reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
WV Code § 22-24-5 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 24. Small Business Environmental Loan Program|§22-24-5. Small Business Environmental Revolving Loan Account

(a) The small business environmental revolving loan account is hereby continued in the authority and shall be made available for environmental loans defined by this article for any type of qualifying environmental project. Loans may be issued only during the five-year period commencing on the effective date of this article unless the time period is otherwise extended by the Legislature. The administration of this loan program is authorized for one year beyond the last payment date for any outstanding loan.(b) The environmental revolving loan account shall be funded by appropriations from the Legislature and, at the director's discretion, by using portions of penalties and fines that are collected from various sources, including violators that economically benefited by noncompliance and the director is also authorized to accept gifts, donations, contributions, bequests or devises of money, security or property for deposit in the account: Provided, That the maximum value of all active outstanding loans, combined with funds in reserve at any time, may not exceed $5 million.(c) Interest income from the small business environmental loan program as well as appropriations from the Legislature shall be used to defray the operating costs of the program, including, but not limited to, administration, facilities, salaries and travel. Any excess interest income shall be used to reestablish the loan program to its maximum authorized limit of $5 million, with additional excesses returned to the state's general revenue account. If interest income is not projected to provide the necessary operating funds for all aspects of the small business environmental loan program for any one year, the authority shall request the necessary funding in the annual budget request.
WV Code § 22-24-6 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 24. Small Business Environmental Loan Program|§22-24-6. Loan Processing

The authority shall: (a) Process small business environmental loan applications and assure that a copy is forwarded to the director for eligibility review; (b) confirm that the director has certified the environmental acceptability of the project; (c) verify the borrower's eligibility as provided by section two of this article; (d) evaluate the borrower's financial stability, needs and ability to repay based upon an appropriate examination of financial information, including, but not limited to, income and credit histories, income tax returns, financial statements and collateral offered to secure the loan; (e) process loans for payments; and (f) establish loan processing procedures that include, but are not limited to, loan approvals, accounting, authorizations for payments, loan repayments and auditing of the small business environmental loan program. The authority shall implement reporting requirements that include the total number of full-time employees of the loan recipient on September 30, of each calendar year for the term of the loan.The authority shall act upon loan requests within forty-five days of receipt of a complete application as determined by the authority.
WV Code § 22-25-1 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 25. Environmental Excellence Program|§22-25-1. Legislative Findings

The Legislature finds that: (1) Regulated and nonregulated entities that demonstrate a commitment to the environment by going beyond compliance with environmental laws and rules positively impact the quality of life for all citizens of the state by improving the economy and the environment by increasing consumer and public confidence, boosting management and employee morale, and operating in a safe and sensible manner that lessens impacts on the environment.(2) While West Virginia's existing environmental laws play an important role in protecting the environment, environmental protection could be further enhanced by authorizing innovative advances in environmental regulatory methods and approaches.(3) Enhanced public involvement allows the public and community to meaningfully participate in finding solutions for environmental issues in their community while maintaining the vitality of the local and state economy and strengthening ties between businesses, nonbusiness entities and community. (4) Increased use of pollution prevention strategies, more cost-effective options for compliance with environmental standards, improvement of environmental performance, and reduction in occurrences of noncompliance with environmental standards can be achieved through the establishment and implementation of a voluntary environmental excellence program pursuant to this article. This voluntary program will provide entities with the opportunity to enter into an agreement with the Department of Environmental Protection through which the department shall grant recognition and other benefits to participating entities that comply with a prescribed number of program elements established by the secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection designed to reduce environmental impacts beyond those achieved by compliance with environmental laws and permits alone.
WV Code § 22-25-2 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 25. Environmental Excellence Program|§22-25-2. Purpose

