COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4166
(By Delegates Palumbo, Staton, Kominar, Amores,
Craig and Webster)
(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)
[February 23, 2004]
A BILL to amend and reenact §36-3-5a of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to excepting the description
requirements from deeds or instruments for easements and
rights-of-way for mineral leases.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §36-3-5a of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. FORM AND EFFECT OF DEEDS AND CONTRACTS.
§36-3-5a. Easement and right-of-way; description of property;
exception for certain public utility facilities and
mineral leases.
(a) Any deed or instrument that initially grants or reserves
an easement or right-of-way shall describe the easement or
right-of-way by metes and bounds, or by specification of the
centerline of the easement or right-of-way, or by station and
offset, or by reference to an attached drawing or plat which may
not require a survey, or instrument based on the use of the global positioning system which may not require a survey: or Provided,
That oil and gas, gas storage and mineral leases shall not be
required to describe the easement, but shall describe the land on
which the easement or right of way will be situate by source of
title and or reference to the most recent deed
a tax map and
parcel, recorded deed, recorded lease, plat or survey
sufficient to
reasonably identify and locate the property on which the easement
or right-of-way on the property is situate: Provided, however,
That the easement or right-of-way is not invalid because of the
failure of the easement or right-of-way to meet the requirements of
this subsection.
(b) This section does not apply to the construction of a
service extension from a main distribution system of a public
utility when such service extension is located entirely on, below,
or above the property to which the utility service is to be
provided.
(c) The clerk of the county commission of any county in which
an easement or right-of-way is recorded pursuant to this section
shall only accept for recordation any document that complies with
this section and that otherwise complies with the requirements of
article one, chapter thirty-nine of this code, without need for a
survey or certification under section twelve, article thirteen-a,
chapter thirty of this code.