§29A-1-1 Legislative findings and statement of purpose. - West Virginia Statutes

§29A-1-1. Legislative findings and statement of purpose.
The Legislature finds and declares that administrative law and the administrative practice and procedure of the various executive and administrative officers, offices and agencies comprises a body of law and policy which is voluminous, often formulated without adequate public participation and collected and preserved for public knowledge and use in an unacceptable and essentially inaccessible fashion. The Legislature further finds that the delegation of its legislative powers to other departments and agencies of government requires of the Legislature that the rules and regulations of such other departments and agencies, which have the force and effect of law because of their legislative character, should be carefully and extensively reviewed by the Legislature in a manner properly respectful of the separation of powers but in keeping with the legislative force and effect of such rules and regulations. Accordingly the Legislature has and by this chapter intends to fix by law uniform and settled administrative practices and procedures, subject only to enumerated exceptions, for the exercise of executive rule- making authority and for the exercise by executive and administrative officers, offices and agencies of lawfully delegated legislative power, with appropriate legislative review of that exercise of such delegated legislative authority and with established procedures for legislative oversight of the exercise of executive rule-making authority.

In that light chapter twenty-nine-a of this code establishes, with enumerated exceptions, procedures for rule making, declaratory rulings by agencies and the conduct of contested administrative cases, together with a plan for the systematic preparation, public consideration, orderly promulgation, preservation and public availability of the body of law, policy and administrative decisions within the purview of this chapter.