§15A-10-2. Powers, duties, and authority of State Fire Marshal.
(a) The State Fire Marshal may employ personnel, fix their compensation and, within funds available to do so, incur expenses as necessary in the performance of the duties of his or her office.
(b) The State Fire Marshal is responsible for the enforcement of fire programs within this state, training, uniform standards and certification, finance, and planning, and fire prevention.
(c) The State Fire Marshal shall ensure that state and area training and education in fire service are operated throughout the state at a level consistent with needs identified by the State Fire Commission.
(d) The State Fire Marshal shall perform any such duties as necessary to assist the State Fire Commission in performing its duties and responsibilities as provided in §15A-11-1 et seq. of this code. This shall include, but not be limited to, performing inspections on fire departments, making recommendations on fire department boundary lines, making recommendations on applications for new fire departments, making recommendations on closures or suspensions of fire departments, and any other act or assistance to the State Fire Commission as may be necessary. The Fire Marshal may, in the case of imminent danger, issue immediate cease and desist orders on behalf of the State Fire Commission without their prior approval. In that case, the State Fire Commission shall act further upon said order at their next regular meeting.
(e) The State Fire Marshal may accept, on behalf of the Office of the State Fire Marshal, or on behalf of the State Fire Commission, gifts, grants, court ordered civil forfeiture proceedings and bequests of funds or property from individuals, foundations, corporations, the federal government, governmental agencies and other organizations or institutions. Moneys from gifts, grants, civil forfeiture proceedings and bequests received by the State Fire Marshal shall be deposited into the special account set forth in §15A-10-7 of this code, and the State Fire Marshal, has the authority to make expenditures of, or use of any tangible property, in order to effectuate the purposes of this article.
(f) Beginning July 1, 2020, applicants for certification or licensure in accordance with the education and training programs under the respective jurisdictions of State Fire Marshal shall be permitted to apply training hours earned via career technical education provided by West Virginia public schools or an apprenticeship program or employer-sponsored training program towards the requirements for certification and/or licensure by the State Fire Marshal as applicable. The State Fire Marshal shall, after consultation with the State Superintendent of Schools, propose rules for legislative approval, in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code, for the implementation and enforcement of these provisions. The rules shall provide at least the following:
(1) Standards and procedures for recognizing training hours acquired through career technical education provided by West Virginia public schools and applying those hours to requirements for testing and/or certification and/or licensure; and
(2) Standards and procedures for recognizing training hours acquired through apprenticeship programs and employer-sponsored training programs and applying those hours to requirements for testing and/or certification and/or licensure.
As used in this subsection:
(A) “Apprentice” means someone who is enrolled in an apprenticeship program.
(B) “Apprenticeship program” means a program offered by an employer to provide supervised on-the-job training to employees approved by the United States Department of Labor.
(C) “Employer sponsored training program” means a program approved in accordance with a rule promulgated by the State Fire Commission or the State Fire Marshal under their respective authorities established in this code.
(D) “License” means a valid and current certification or license issued by State Fire Commission or the State Fire Marshal for satisfactory completion of education and training programs under their respective jurisdictions.
(E) “Career technical education” means programs of study, clusters, and pathways approved by the West Virginia Board of Education pursuant to state board policy.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, beginning on July 1, 2020, the State Fire Commission has no enforcement authority for violations of the fire code, or the building code, all enforcement authority previously held by the Fire Commission regarding these two rules is hereby transferred and solely vests in the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
(h) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, on July 1, 2020, all power and authority for the licensing or certifications programs of “home inspectors”, and “municipal, county, and other public sector building code officials, building code inspectors, and plans examiners”, are hereby transferred to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, and the State Fire Marshal shall have full authority over said programs, licenses, certifications, and all responsibilities thereof. Whenever in this code a reference is made to the State Fire Commission in relation to these Licensing or Certification Programs, it shall be construed to mean the State Fire Marshal.
