act-1967-0-61•Pennsylvania Act 1967-61 — WHEELING CREEK WATERSHED COMPACT - RATIFICATION
Pennsylvania Act 1967-61 — WHEELING CREEK WATERSHED COMPACT - RATIFICATION
act-1967-0-611967 Pa. Act 61Law
Act text
WHEELING CREEK WATERSHED COMPACT - RATIFICATION
Act of Aug. 2, 1967, P.L. 189, No. 61 Cl. 32
AN ACT
To ratify and adopt the Wheeling Creek Watershed Protection and
Flood Prevention District Compact for the prevention of
floods and the conservation, development, utilization and
disposal of water within the Wheeling Creek watershed or
subwatershed areas, and making the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania a party thereto; creating the "Wheeling Creek
Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Commission,"
providing for the members of such commission from the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and providing for the carrying
out of said compact. follows:
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The following Wheeling Creek Watershed Protection
and Flood Prevention District Compact, which has been negotiated
by representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the
State of West Virginia, is ratified, adopted, and entered into
by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a party thereto and
signatory state:
WHEELING CREEK WATERSHED PROTECTION AND
FLOOD PREVENTION DISTRICT COMPACT
ARTICLE I. RECITATION OF REASONS FOR COMPACT
Whereas, Wheeling Creek, a tributary of the Ohio River,
arises in Pennsylvania, flows through Washington and Greene
Counties of that Commonwealth, enters the State of West
Virginia, flows through Marshall and Ohio Counties, West
Virginia, and empties into the Ohio River at Wheeling, West
Virginia; and
Whereas, the inhabitants of Marshall and Ohio Counties, West
Virginia, and also, but to a much lesser degree, the inhabitants
of Washington and Greene Counties, Pennsylvania, living along
Wheeling Creek have over the years experienced loss of life and
property from flooding of that stream; and
Whereas, surveys made by the Soil Conservation Service of the
United States Department of Agriculture indicate that the
inhabitants of the four counties named can best be protected
from the flooding of Wheeling Creek by flood prevention dams
constructed thereon with some of the dams being located on the
upper reaches of the stream and its tributaries in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and
Whereas, the Federal Watershed Protection and Flood
Prevention Act of 1954, as amended, authorizes, under certain
circumstances, federal assistance to local organizations in
preparing and carrying out undertakings for flood prevention and
the conservation, development, utilization and disposal of water
in watershed or subwatershed areas; and
Whereas, no local organization within the meaning of the
federal act aforesaid established by or organized under the laws
of West Virginia is competent under state laws to acquire land
for, construct, and operate with or without federal assistance
flood prevention facilities in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
and it appears that no such local organization established by or
organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania can
justify the expenditure of locally raised funds to construct and
operate flood prevention facilities which will benefit primarily
the inhabitants of the neighboring State of West Virginia; and
Whereas, facilities erected on the upper reaches of Wheeling
Creek and its tributaries for flood control and prevention can
nevertheless have a recreational value for the citizens of both
West Virginia and Pennsylvania and particularly the citizens of
Ohio and Marshall Counties, West Virginia, and Washington and
Greene Counties, Pennsylvania; accordingly, for purposes of
promoting that potential, as well as providing a vehicle or
means whereby federal assistance may be enlisted for the
protection of citizens of her neighboring State of West Virginia
from the flooding of Wheeling Creek, the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania joins with the State of West Virginia in
negotiating and ratifying this Compact; now therefore,
ARTICLE II. WHEELING CREEK WATERSHED PROTECTION
AND FLOOD PREVENTION DISTRICT CREATED
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of West
Virginia hereby create as an agency and instrumentality of the
governments thereof a district to be known as the "Wheeling
Creek Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention District,"
hereinafter called the District, which shall embrace all
territory in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of
West Virginia, the water in which flows ultimately into Wheeling
Creek or its tributaries.
ARTICLE III. WHEELING CREEK WATERSHED PROTECTION
AND FLOOD PREVENTION COMMISSION CREATED
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of West
Virginia hereby create as the governing body of the District
the, "Wheeling Creek Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention
Commission," hereinafter called the Commission, which shall be a
body corporate, with the powers and duties set forth herein, and
such additional powers as may be conferred upon it by subsequent
concurrent action of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania and
the Legislature of West Virginia or by act or acts of the
Congress of the United States.
