West Virginia Code 22B-1-1 – Declaration of policy and purpose
It is hereby declared to be the policy of this state and the purpose of this chapter to provide fair, efficient and equitable treatment of appeals of environmental enforcement and permit actions to the boards set forth herein.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 22B-1-1
- Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
- boards: means the applicable board continued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, including the air quality board, the environmental quality board and the surface mine board. See West Virginia Code 22B-1-2
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- 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
It is also the intent of the Legislature to consolidate and combine the legal, technical and support personnel of the three boards, to provide for consistent appellate processes and to maintain continuity of the boards’ functions and membership. The boards shall share physical facilities, hearing rooms, technical and support staff and general overhead. In addition, it is the policy of this state to retain and maintain adequate funding and sufficient support personnel to ensure knowledgeable and informed decisions.
It is the policy of this state that administrative hearings and appeals be conducted in a quasi-judicial manner providing for discovery and case management. The appellate functions of the several environmental boards should be accomplished with similar procedural rules designed to assure expeditious and equitable hearings and decisions. Further, there shall be a central depository for appellate information and the filing of appeals. It is also the policy of this state that the rule-making authority set forth in this chapter be implemented in an efficient manner consistent with the public policy of this state.
Furthermore, it is the intent of the Legislature that all actions taken pursuant to this chapter assure implementation of the policies set forth in this chapter and chapter twenty-two of this code.