West Virginia Code § 61-10-34

Critical Infrastructure Protection Act; prohibiting certain acts, including
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this section
trespass and conspiracy to trespass against property designated a critical
infrastructure facility; criminal penalties; and civil action.
(a) This section may be referred to as the "West Virginia Critical Infrastructure Protection
Act".
(b) For purposes of this section:
"Critical Infrastructure" means systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to
the United States of America or the State of West Virginia that thue incapacity or destruction
of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic
security, state economic security, national public health or safety, state public health or
safety, or any combination of those matters, whether such systems or assets are in operation
or are under any state of construction.
"Critical infrastructure facility" means one of the folllowing:
(1) A petroleum or alumina refinery;
(2) An electrical power generating facility, substation, switching station, electrical control
center or electric power lines, and associated equipment infrastructure;
(3) A chemical, polymer, or rubber manufacturing facility;
(4) A water intake strucLture, water treatment facility, wastewater treatment plant, or pump
station;
(5) A natural gas compressor station;
(6) A liquid natural gas terminal or storage facility;
(7) Wireline and wireless telecommunications infrastructure;
(8) A port, railroad switching yard, trucking terminal, or other freight transportation facility;
(9) A gas processing plant, including a plant used in the processing, treatment, or
fractionation of natural gas or natural gas liquids;
(10) A transmission facility used by a federally licensed radio or television station;
(11) A steelmaking facility that uses an electric arc furnace to make steel;
(12) A facility identified and regulated by the United States Department of Homeland
Security Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program;
(13) A dam that is regulated by the state or federal government;
(14) A natural gas distribution utility facility including, but not limited to, pipeline
interconnections, a city gate or town border station, metering station, below-or above-
ground pipeline or piping and truck loading or offloading facility, a natural gas storage
facility, a natural gas transmission facility, or a natural gas utility distribution facility;
(15) A crude oil or refined products storage and distribution facility including, but not
limited to, valve sites, pipeline interconnections, pump station, metering staetion, below- or
above-ground pipeline or piping, and truck loading or offloading facility;
(16) Military facilities, including national guard facilities and equipment storage areas where
non-military personnel are prohibited; u
(17) Department of Highways facilities and locations near or on roads or highways where the
public is prohibited;
(18) Health care facilities;
(19) Any above-ground portion of an oil, gas, hazardous liquid, or chemical pipeline, tank, or
other storage facility that is enclosed by a fence, other physical barrier, or is clearly marked
with signs prohibiting trespassing that arei obviously designed to exclude intruders;
(20) A commercial service airport as defined by the Federal Aviation Administration;
(21) Any nuclear reactor and its associated components including, but not limited to,
components related to modular or microreactors, cooling technologies, sensors,
instrumentation, or storage involved in training or research opportunities;
(22) Any licensed live stock stockyard facility; any licensed livestock slaughter facility; or any
commercial poultry production and processing facility; or
(23) The hardware, software, or other digital property of any critical infrastructure facility
listeWd in this subsection.
(c)(1) Any person who willfully and knowingly trespasses or enters property containing a
critical infrastructure facility without permission by the owner of the property or lawful
occupant thereof is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished
by a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $1,000, or confined in jail not less than 30 days
nor more than one year, or both fined and confined. If the intent of the trespasser is to
willfully damage, destroy, vandalize, deface, tamper with the physical or digital equipment,
or impede or inhibit operations of the critical infrastructure facility, the person is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than
$1,000, or confined in a jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
(2) (A) Any person who willfully damages, destroys, vandalizes, defaces, or tampers with the
physical or digital equipment in a critical infrastructure facility causing damage, including
damage inflicted by cyber-attack or digital interference in excess of $2,500 is guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $3,000 nor more than
$10,000, or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for a term of not less than one year nor
more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(B) Any person convicted of a second offense under the provisions of this subdivision is guilty
