The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

March 20, 2009

Senate votes to approve quick industrial accident reporting

By Mannix Porterfield

CHARLESTON — Industrial accidents must be reported to 911 emergency centers within 15 minutes under an administration-sought bill passed Friday by the Senate.

Failure to meet the 15-minute time frame could bring a penalty of up to $100,000, the bill says.

There was no floor debate on the measure, one that Gov. Joe Manchin sought in his State of the State message.

Manchin explained he wanted to broaden the obligation of industrial complexes to get emergency personnel to the scene of an incident as quickly as possible so that current law it isn’t restricted exclusively to coal production.

“Obviously, we tweaked it a little bit from the one the governor initially introduced,” said Sen. Mike Green, D-Raleigh, chairman of the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee.

“It’s a good piece of legislation. I think it ensures the public safety as a result of any accidents. It’s going to require corporations and companies to cooperate with 911 emergency personnel to ensure that public safety is a priority.”

Green said he was satisfied with providing a scale in the penalty. Originally, the proposal (SB279) called for a flat $100,000 fine regardless of the scope or circumstances surrounding the incident.

That was the lone bill at voting stage in the Senate, but it is prepared to deal with a number of issues next week.

One of them would create a senior resident hunting, fishing and trapping license.

The idea is to inflate the number of licenses sold and capture more federal dollars for wildlife expansion. Such money is allocated on the basis of the number of licenses issued.

For some years now, West Virginia has been losing a portion of the money in sales of outdoor gear to other states because of diminished license sales.

The idea behind the proposal of Sen. Ed Bowman, D-Hancock, is to create a one-time license for those 65 and older to raise the number of licenses on record.

Anyone now qualifying for a free seniors license would be grandfathered in.

Up for a vote Monday is a bill emanating from the interims session that would consider telecommunications devices as contraband in state jails and prisons.

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It wasn’t the most eloquent hour in the Senate career of Minority Leader Don Caruth.

First, he announced the 155th birthday of President Abraham Lincoln, then caught himself.

Actually, it was the anniversary of the Republican Party.

After laughing at his gaffe, Caruth, R-Mercer, said all West Virginians should be grateful to Lincoln for signing the order making this the 35th state.

Then, turning to the other side of the aisle, he told Democrats they should be especially thankful.

“If you didn’t have the Republican Party, who would you have to pick on?’” he asked.

That gave Judiciary Chairman Jeffrey Kessler, D-Marshall, a chance to needle one Republican, long-serving Sen. Frank Deem, R-Wood.

“He’s been a member about as long as we’ve been a state,” Kessler quipped.

“Just kidding.”

Then he led the full Senate into the signing of “Happy Birthday” to Deem, who turned 81 Friday.

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