(a) There is hereby created the "national coal heritage area
authority" which is a public corporation and a government
instrumentality existing for the purposes of providing direction to
and assistance with state and federal historic preservation,
economic development, and tourism projects in the national coal
heritage area and aiding in the development and implementation of
integrated cultural, historical, and land resource management
policies and programs in order to retain, enhance, and interpret
the significant values of the lands, waters and structures in the
national coal heritage area.

(b) The authority board shall be comprised of twenty members.
The following six persons shall be nonvoting members and shall
serve by virtue of their offices and may be represented at meetings
of the board by designees: The secretary of the Department of
Education and the arts, the commissioner of the bureau of the
environment, thecommissioner of the Division of Tourism, the
commissioner of the Division of Culture and History, the director
of the Division of Natural Resources and the executive director of
the West Virginia Development Office. The remaining fourteen
members shall be appointed for terms of four years by the Governor
with the advice and consent of the Senate. The county commission
of each of the county within the National Coal Heritage Area may
submit to the Governor a list of three candidates to be considered for Board appointment. Of the fourteen members appointed by the
Governor, one member must reside or work in Boone County; one
member must reside or work in Cabell County; one member must reside
or work in Fayette County; one member must reside or work in
Lincoln County; one member must reside or work in Logan County;