooms numbering above six are used on an aggregate of two weeks or less per year;(8) Fees for services provided by the Bureau for Public Health including, but not limited to, laboratory service fees, environmental health service fees, health facility fees, and permit fees;(9) The collection of data on health status, the health system and the costs of health care;(c) The secretary shall propose a rule for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code for the distribution of state aid to local health departments and basic public health services funds.The rule shall include the following provisions:Base allocation amount for each county; Establishment and administration of an emergency fund of no more than two percent of the total annual funds of which unused amounts are to be distributed back to local boards of health at the end of each fiscal year; A calculation of funds utilized for state support of local health departments;Distribution of remaining funds on a per capita weighted population approach which factors coefficients for poverty, health status, population density and health department interventions for each county and a coefficient which encourages counties to merge in the provision of public health services;A hold-harmless provision to provide that each local health department receives no less in state support for a period of four years beginning in the 2009 budget year.The Legislature finds that an emergency exists and, therefore, the secretary shall file an emergency rule to implement the provisions of this section pursuant to the provisions §29A-3-15 of this code. The emergency rule is subject to the prior approval of the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability prior to filing with the Secretary of State.(d) The secretary may propose rules for legislative approval that may include the regulation of other health-related matters which the department is authorized to supervise and for which the rule-making authority has not been otherwise assigned.(e) The secretary shall not review any repair or modernization of equipment at a public pool facility as long as such activity does not change the scope of the facility or its current use and such activity does not exceed $25,000 in planned cost.