ARTICLE IV. COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION
The Commission shall consist of five commissioners from
Pennsylvania and five commissioners from West Virginia, each of
whom shall be a citizen of the commonwealth or state from which
he is appointed. The commissioners from the commonwealth and
from the state shall be chosen in the manner and for the terms
provided by the laws of the commonwealth or state from which
they shall be appointed, and any commissioner may be removed or
suspended from office as provided by the law of the commonwealth
or state from which he shall be appointed. Vacancies on the
Commission shall be filled in the manner provided by the laws of
the commonwealth or state among whose representation on the
Commission the vacancy occurs.
The commissioners shall serve without compensation from the
Commission, but they shall be paid by the Commission their
actual expenses incurred and incident to the performance of
their duties.
ARTICLE V. ORGANIZATION OF COMMISSION
The Commission shall meet and organize within sixty days
after the effective date of this Compact, shall elect from its
number a chairman and vice chairman, and shall appoint, and at
its pleasure remove or discharge, such officers and legal,
clerical, expert and other assistants as may be required to
carry the provisions of this Compact into effect, and shall
determine their qualifications and fix their duties and
compensation. It shall adopt a seal and suitable bylaws, and
shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations for its
management and control. It may establish and maintain one or
more offices within the District for the transaction of its
business, and may meet at any time or place. The presence of
three commissioners from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and
three commissioners from the State of West Virginia shall
constitute a quorum, and a majority vote of the quorum shall be
necessary to pass upon matters before the Commission.
ARTICLE VI. POWERS AND DUTIES
The Commission is hereby authorized and empowered:
(A) To be and serve in the capacity of a local organization
within the meaning of the Watershed Protection and Flood
Prevention Act of the 83rd Congress of the United States, Second
Session, (Public Law 566), approved August 4, 1954, as from time
to time amended, and in that capacity the Commission shall have
the following authority and powers:
(1) To apply for and receive federal financial and other
assistance in preparing and carrying out plans for works of
improvement as that term is defined in said federal act, as from
time to time amended, hereinafter referred to as works of
improvement, and to apply for and receive federal financial and
other assistance under the aforementioned or other federal acts
in preparing and carrying out plans for public fish and wildlife
or recreational development in connection with works of
improvement, including the construction and operation of all
facilities which may be necessary or incident to such works of
improvement and public fish and wildlife or recreational
development in connection therewith.
(2) To acquire, or with respect to interests in land to be
acquired by condemnation, provide assurances satisfactory to the
Secretary of Agriculture of the United States or other agent or
agency of the United States that the Commission will acquire
such land, easements, or rights-of-way as will be needed in
connection with works of improvement, and public fish and
wildlife or recreational development and facilities in
connection with works of improvement, installed with federal
assistance.
(3) To agree to operate and maintain any reservoir or other
area included in a plan for works of improvement or public fish
and wildlife or recreational development and facilities.
(4) To assume all or such proportionate share, as is
determined by the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States
or other agent or agency of the United States, of the costs of
installing any works of improvement, involving federal
assistance, which is applicable to the agricultural phases of
the conservation, development, utilization, and disposal of
water or for fish and wildlife or recreational development and
facilities or to purposes other than flood prevention and
features relating thereto.
(5) To make arrangements satisfactory to the Secretary of
Agriculture of the United States or other agent or agency of the
United States for defraying costs of operating and maintaining
works of improvement and public fish and wildlife or
recreational development and facilities in connection with works
of improvement; provided, that such arrangements shall be based
solely upon contributions, allotments or commitments of funds to
the District or Commission.
(6) To acquire, or provide assurance that landowners or
water users have acquired, such water rights, pursuant to the
law of the commonwealth or state applicable thereto, as may be
needed in the installation and operation of the works of
improvement and public fish and wildlife or recreational
development and facilities in connection with works of
improvement.
(7) To cooperate with soil conservation districts in
obtaining agreements to carry out recommended soil conservation
measures and proper farm plans from owners of land situated in
the drainage area above each retention reservoir to be installed
with or without federal assistance.