The purpose of this article is to authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to establish and administer an environmental excellence program to promote, reward, and encourage superior environmental performance in this state. The environmental excellence program will establish a system to encourage voluntary environmental performance that will exceed existing regulatory standards for health and the environment and result in continual improvement in the state's environment, economy, and quality of life. The program should, if practical, be compatible with other federal programs which create incentives for achieving environmental performance beyond the regulatory requirements, such as the United States environmental protection agency's national performance track program. The environmental excellence program will be established and implemented to accomplish the following:(1) Encourage facility owners and operators to assess the environmental impact of their operations;(2) Encourage innovation by and measure success through facility owners and operators setting measurable and verifiable goals;(3) Increase public participation and encourage stakeholder consensus in the development of innovative environmental regulatory approaches and methods and in monitoring the environmental performance of projects under this article; (4) Focus resources toward achieving positive environmental goals that are important to the community and the state;(5) Report environmental performance information and ambient environmental data to the public in a manner that is accurate, timely, credible, relevant and usable to interested parties; (6) Provide for the measurement of environmental performance in terms of accomplishing goals and objectives, and require the reporting of those results; (7) Provide facility owners and operators with flexibility to implement the most effective pollution prevention, source reduction, or other pollution reduction strategies for their particular facilities, while complying with verifiable and enforceable pollution limits;(8) Encourage superior environmental performance and continuous improvement toward sustainable levels of resource usage and minimization of pollution discharges, emissions and releases; (9) Promote the transfer of technological and practical environmental innovations that improve environmental performance in a more efficient, effective, and safe manner; and(10) Strive to lower transaction costs associated with environmental performance.
WV Code § 22-25-4 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 25. Environmental Excellence Program|§22-25-4. Powers and Duties of the Department

(a) Within one year after the effective date of this section, the secretary, after consultation with representatives from the regulated community, local governments, environmental advocacy groups and other interested citizens, shall develop and implement a voluntary environmental excellence program in accordance with this article. The secretary shall propose legislative rules for promulgation in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code necessary to establish and implement all necessary program elements for the environmental excellence program as established in this article. Such program elements shall include, but are not limited to, the following criteria:(1) Participation and entry into the program;(2) Public involvement;(3) Environmental management system;(4) Commitment to superior environmental performance;(5) Communication of program results to the public; and(6) Incentives. (b) In establishing the environmental excellence business program, the secretary may establish classes, categories, or tiers of environmental performance agreements as the secretary considers appropriate, taking into consideration the diversity of businesses and industries in the state, the impact these entities may have on the environment, and the incentives sought by the qualified applicant. (c) The secretary may negotiate with federal regulatory agencies to obtain authority to grant incentives under federal regulatory programs.(d) Participation in the program by any participant is voluntary and is subject to review every three years.
WV Code § 22-25-6 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 25. Environmental Excellence Program|§22-25-6. Application Review and Authority to Enter Into Environmental Performance Agreement

(a) The secretary shall review all completed applications within a reasonable period of time. If the secretary determines that the application meets the requirements for the program, the secretary shall notify the applicant in writing, and the application shall be incorporated into a written agreement. If the secretary determines the application does not meet the requirements of the program, the secretary shall notify the applicant in writing and shall provide an adequate opportunity for the applicant to address the outstanding items.(b) The secretary may enter into one or more agreements with a participant as necessary to implement the provisions of this article. The agreement shall describe the requirements for continued participation and incentives to be provided to the participant.(c) The secretary shall not enter into any environmental performance agreement that would:(1) Violate or waive any specific statutory provision;(2) Waive any federal regulation, unless specifically authorized by the federal government; (3) Result in an increase in emissions, discharges, or other releases above those allowable under the otherwise applicable regulatory requirements; or(4) Address past or ongoing violations or noncompliance by a qualified applicant.(d) The following documents shall be made available for public review:(1) The application, including documentation of compliance with environmental laws and permits applicable to the facility over the last three years, information regarding an appropriate environmental management system, a description of the current status of proposed performance indicators, and an outline of the measures by which the program will be evaluated; (2) The executive's determination regarding their application; and(3) The agreement described in subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
WV Code § 22-25-7 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 25. Environmental Excellence Program|§22-25-7. Judicial Review of Department Decision on Acceptance of Application to Participate in the Environmental Excellence Program

