West Virginia Code 22-18-25 – Financial responsibility provisions
(1) Financial responsibility required by subdivision (4), subsection (a), section six of this article may be established in accordance with rules promulgated by the director by any one, or any combination, of the following: Insurance, guarantee, surety bond, letter of credit or qualification as a self-insurer. In promulgating requirements under this section, the director is authorized to specify policy or other contractual terms, conditions or defenses which are necessary or are unacceptable in establishing such evidence of financial responsibility in order to effectuate the purposes of this article.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 22-18-25
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Director: means the director of the Division of Environmental Protection or such other person to whom the director has delegated authority or duties pursuant to sections six or eight, article one of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 22-18-3
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. Source: OCC
- Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means any individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, public, private or government corporation, partnership, association, state or federal agency, the United States government, this state or any other state, municipality, county commission or any other political subdivision of a state or any interstate body. See West Virginia Code 22-18-3
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- 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
(2) In any case where the owner or operator is in bankruptcy reorganization, or arrangement pursuant to the federal bankruptcy code or where (with reasonable diligence) jurisdiction in any state court or any federal court cannot be obtained over an owner or operator likely to be solvent at the time of judgment, any claim arising from conduct for which evidence of financial responsibility must be provided under this section may be asserted directly against the guarantor providing such evidence of financial responsibility. In the case of any action pursuant to this subsection, such guarantor is entitled to invoke all rights and defenses which would have been available to the owner or operator if any action had been brought against the owner or operator by the claimant and which would have been available to the guarantor if an action had been brought against the guarantor by the owner or operator.
(3) The total liability of any guarantor is limited to the aggregate amount which the guarantor has provided as evidence of financial responsibility to the owner or operator under this article. Nothing in this subsection limits any other state or federal statutory contractual or common law liability of a guarantor to its owner or operator including, but not limited to, the liability of such guarantor for bad faith either in negotiating or in failing to negotiate the settlement of any claim. Nothing in this subsection diminishes the liability of any person under section 107 or 111 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 or other applicable law.
(4) For the purposes of this section, the term "guarantor" means any person other than the owner or operator who provides evidence of financial responsibility for an owner or operator under this section.