Bill Text: WV HB4481 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the Adopt-A-Stream Program
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 5-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-01 - To House Government Organization [HB4481 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2022-HB4481-Introduced.html
WEST virginia legislature
2022 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 4481
By Delegates Anderson, J. Kelly, Hott, Mandt, Young, and Keaton
[Introduced February 1, 2022;
referred
to the Committee on Government Organization]
A BILL to amend and reenact §22-15A-3a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the Adopt-A-Stream program; requiring volunteers aged 17 or under be accompanied by adult; allowing department to approve or deny applications at its discretion; lengthening period of adoptions from one to three years; and requiring one cleanup of river prior to road signs being erected.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 15A. THE A. JAMES MANCHIN REHABILITATION ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PLAN.
§22-15A-3a. Creation of Adopt-A-Stream Program required.
(a) The Adopt-A-Highway Program was established in the late 1980s to improve the quality of the state’s environment by encouraging public involvement in the elimination of highway litter. That program is cosponsored by the Division of Highways and the Department of Environmental Protection, Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan. Its objective is to save taxpayer money by increasing public awareness and to serve as an educational tool by focusing on the consequences of littering. The program offers volunteers the opportunity to take charge of their own environment by making a positive effort to create a cleaner, more aesthetic place in which to live.
In West Virginia there are currently 25,000 volunteers who regularly pick up litter on 4,000 miles of highway. They have been responsible for removing more than 40 million pounds of litter since the program began.
(b) As with the
Adopt-A-Highway Program, individuals, families, churches, businesses, schools,
civic organizations, government agencies, scouting groups, fraternities, and
communities may participate in an Adopt-A-Stream Program, which the department
shall create and implement. Anyone who is at least 12 years old may
participate Participants 17 years of age or younger must be accompanied
by an adult. Any stream or river that is a part of the West Virginia
Stream Partners Program within the state of West Virginia is eligible for
adoption, with the exception of streams or rivers considered determined
to be unsafe by the department. Volunteers may select a stream or
river to adopt and then have it approved by the department, or they may ask the
department to suggest an adoptable stream or river Adopted streams or
river sections must be at least one mile long. Applications for
adoptions will be reviewed and approved or denied at the department’s
discretion. The Litter Control Fund, or other sources of funding deemed
appropriate by the secretary, may be used to support the Adopt-A-Stream
Program.
(c) Adoptions are for a
period of one year three years, during which time at least
one cleanup is required per year. As volunteers pick up litter, bags that
have been filled are placed on stream sides Collected litter will be
placed at designated locations approved by the department. The department may
coordinate with volunteers, local authorities, and state agencies for
removal and disposal by the program of collected litter. Garbage
bags, safety vests, safety training, traffic warning signs, and
gloves are to be furnished by the program.
(d) Adopted streams or
rivers may be identified by a sign at each end of the a location
along the adopted section bearing the Adopt-A-Stream logo and the name of
the adopter after the first cleanup has been completed. Volunteers who
complete one required litter pickup within the one-year contract period shall
be awarded a certificate of accomplishment signed by the secretary.
(e) The secretary may propose legislative rules pursuant to §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to ensure that the Adopt-A-Stream program is able to function in compliance with the intent of this article.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
