When in the judgment of the Governor there exists a substantial interruption or an imminent threat of a substantial interruption of public uses, he shall proclaim that an emergency exists in the Commonwealth that endangers the health, safety, and welfare of its people and the enjoyment of the public and private property within its borders. It shall then be the duty of the Governor to seize and operate the property of any person used in the mining, production, or marketing of coal that the Governor deems essential for the protection of the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the Commonwealth.
Code 1950, § 45-147; 1950, p. 30; 1966, c. 594, § 45.1-147; 1994, c. 28, § 45.1-161.314; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.