(8) To apply for and receive federal loans or advancements
to finance the local share of costs of carrying out works of
improvement and public fish and wildlife or recreational
development and facilities in connection with works of
improvement, and to submit a plan of repayment satisfactory to
the Secretary of Agriculture or other agent or agency of the
United States for any loan or advancement; provided, that such
plan of repayment shall be based solely upon contributions,
allotments or commitments of funds to the District or
Commission.
(9) To cooperate, and enter into agreements with, the
Secretary of Agriculture of the United States or other agent or
agency of the United States, and to do all other things
required, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Compact
and the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State
of West Virginia, to obtain maximum federal financial assistance
for works of improvement and public fish and wildlife or
recreational development and facilities in connection with such
works of improvement.
(B) To acquire within the District, land, easements, rights-
of-way and other property rights as may be needed in connection
with works of improvement and public fish and wildlife or
recreational development and facilities in connection with such
works of improvement and to make studies respecting, and to
plan, construct, maintain and operate, works of improvement
within the District and public fish and wildlife or recreational
development and facilities in connection with such works of
improvement.
(C) To obtain options upon and to acquire, by purchase,
exchange, lease, gift, grant, bequest, devise, eminent domain,
or otherwise, any property, real or personal, or rights therein,
for any of the purposes specified in this Article of the
Compact; provided, that eminent domain proceedings shall be
instituted and prosecuted in the manner and forms provided by
the laws of the commonwealth or state in which the property or
property rights proceeded against are situate; provided,
however, that no property now or hereafter vested in or held by
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the State of West Virginia,
or by any county, city, town, village, district, township,
municipality or other political subdivision thereof shall be
taken by the District without the consent of the commonwealth,
state or political subdivision which owns the same.
(D) To maintain, administer and improve any properties
acquired, to charge fees for use of, and receive income from,
such properties and to expend such income in carrying out the
purposes and provisions of this Compact, and to lease any of its
property or interests therein in accordance with the following
provisions and requirements: the Board of Commissioners of the
County of Ohio, West Virginia, the County Court of Marshall
County, West Virginia, the Board of Commissioners of Greene
County, Pennsylvania, and the Board of Commissioners of
Washington County, Pennsylvania, shall each have the option of
leasing from the Commission for such period as the lessee may
specify all or any part of the works of improvement and the
public fish and wildlife and recreational development and
facilities in connection with works of improvement located
within their respective counties upon the following terms and
conditions:
(a) That in each such lease the lessee in consideration
thereof pay to the lessor the sum of one dollar ($1.00) and
agree to fully maintain at its (the lessee's) expense all
works of improvement and all such development and facilities
in connection therewith located within the county of the
lessee in accordance with the requirements of the Watershed
Protection and Flood Prevention Act of the 83rd Congress of
the United States, Second Session, (Public Law 566), approved
August 4, 1954, as from time to time amended, and all
agreements and work plans made or formulated thereunder with
respect to such works of improvement and such development and
facilities in connection therewith located within the county
of the lessee, and that for failure of the lessee to comply
with such agreement, the lessor shall be given the right in
the lease agreement to cancel the lease upon thirty days'
written notice to the lessee.
(b) That any such lease not be inconsistent with the
provisions, or impair the purposes, of this Compact.
(c) That any such lease be approved by the Secretary of
Agriculture of the United States or other federal agent or
agencies having authority to extend approval under the
provisions of said act and agreements and work plans made or
formulated thereunder. In the event the Board of
Commissioners or County Court of any one of the four counties
named does not, within six (6) months from the completion of
the works of improvement and all such development and
facilities in connection therewith located in such county,
elect in writing transmitted to the Commission to exercise
the option given to it by the foregoing provisions, or in the
event such option is exercised and the lease to such Board of
Commissioners or County Court is subsequently cancelled
because of violation of the provisions of the lease by the
lessee, or in the event such option is exercised and the
Board of Commissioners or County Court subsequently chooses
not to renew its lease, the commissioners may lease all or
any part of the works of improvement and all such development
and facilities in connection therewith located within such
county to any other lessee which the Commission may choose,
and upon such terms as may be agreed upon; provided,
a. That any such lease be approved by the Board of
Commissioners or County Court of the county in which any
part or all of the works of improvement and all such
development and facilities in connection therewith are
located.
b. That any such lease not be inconsistent with the
provisions, or impair the purposes of this Compact.