The decision of the department to refuse to accept an application for participation in the environmental excellence program is not subject to judicial review. The decision of the department to enter into an environmental performance agreement may be appealed to the environmental quality board by any person aggrieved or adversely affected by the action being appealed, pursuant to the provisions of article one, chapter twenty-two-b of this code.
WV Code § 22-25-8 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 25. Environmental Excellence Program|§22-25-8. Withdrawal, Enforcement and Termination From the Program

(a) Any participant may elect to withdraw from participation in the program at any time upon written notice to the secretary. (b) The secretary shall terminate the participation of any participant in the program if a serious violation is discovered or occurs and the violation is not properly disclosed in accordance with the law or is not corrected or remedied in a timely manner to the satisfaction of the secretary. (c) The secretary may continue the participation of a participant in the program if a serious violation is discovered or occurs and the violation is properly disclosed in accordance with law and is corrected or remedied in a timely manner to the satisfaction of the secretary. (d) A participant's participation in the program shall be suspended from the time the serious violation is discovered or occurs until the time it is corrected or remedied to the satisfaction of the secretary. (e) If the secretary determines at any time a participant is failing to perform in accordance with the environmental performance agreement, and if, after written notice to the participant, the participant does not come into conformance within a reasonable period of time, as established by the secretary, the secretary may terminate the participant's participation in the program. (f) All incentives provided by the state pursuant to section nine of this article shall be withdrawn, effective upon termination or withdrawal of the participant's participation in the program. If a participant withdraws or is terminated from the program, any unused incentives will be forfeited.(g) The secretary shall establish, by rule, procedures and criteria that set forth circumstances under which a participant's participation shall be suspended or terminated and criteria for a transition plan for returning to otherwise applicable environmental laws if the environmental performance agreement is terminated by the participant for any reason or by the secretary for failure to meet the agreement's stated environmental goals, despite good faith efforts.
WV Code § 22-25-9 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 25. Environmental Excellence Program|§22-25-9. Incentives

The secretary shall propose rules for legislative approval, pursuant to the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, establishing incentives to be granted to any participant that complies with all of the mandatory program elements and the prescribed number of elective program elements, as determined by the secretary. Participants may seek some or all of the incentives established pursuant to this subsection.
WV Code § 22-25-10 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 25. Environmental Excellence Program|§22-25-10. Environmental Performance Agreements; Contents, and Specifications

(a) The environmental performance agreement shall clearly establish the environmental goals of the participant; public involvement requirements; incentives; reporting requirements; and all other terms to ensure that the proposal is properly implemented and enforceable. (b) In entering into environmental performance agreements, the secretary shall require stricter monitoring, or take other appropriate steps to ensure accountability, for proposals with greater uncertainty of meeting their stated environmental goals.(c) A final environmental performance agreement shall specify:(1) Any otherwise applicable rules, requirements, policies, or practices, modified, waived or replaced;(2) The specific environmental goals of the agreement and the criteria for determining whether the agreement is meeting those goals;(3) A description of how compliance with the agreement will be monitored and enforced, including any penalties that may be imposed for failure to carry out the terms of the agreement;(4) The duration of the agreement and terms for renewal or extension;(5) A transition plan for returning to otherwise applicable environmental laws in the event the agreement is terminated by either the participant or the department;(6) A plan for integrating into the agreement any relevant regulations that are promulgated during the duration of the agreement; and (7) Criteria for determining whether agreement may be transferred in the event of a transfer of ownership of the facility subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement and when applicable, the procedures for transferring the agreement.
WV Code § 22-25-11 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 25. Environmental Excellence Program|§22-25-11. Recovery of Costs to Department in Developing, Negotiating and Publicizing Environmental Performance Agreement; Deposition of Moneys Collected; Creation of Environmental Excellence Program Administrative Fund

