(a) Any person owning or operating a steam boiler carrying more than fifteen pounds pressure per square inch (except boilers on railroad locomotives subject to inspection under federal laws; portable boilers used for agricultural purposes; boilers on automobiles; boilers of steam fire engines brought into the state for temporary use in times of emergency for the purpose of checking conflagrations; boilers used in private residences which are used solely for residential purposes; any sectional boilers; small portable boilers commonly used in the oil and gas industry about their wells and tool houses; and boilers under the jurisdiction of the United States) in this state shall first obtain a permit to operate a steam boiler from the Commissioner of Labor, or from an inspector working under his or her jurisdiction.

(b) Applications for permits to operate a steam boiler must be accompanied by a sworn statement made by the owner or operator of such boiler, setting forth the condition of the boiler and its appurtenances at which time, if the facts disclosed by such statement meet the safety requirements established under this article, the Commissioner of Labor shall issue a temporary permit, which shall be valid until such boiler has been inspected by a boiler inspector authorized by the state Commissioner of Labor; thereupon, if the boiler meets the safety requirements established under this article, the Commissioner of Labor shall issue an annual permit to operate such steam boiler: Provided, That boilers which are insured by an insurance company operating in this state and which are inspected by such insurance company’s boiler inspector shall not be subject to inspection by the state Division of Labor, during any twelve-month period during which an inspection is made by the insurance company’s boiler inspector.

(c) The Commissioner of Labor or state boiler inspector shall have the authority to inspect steam boilers in this state. To carry out the provisions of this section, the Commissioner of Labor shall prescribe rules and regulations under which boilers may be constructed and operated, according to their class. The Commissioner of Labor may revoke any permit to operate a steam boiler if the rules prescribed by the Commissioner of Labor, or his or her authorized representative, are violated or if a condition shall prevail which is hazardous to the life and health of persons operating or employed at or around the boiler. Any person or corporation who shall operate a steam boiler for which a permit is necessary under the provisions of this section, without first obtaining such permit to operate a steam boiler, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500. Every day a steam boiler requiring a permit to operate is operated without the permit is a separate offense.

(d) The commissioner shall charge an annual fee to be established by legislative rule for the inspection of boilers by the division, for the processing of inspection reports from insurance companies, for the issuing of annual permits to operate boilers and for the commissioning of insurance company boiler inspectors. The commissioner shall propose rules for legislative approval, in accordance with §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code for the implementation and enforcement of this section. No fee may be charged for the inspection of boilers used on mobile equipment or vehicles used for occasional entertainment or display purposes.

(e) All fees paid pursuant to this section shall be paid to the Commissioner of Labor and deposited in an appropriated special revenue account hereby created in the State Treasury to be known as the Steam Boiler Fund and expended for the implementation and enforcement of this section. Through June 30, 2019, amounts collected which are found from time to time to exceed funds needed for the purposes set forth in this section may be utilized by the commissioner as needed to meet the division’s funding obligations: Provided, That beginning July 1, 2019, amounts collected may not be utilized by the commissioner as needed to meet the division’s funding obligations.