W. Va. Code §22-3 — Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act (SMCRA Primacy) (WV)
Tracked preemption from the West Virginia overlay bundle.
Overview
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Effective
1977-08-03
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:WV
Other West Virginia preemptions
Federal Protected Lands — New River Gorge NP, Monongahela NF, USACE Locks/DamsW. Va. Code §22-6A — Horizontal Well Control Act (Marcellus/Utica Preemption)W. 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 RequirementWV 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_coal_county==Truecounty.name∈ {Boone,Logan,Mingo,McDowell,Wyoming,Raleigh,Fayette,Kanawha}
Preempted fields
3 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.
| Field | Op | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
base_districts[*].mining_use_prohibition | waive | — | Local zoning cannot prohibit a state-permitted mining operation |
local_mining_operation_conditions | waive | — | §22-3-24 — local ordinances regulating mining operations, reclamation, or discharge are preempted |
local_mining_permit_veto | waive | — | §22-3-11 — local governments have commenting role only, no veto on state mining permits |
Citation
Authority source
W. Va. Code §22-3 (Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act); §22-2 (coal surface mining); §22-4 (quarrying); federal SMCRA, 30 U.S.C. §1201 et seq.; WV is a primacy state under SMCRA
§ Chapter 22, Article 3
Research notes
Mining regulation is exclusively state-level (with federal SMCRA oversight via WVDEP). In southern coal counties (Boone, Logan, Mingo, McDowell, Wyoming, Raleigh, Fayette, Kanawha) any 'mineral-extraction' district is an acknowledgment zone — it notes state-permit presence but cannot impose independent local conditions. Federal SMCRA conflict check applies.