Zoning › State preemptions › West Virginia

W. Va. Code §22-6A — Horizontal Well Control Act (Marcellus/Utica Preemption) (WV)

Tracked preemption from the West Virginia overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
2011-12-14
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:WV
Other West Virginia preemptions
Federal Protected Lands — New River Gorge NP, Monongahela NF, USACE Locks/DamsW. Va. Code §8-1-5a — Municipal Home Rule Program (Authority Expansion)W. Va. Code Chapter 8A — Land Use Planning Act (Enabling + Dillon's Rule Cap)W. Va. Code §8A-7-8 — County Zoning Voter Referendum RequirementW. Va. Code §22-3 — Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act (SMCRA Primacy)WV Floodplain Management — NFIP Participation MandateW. Va. Code §8-12-5(16) — Manufactured Housing Nondiscrimination FloorWV SB 187 / HB 4115 (2026) — Housing Opportunity Act (Duplex By-Right, PENDING)

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

OR
  • city.in_shale_county == True
  • county.name ∈ {Doddridge, Harrison, Marion, Marshall, Ohio, Tyler, Wetzel, Ritchie}

Preempted fields

5 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
base_districts[*].drilling_setback_ftoverride625§22-6A-12 — state-set 625 ft setback from occupied dwelling; local zoning may not impose substitute drilling setbacks
base_districts[*].drilling_setback_water_well_ftoverride300
local_drilling_noise_limitswaive—Local zoning may not impose noise limits, hours of operation, or operational conditions on permitted horizontal wells
local_drilling_hours_of_operationwaive—
base_districts[*].horizontal_well_use_prohibitionwaive—§22-6A-5 — exclusive state jurisdiction over well siting, drilling, completion, reclamation

Citation

Authority source
W. Va. Code §22-6A (Horizontal Well Control Act); §22-6 (conventional O&G); §22C-9 (Oil and Gas Conservation Act / forced pooling); SB 694 (2022, co-tenancy amendments)
§ Chapter 22, Article 6A
https://code.wvlegislature.gov/22/

Research notes

Exclusive state jurisdiction over horizontal well siting, drilling, completion, and reclamation. State-set setbacks (625 ft to occupied dwelling, 300 ft to water well). §22C-9 forced pooling allows state to integrate non-consenting mineral interests (75% consent threshold post-SB 694, 2022); local zoning cannot block unit formation. EQT Prod. Co. v. Wender (S.D.W. Va. 2016) invalidated a county ordinance banning disposal wells, but road-use / haul-route authority survives as non-zoning police power. Surface infrastructure (compressor stations, pipelines) is contested territory.