Senate Bill No. 522
(By Senators Barnes and Stollings)
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[Introduced March 10, 2009; referred to the Committee on Energy,
Industry and Mining; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §36-1-25, relating to
requiring lessors of subsurface rights to state with
specificity what surface rights are also being acquired.
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 §36-1-25, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. CREATION OF ESTATES GENERALLY.
§36-1-25. Leases of subsurface estates.
All leases, and contracts to lease, of a subsurface estate
shall state with specificity the surface rights also being acquired
by the lessor, including, but not limited to, the legally allowed
use of surface areas for roads, well sites, pits, disposal areas,
fixtures, pipelines, buildings and other uses of surface areas required for subsurface access
: Provided, That if no surface
rights are being acquired, the lease, or contract to lease, shall
so state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require lessors of
subsurface rights to state with specificity what surface rights are
also being acquired. The bill also provides that if no surface
rights are being acquired, the lease or the contract to lease will
so state.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.