§ 17C-17B-1 — Legislative findings and purposes

(a) The Legislature finds that:

(1) Enforcement officers of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia are, as part of their enforcement of chapters twenty-four and twenty-four-a of this code with respect to common and contract carriers by motor vehicle, other for-hire carriers and private commercial carriers, currently inspecting for safety many of the same vehicles and loads that are inspected for size and weight by employees of the Department of Transportation;

(2) To effectuate the legislative findings and declarations set forth in section one, article one, chapter five-f of this code, the jurisdiction over the administration and enforcement of state statutes and rules relating to vehicular weight and the jurisdiction over the issuance of permits for excess vehicular weight should be transferred to the Public Service Commission;

(3) To preserve continuity and to maximize efficiency, those employees of the Department of Transportation who are employed primarily in the performance of the governmental duties described in this section should be transferred to the Public Service Commission; and

(4) The enforcement of state statutes and rules relating to coal truck weight, including costs of inspections of the vehicles and loads, training of enforcement officers, program oversight, administrative proceedings, personal services, employee benefits and all other costs associated with enforcement matters, falls within the scope of maintenance of state roads and public highways as described in section fifty-two, article six of the Constitution of this state and in section one, article three, chapter seventeen of this code.

(b) The purposes of this article are to transfer:

(1) Jurisdiction over the enforcement of state statutes and rules, including, but not limited to, the provisions of article seventeen-a of this chapter, relating to coal truck weight, from the Department of Transportation to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia;

(2) Jurisdiction over the issuance of permits for excess vehicular weight under section eleven, article seventeen, of this chapter, from the Department of Transportation to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia; and

(3) To the Public Service Commission of West Virginia those employees of the Department of Transportation whose primary governmental duties include the administration and enforcement of statutes and rules relating to vehicular weight.

Legislative History

2003 Reg. Sess., SB583