of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $10,000 nor more than
$15,000, or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for a term of not less tehan two years
nor more than 10 years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(3) Any person who conspires with any person to commit the offense of trespass against a
critical infrastructure facility in violation of subdivision (1) of subusection (c) of this section
and the trespass actually occurs is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined in an amount of not less than $250 nor more thtan $1,000. Any person who
conspires with any person to willfully damage, destroy, vandalize, deface, or tamper with
equipment in a critical infrastructure facility and the damage, destruction, vandalization,
defacing, or tampering causes damage, including damage inflicted by cyber-attack or digital
interference in excess of $2,500 is guilty of a felony and, shall, upon conviction thereof, be
fined not less than $3,000 nor more than $10,s000.
(d)(1) Any person who is arrested for or convicted of an offense under this section may be
held civilly liable for any damages tog personal or real property while trespassing, in addition
to the penalties imposed by this section.
(2) Any person or entity that compensates, provides consideration to, or remunerates a
person for trespassing as described in subdivision (1) of subsection (c) of this section may
also be held liable for damages to personal or real property committed by the person
compensated or remunerated for trespassing.
(e) A person who buys or receives from another person, aids in concealing, transfers to a
person other than the owner thereof, or possesses any stolen goods or other thing of value
fromW a critical infrastructure facility, which he or she knows or has reason to believe has
been stolen from a critical infrastructure facility, is guilty of larceny, and may be prosecuted
although the principal offender has not been convicted: Provided, That possession of stolen
goods from a critical infrastructure facility while acting at the request of law enforcement or
in cooperation with law enforcement does not constitute a violation of this section. Any
person convicted of an offense under this subsection, in addition the criminal penalties
imposed for larceny, is liable to the critical infrastructure facility owner for compensatory
damages and, in addition, for punitive damages in an amount not less than three times the
amount of the compensatory damages.
(f) The provisions of §61-10-34(c)(1) of this code do not apply to any person or organization:
(1) Monitoring or attentive to compliance with public or worker safety laws, or, wage and
hour requirements;
(2) Picketing at the workplace that is otherwise lawful and arises out of a bona fide labor
dispute, including any controversy concerning wages, salaries, hours, working conditions, or
benefits, including health and welfare, sick leave, insurance, and pension or retirement
provisions, the managing or maintenance of collective bargaining agreements, and the terms
to be included in those agreements; or
(3) Engaging in union organizing or recruitment activities, including attempeting to reach
workers verbally, in writing with pamphlets, and investigation of non-union working
conditions, or both. r
(g) The provisions of this section do not apply to: u
(1) The right to free speech or assembly including, but not limited to, protesting and
picketing; or
(2) A contractor who has a contractual relationship with a critical infrastructure facility and
the contractor's employees are acting within their lscope of employment performing work at
a critical infrastructure facility. s
(h)(1) All items of personal property whichi are used, have been used, or are intended for use
in perpetration of theft or damage to infrastructure are subject to forfeiture.
(2) The items of personal property subject to forfeiture include all conveyances, including
aircraft, vehicles, or vessels, except that:
(A) A conveyance used by any person as a common carrier in the transaction of business as a
common carrier may not be forfeited under this section unless it appears that the person
owning the conveyan ce is a consenting party or privy to a violation of this section;
(B) A conveyance may not be forfeited under the provisions of this article, unless the state
proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the person owning the conveyance knew, or
had reason to know, that the conveyance was being employed or was likely to be employed
in a violation of this section; and
(C) A bona fide security interest or other valid lien in any conveyance may not be forfeited
under the provisions of this article, unless the state proves by a preponderance of the
evidence that the holder of the security interest or lien either knew, or had reason to know,
that the conveyance was being used or was likely to be used in a violation of this section.
(3) All procedures relating to the seizure and disposition of property subject to forfeiture
under the authority of this section are governed by the applicable provisions of the West
Virginia Contraband Forfeiture Act, §60A-7-701 et seq. of this code.

‹ Prev All West Virginia sections Next ›


Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.