West Virginia Code 31-21-4 – Purpose of article
The purpose of this article is to provide for the creation of a special purpose nonprofit corporation with a comprehensive mission to:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 31-21-4
- board: means the board of directors of the corporation to be appointed under the provisions of section six of this article. See West Virginia Code 31-21-2
- Certified sites: means those sites that are developable properties that have been prequalified as having proper land use designation, utilities, transportation improvements, availability, and pricing. See West Virginia Code 31-21-2
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Corporation: means the West Virginia Land Stewardship Corporation, a nonstock, nonprofit corporation to be established under the West Virginia Nonprofit Corporation Act, article two, chapter . See West Virginia Code 31-21-2
- DEP: means the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection or any successor agency. See West Virginia Code 31-21-2
- IEC Sites: means sites in this state that have been remediated or closed under a federal or state environmental program, including, but not limited to, brownfields, underground storage tanks, closed landfills, open dumps, hazardous waste sites, and former mining sites with ongoing water treatment as part of mine reclamation efforts. See West Virginia Code 31-21-2
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Nonprofit corporation: means a corporation established under the West Virginia Nonprofit Corporation Act, article two, chapter . See West Virginia Code 31-21-2
- Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(1) Assist the DEP in utilizing a voluntary land stewardship program for the long-term safeguarding of IEC Sites to ensure that the remedy remains protective of human health and the environment and to facilitate further economic development and reuse opportunities;
(2) Provide the DEP and other parties with a reliable source of oversight, monitoring and information about IEC Sites under the voluntary land stewardship program;
(3) Establish a land bank as a legal and financial mechanism to accept title to properties and assist in transforming idled and underutilized properties back to productive reuse;
(4) Facilitate reuse and redevelopment by authorizing the conveyance of certain properties to a land bank under a voluntary land bank program and assist the state and local governments with the assembly and clearance of title to property in a coordinated manner;
(5) Promote economic growth by implementing a state certified sites program to identify sites that are ready for construction within twelve months or less and that are certified "project-ready" for specific industry profiles as well as other categories of sites identified for economic development opportunities;
(6) Provide voluntary programs on a fee or subscription basis with the nonprofit corporation to protect human health and the environment as well as assist with a variety of economic development efforts throughout the state; and
(7) Prescribe the powers and duties of the nonprofit corporation; provide for the creation and appointment of a board to govern the nonprofit corporation and to prescribe its powers and duties; and to extend protections against certain environmental liabilities to the nonprofit corporation in order to protect it from liabilities created by third parties.