West Virginia Code 22-14-19 – Dam Safety Rehabilitation Revolving Fund established; disbursement of fund moneys
(a) There is created in the state Treasury a special revenue fund known as the Dam Safety Rehabilitation Revolving Fund. The fund shall be comprised of money allocated to the state by the federal government expressly for the purposes of establishing and maintaining a state Dam Safety Rehabilitation Revolving Fund. The fund shall also include all receipts from loans made by the fund, any moneys appropriated by the Legislature, all income from the investment of moneys held in the fund and all other moneys designated for deposit to the fund from any source, public or private. The fund shall operate as a special revenue fund and all deposits and payments into the fund do not expire to the General Revenue Fund, but shall remain in the account and be available for expenditure in succeeding fiscal years.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 22-14-19
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Authority: means the Water Development Authority provided in section four, article one, chapter . See West Virginia Code 22-14-3
- Dam: means an artificial barrier or obstruction, including any works appurtenant to it and any reservoir created by it, which is or will be placed, constructed, enlarged, altered or repaired so that it does or will impound or divert water and:
(A) Is or will be twenty-five feet or more in height from the natural bed of the stream or watercourse measured at the downstream toe of the barrier and which does or can impound fifteen acre-feet or more of water. See West Virginia Code 22-14-3
- Deficient dam: means a noncoal-related dam that exhibits one or more design, maintenance or operational problems that may adversely affect the performance of the dam over a period of time or during a major storm or other inclement weather that may cause loss of life or property. See West Virginia Code 22-14-3
- Department: means the Department of Environmental Protection. See West Virginia Code 22-14-3
- Director: means the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection or his or her designee. See West Virginia Code 22-1-2
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Secretary: means the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. See West Virginia Code 22-14-3
- 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
(b) The fund, to the extent that money is available, shall be used solely to make loans to persons who own an interest in a deficient dam on the list of deficient dams created pursuant to section twenty of this article to finance the engineering, design, alteration, improvement, repair, breaching or removal of the deficient dam necessary to correct or remove the deficiencies and other activities as authorized by a federal grant, a legislative appropriation or by the secretary pursuant to section twenty-two of this article. The fund may also be used to defray costs incurred by the department or the authority in administering the provisions of this subsection.
(c) The secretary, in consultation with the authority, shall promulgate rules, in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to govern the disbursement of moneys from the fund, establish a state deficient dams rehabilitation assistance program to direct the distribution of loans from the fund, establish criteria for eligibility to receive loans from the fund and establish the terms and conditions of the loans, including interest rates and repayment terms. The secretary may initially promulgate rules or amendments to rules as emergency rules pursuant to the provisions of said article.
(d) The secretary and the authority may employ qualified officers, agents, advisors and consultants and other persons necessary to carry out the administration and management of the fund.
(e) The authority shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to govern the pledge of loans to secure bonds of the authority.
(f) Disbursements from the fund shall be authorized for payment in writing by the director of the authority or the director's designee. Moneys in the fund shall not be commingled with other money of the authority.