c. That any such lease be approved by the Secretary
of Agriculture of the United States or other federal
agent or agencies having authority to extend approval
under the provisions of said act and agreements and work
plans made or formulated thereunder.
d. The option of leasing in the Board of
Commissioners of the County of Ohio, West Virginia, the
County Court of Marshall County, West Virginia, the Board
of Commissioners of Greene County, Pennsylvania, and the
Board of Commissioners of Washington County,
Pennsylvania, shall include the right to sublease on the
same terms and conditions set out in this paragraph to
any individual, corporation, municipal subdivision or
municipal authority without the approval of the Wheeling
Creek Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention
Commission.
(E) To enter into contracts and other arrangements with
agencies of the United States, with persons, firms or
corporations, including both public and private corporations,
with the government of the state and the government of the
commonwealth, or any department or agency of the United States,
the state or the commonwealth, with governmental divisions, with
soil conservation, drainage, flood control, soil erosion or
other improvement districts in the state or the commonwealth,
for cooperation or assistance in constructing, improving,
operating or maintaining works of improvement within the
District, and public fish and wildlife or recreational
development and facilities in connection with works of
improvement, or in preventing floods, damage from sediment
deposited by floodwaters, or in clearance of stream beds, or in
conserving, developing, utilizing and disposing of waters in the
District, or for making surveys, investigations or reports
thereof.
(F) To apply for, receive and use grants-in-aid, donations
and contributions from any source or sources, and to accept and
use consistent with the purposes of this Compact, bequests,
devises, gifts and donations from any person, firm, corporation,
state, commonwealth or agency or political subdivision thereof.
(G) To do any and all things necessary or convenient for the
purpose of promoting, developing and advancing the purposes of
said District herein set forth, and in promoting, developing and
advancing the recreational development and facilities incidental
to the works of improvement that shall be constructed to achieve
said purposes.
(H) To delegate any authority given to it by law to any of
its agents or employes, and to expend its funds in the execution
of the powers and authority herein given.
(I) The Commission, subject to the conditions herein, may
sell, exchange or lease property, real or personal, or any
interest therein.
When the property, or any interest or right therein, is being
held for future use, it may be leased. When the real property,
or any part thereof, or any interest or right therein, is deemed
by the Commission not necessary, or desirable for present or
presently foreseeable future use, it may be exchanged for other
property, or any interest or right therein, deemed by the
Commission to be necessary or desirable for present or presently
foreseeable future use, or may be sold. In addition the
Commission may exchange real property, or any part thereof, or
any interest or right therein, even though it may be desirable
or necessary for present or presently foreseeable future use, if
the exchange is made for other real property, or any interest or
right therein, in close proximity thereto which the Commission
deems of equal or superior value for presently foreseeable
future use. In making exchanges the Commission may make
allowances for differences in values of the properties being
exchanged and may move or pay the cost of moving buildings,
structures, or appurtenances in connection with the exchange.
Every such sale of real property, or any interest or right
therein or structure thereon, shall be at public auction in the
county in which the real property, or the greater part thereof
in value, is located, and the Commission shall advertise, by
publication or otherwise, the time, place and terms of such sale
at least twenty days prior thereto. The property shall be sold
in the manner which will bring the highest and best price
therefor. The Commission may reject any and all bids received at
the sale. The Commission shall keep a record, open to public
inspection, indicating the manner in which such real property,
or any interest or right therein or structure thereon, was
publicly advertised for sale, the highest bid received therefor
and from whom, the person to whom sold, and payment received
therefor. Such record shall be kept for a period of five years
and may thereafter be destroyed.
The Commission may insert in any deed or conveyance, whether
it involves an exchange, lease or sale, such conditions as are
in the public interest.
All moneys received from the exchange, sale or lease of real
or personal property, or any right or interest therein, shall be
paid into the Commission's treasury and used for the purpose for
which the Commission was created.
If the Commission has heretofore sold and conveyed away or
leased any such property, such transactions and the documents of
lease or transfer therefor are hereby approved and confirmed and
shall be as effective as if the authority to lease or convey the
said property had been given in this statute as originally
enacted.
