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Wyoming Oil & Gas Surface-Use Preemption (WOGCC + DEQ) (WY)

Tracked preemption from the Wyoming overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1951-02-23
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:WY
Other Wyoming preemptions
Wyoming HB 2 / 2026 — Fast Track Permits Act (Residential Permit Shot-Clock)Wyoming §18-5-501 — County-Primacy Siting Authority for Wind and SolarWyoming Sage-Grouse Core Area Strategy (Executive Order)Wyoming §15-1-103(a)(xix) — Manufactured Housing Parity in Single-Family DistrictsWyoming §35-20 — Uniform Standards Code for Factory-Built Residential DwellingsWyoming Industrial Siting Act — State Review of Large Industrial ProjectsWyoming §18-5-301 — 35-Acre Subdivision ExemptionWyoming §18-5-201(a) — Agricultural Exemption from County Zoning

Trigger predicate

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

OR
  • city.in_oil_gas_basin == True
  • parcel.has_mineral_estate == True

Preempted fields

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

FieldOpValueNote
base_districts[*].prohibition_of_oil_gas_drillingwaive—Local zoning may not prohibit or materially impair mineral development where the state (WOGCC) has issued a permit; field-occupation/conflict-preemption applies
base_districts[*].density_cap_oil_gas_wellswaive—Local well-density caps that function as de facto prohibition are preempted
base_districts[*].reasonable_surface_use_regulationpreserve—Counties and municipalities retain authority over reasonable surface-use regulations: setbacks from occupied structures, road-use agreements, supplemental reclamation bonds, noise limits during drilling

Citation

Authority source
W.S. §30-5-101 et seq. (Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission); W.S. §35-11-101 et seq. (Environmental Quality Act); W.S. §30-5-401 et seq. (Split Estates Act)
§ §30-5 (WOGCC) + §35-11 (DEQ/EQA) + §30-5-401 (Split Estates Act)
https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-30/chapter-5/

Research notes

WOGCC + DEQ comprehensively regulate oil, gas, and coalbed-methane development. Wyoming case law applies field-occupation / conflict preemption: local zoning cannot ban drilling outright or impose well-density caps that function as de facto prohibition. Counties/cities in producing basins (Campbell, Converse, Sublette, Sweetwater, Laramie) typically mirror WOGCC setback rules in O&G overlays rather than impose stricter prohibitions. Split Estates Act provides surface-owner notice and compensation rights but no local veto. Federal conflict check enabled because BLM-managed federal mineral estates (~48% WY land) override state and local surface-use authority entirely on federal land.