To recover the costs to the department in developing, negotiating and publicizing an environmental performance agreement, the secretary may establish by legislative rule reasonable application, renewal, and administration fees. An "Environmental Excellence Program Administrative Fund" is hereby created in the State Treasury. The funds shall be dedicated and appropriated to the department to administer the program. Expenditures are not authorized from collections but are to be made only in accordance with appropriation by the Legislature and in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twelve of this code and upon the fulfillment of the provisions of article two, chapter five-a of this code: Provided, That for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, expenditures are authorized from collections rather than pursuant to appropriation by the Legislature. Any moneys not utilized by the department for the purposes set forth herein by June 30, 2009, shall revert to the state General Revenue Fund and the environmental excellence program administration fund shall be dissolved.
WV Code § 22-25-12 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 25. Environmental Excellence Program|§22-25-12. Public Participation

To promote a participatory process that will conform to the legislative rules adopted pursuant to section four of this article, to the extent that resources are available in the environmental excellence program administration fund and appropriated by the Legislature, the secretary is authorized to provide logistical and technical support to assure balanced and timely participation in any public process associated with this program.
WV Code § 22-26-1 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 26. Water Resources Protection Act|§22-26-1. Short Title; Legislative Findings

(a) Short title. -- This article may be known and cited as the Water Resources Protection and Management Act.(b) Legislative findings. --(1) The West Virginia Legislature finds that it is the public policy of the State of West Virginia to protect and conserve the water resources for the state and to provide for the public welfare. The state's water resources are vital natural resources of the state that are essential to maintain, preserve and promote quality of life and economic vitality of the state.(2) The West Virginia Legislature further finds that it is the public policy of the state that the water resources of the state be available for the benefit of the citizens of West Virginia, consistent with and preserving all other existing rights and remedies recognized in common law or by statute, while also preserving the resources within its sovereign powers for the common good.(3) The West Virginia Legislature further finds that the water use survey conducted by the Department of Environmental Protection is a valuable tool for water resources assessment, protection and management.(4) The West Virginia Legislature further finds that the water resources of this state have not been fully measured or assessed and that a program to accurately measure and assess the state's water resources is necessary to protect, conserve and better utilize the water resources of this state.(5) The West Virginia Legislature further finds that the survey information collected and analyzed by the Department of Environmental Protection has identified the need for a statewide water resources management plan.(6) The West Virginia Legislature further finds that the development of a state water resources management plan is in the best interest of the state and its citizens and will promote the protection of this valuable natural resource; promote its use for the public good; and enhance its use and development for tourism, industry and other economic development for the benefit of the state and its citizens.(7) The West Virginia Legislature further finds that incomplete data collection from an inadequate groundwater monitoring system continues to hamper efforts to study, develop and protect the state's water resources and will be a major obstacle in the development of a water resources management plan.
WV Code § 22-26-5 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 26. Water Resources Protection Act|§22-26-5. Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on State Water Resources

(a) The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates shall each designate five members of their respective houses, at least one of whom shall be a member of the minority party, to serve on a joint legislative oversight commission charged with immediate and ongoing oversight of the water resources survey, registration and development of a state water resources management plan. This commission shall be known as the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on State Water Resources and shall regularly investigate and monitor all matters relating to water resources, including the survey and plan.(b) The expenses of the commission, including the cost of conducting the survey and monitoring any subsequent strategy and those incurred in the employment of legal, technical, investigative, clerical, stenographic, advisory and other personnel, are to be approved by the Joint Committee on Government and Finance and paid from legislative appropriations.
WV Code § 22-26-6 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 22. Environmental Resources|Article 26. Water Resources Protection Act|§22-26-6. Mandatory Survey and Registration Compliance

(a) The water resources survey and subsequent registry will provide critical information for protection of the state's water resources and, thus, mandatory compliance with the survey and registry is necessary.(b) All large-quantity users who withdraw water from a West Virginia water resource shall complete the survey and register use with the department. Any person who fails to complete the survey or register, provides false or misleading information on the survey or registration, or fails to provide other information as required by this article may be subject to a civil administrative penalty not to exceed $5,000 to be collected by the secretary consistent with the secretary's authority pursuant to this chapter. Every thirty days after the initial imposition of the civil administrative penalty, another penalty may be assessed if the information is not provided. The secretary shall provide written notice of failure to comply with this section thirty days prior to assessing the first administrative penalty.