WV HB2566 | 2015 | Regular Session
Status
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 11-0)
Status: Introduced on February 2 2015 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2015-02-06 - To House Judiciary
Pending: House Judiciary Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [HTML]
Status: Introduced on February 2 2015 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2015-02-06 - To House Judiciary
Pending: House Judiciary Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [HTML]
Summary
The purpose of this bill is to create the Coal Jobs and Safety Act of 2015, which is comprised of the new code sections added and the amendments to current code sections made during the 2015 Legislative Session. The bill provides methods of assuring that discharges from waste piles do not exceed applicable water quality standards. The bill conforms the rules regarding the procedures for requesting and obtaining inactive status and the rules relating to the requirements for contemporaneous reclamation under the West Virginia Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act to the corresponding federal requirements. The bill abolishes the West Virginia Diesel Equipment Commission. The bill transfers the duties and responsibilities of the commission to the Director of the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training. The bill defines terms. The bill provides rule-making authority. The bill provides that approvals of equipment and rules previously approved by the commission continue in full force and effect. The bill develops statewide hardness-based aluminum water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life. The bill prohibits the wholesale incorporation of water quality standards into permits rather than specifically developing terms and conditions on a permit-by-permit basis that are designed to protect water quality standards, the scope of the permit shield as it relates to compliance with water quality standards. The bill establishes an administrative and civil enforcement process for coal mining-related permits that conforms with corresponding federal requirements. The bill makes legislative findings. The bill permits the immediate temporary suspension, suspension or revocation of a certificate held by a certified person who has tested positive for certain drugs or alcohol, refused to submit a sample for screening, possessed or submitted a substituted sample, or possessed or submitted an adulterated sample for testing. The bill provides if a drug test is positive a certified employee may not rely on the fact that the drug was prescribed if the prescription is more than one year old. The bill sets forth the requirements for movement of off-track mining equipment in areas of active workings where energized trolley wires or trolley feeder wires are present. The bill establishes premovement requirements. The bill increases the distance from five hundred feet to one thousand five hundred feet of the nearest working face where transportation of certain personnel in certain instances is done exclusively by rail. The bill increases the distance of track to be maintained when a section is fully developed and being prepared for retreating. The bill permits the use of sideboards on shuttle cars if they are equipped with cameras. The bill increases the spacing between shelter holes. The bill removes the requirement that locomotives, personnel carriers, barrier tractors and other related equipment be equipped with suitable lifting jacks and handles. The bill prescribes that no one, other than the motorman and brakeman, should not ride on a locomotive unless authorized by the mine foreman, and then only when safe riding facilities are provided.
Title
Coal Jobs and Safety Act of 2015
Sponsors
History
| Date | Chamber | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 2015-02-06 | House | To House Judiciary |
| 2015-02-06 | House | With amendment, do pass, but first to Judiciary |
| 2015-02-02 | House | To House Energy |
| 2015-02-02 | House | Introduced in House |
| 2015-02-02 | House | To Energy then Judiciary |
| 2015-02-02 | House | Filed for introduction |
Same As/Similar To
SB357 (Similar To) 2015-04-15 - Chapter 52, Acts, Regular Session, 2015
