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Read. Follow. Verify.West Virginia Bill Clarifies Well Operators Own Produced Liquids and Extracted Minerals from Drilling
Last action · February 10, 2026: To House Energy and Public WorksSponsors: Tristan Leavitt and 5 others
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What This Bill Proposed
House Bill 5409 establishes that all produced liquids, solids, and substances reclaimed from oil and gas drilling operations belong exclusively to the well operator and are excluded from the property's mineral or surface estates. The bill defines to include water and dissolved or undissolved minerals extracted during drilling. It also incorporates these ownership provisions and specific water pollution control permit requirements into the Natural Gas Horizontal Well Control Act.
- House Bill 5409 was introduced during the 2026 Regular Session of the West Virginia Legislature and referred to the House Energy and Public Works committee. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Well operators
Well operators gain explicit ownership of all produced liquids, solids, and reclaimed substances extracted from drilling operations.
Surface and mineral estate owners
Surface and mineral estate owners do not hold ownership rights to the extracted produced liquids, solids, or reclaimed minerals generated by drilling.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who legally owns the water and minerals extracted during oil and gas drilling under this bill?
Are extracted drilling substances considered part of the surface or mineral estate of the land?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
4 actions- Feb 10, 2026HouseCommitteeTo House Energy and Public Works
- Feb 10, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced in House
- Feb 10, 2026HouseCommitteeTo Energy and Public Works
- Feb 10, 2026HouseIntroducedFiled for introduction
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
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Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Clarification of Subsurface Waste and Mineral Ownership
The legislation resolves ambiguities around non-hydrocarbon byproducts by explicitly decoupling produced liquids and solids from surface and mineral property estates.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.wvlegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy45Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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