((I) added Oct. 5, 1978, P.L.1081, No.252)
ARTICLE VII. FISCAL AFFAIRS
The Commission shall submit at the appropriate or designated
time to the Board of Commissioners of the County of Ohio, West
Virginia, the County Court of Marshall County, West Virginia,
the Board of Commissioners of Greene County, Pennsylvania, and
the Board of Commissioners of Washington County, Pennsylvania,
an annual budget of its estimated expenditures, which budget
shall contain specific recommendations of the amount or amounts
to be appropriated by each of the named governing bodies.
The Commission shall not incur any obligation prior to the
commitment or allotment of funds by the named governing bodies
or by other sources adequate to meet the same.
The Commission shall keep accurate accounts of all receipts
and disbursements, which accounts shall be open for inspection
at any reasonable time and shall be subject to audit by
representatives of contributing political subdivisions and of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of West Virginia.
The receipts and disbursements of the Commission shall be
subject to the audit and accounting procedures established under
its bylaws; provided, that all receipts and disbursements of the
Commission shall be audited yearly by a qualified public
accountant, and the report of the audit shall be transmitted to
each contributor of funds to the District or Commission.
ARTICLE VIII. EXEMPTION FROM TAXES AND FEES
The District and the property belonging to the District shall
be exempt from the payment of all taxes or fees imposed by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the State of West Virginia and
by any agency and political subdivision thereof.
ARTICLE IX. EFFECTIVE DATE OF COMPACT
This Compact shall become effective upon ratification by the
General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the
Legislature of the State of West Virginia and upon approval by
the Congress of the United States.
Compiler's Note: Section 2 of Act 252 of 1978, which amended
clause I of Article VI, provided that Act 252 shall take
effect immediately insofar as it relates to property
situated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but shall
not apply to property situated in the State of West
Virginia until similar provisions are enacted by the
State of West Virginia.
Section 2. In pursuance of Article IV of the above Compact,
there shall be five members of the Wheeling Creek Watershed
Protection and Flood Control Commission from the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, one of whom shall be a member of the Board of
Commissioners of Greene County, Pennsylvania, appointed by that
body to serve at its will and pleasure; one of whom shall be a
citizen of Greene County, Pennsylvania, appointed by the Board
of Commissioners of Greene County, Pennsylvania, to serve at its
will and pleasure; one of whom shall be a member of the Board of
Commissioners of Washington County, Pennsylvania, appointed by
that body to serve at its will and pleasure; one of whom shall
be a citizen of Washington County, Pennsylvania, appointed by
the Board of Commissioners of Washington County, Pennsylvania,
to serve at its will and pleasure; and one of whom shall be a
member of the Water and Power Resources Board, Department of
Forests and Waters, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, appointed by
the Governor of Pennsylvania to serve at his will and pleasure:
Provided, That,
(1) The citizen appointed by the Board of Commissioners of
Greene County, Pennsylvania, shall not be a member of that body.
(2) The citizen appointed by the Board of Commissioners of
Washington County, Pennsylvania, shall not be a member of that
body.
(3) The member appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania
from the Water and Power Resources Board, Department of Forests
and Waters, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall not be a resident
of either Greene or Washington Counties, Pennsylvania.
Vacancies shall be filled by the appointing authority
responsible for making the appointment to the position vacated.
Section 3. The Board of Commissioners of Greene County,
Pennsylvania, and the Board of Commissioners of Washington
County, Pennsylvania, and any municipality therein, which may
reasonably be expected to receive a benefit from the
construction, improvement, operation or maintenance of any works
of improvement, are hereby authorized and empowered to
contribute moneys to the District by appropriation from their
respective general funds not otherwise appropriated, and may set
up in their respective budgets funds to be spent for such
purposes, and such counties or municipalities may levy and
collect taxes for such purposes, in the manner provided by law.
Such boards of commissioners, and municipal corporations are
hereby authorized and empowered to transfer and convey to the
District property of any kind heretofore acquired by said boards
of commissioners, and municipalities, if acceptable to the
District as adaptable to use for the purposes of the District,
such transfers or conveyances to be without consideration or for
such price and upon such terms and conditions as such boards of
commissioners or municipalities shall determine to be proper.
Section 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
Poursuivez vos recherches dans ChatGPT ou Claude
Connectez Omnilex pour rechercher dans le corpus juridique depuis votre assistant IA.