H. B. 2263

          (By Delegates Manypenny, Rowan and Fleischauer)
          [Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the
          Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]




A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §36-3-8a, relating to permitting surface owners to receive a two percent royalty for minerals extracted below the surface of their property; and permitting a two percent royalty for certain surface owners.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
     That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §36-3-8a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. FORM AND EFFECT OF DEEDS AND CONTRACTS.
§36-3-8a. Royalty rate for surface owners for mineral __________________________extraction.
_____Surface owners without mineral rights in the subsurface strata of their property shall receive a two percent royalty rate for all minerals extracted from or beneath their property. Surface owners who have a horizontal well on their property shall receive a two percent royalty rate for all minerals extracted from that well that do not lie beneath their property. These amounts are in addition to any other compensation that may be due those property owners.



     NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to compensate surface owners when minerals are extracted from the substrata below their property. The bill also grants surface owners who have a horizontal well on their property to receive a two percent royalty rate for all minerals extracted from that well that do not lie beneath their property. Those property owners shall receive a two percent royalty for minerals extracted below the surface of their property.


     This section is new; therefore, it has been completely underscored.