Amendment H-8450 to SF 2490

Filed April 30, 2026 in the House by

What it changes

1. Page 1, line 11, by striking “section 458A.29” and inserting “section 458A.30”
2. Page 1, after line 11 by inserting: “Sec. ___. Section 458A.1, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows: 458A.1 Declaration of policy —— interpretation —— well prohibitions .
3. It is declared to be in the public interest to foster, to encourage, and to promote the development, production, and utilization of natural resources of oil and gas and metallic minerals in the state in such a manner as will prevent waste; to authorize and to provide for the operation and development of oil and gas and metallic minerals properties in such a manner that a greater ultimate recovery of oil and gas and metallic minerals be had and that the correlative rights of all owners be fully protected; and to encourage and to authorize such measures as will result in the greatest possible economic recovery of oil and gas and metallic minerals within the state to the end that the landowners, the royalty owners, the producers, and the general public realize and enjoy the greatest possible good from these vital natural resources. It is further declared that the general welfare of the people requires that the underground and surface water of the state to be protected from pollution and conserved in the best interests of the people of the state.
4. Ambiguities in this chapter and in rules adopted under this chapter shall be construed in favor of landowners, mineral-interest owners, and royalty-interest owners. For purposes of this subsection, “landowner” means a person holding legal or equitable title to the surface of land, a person holding a mineral interest severed from the surface, or a person holding a royalty or overriding royalty interest; and “ambiguity” is to be determined without deference to an administrative agency’s construction of the provision at issue.
5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or other Iowa law, no well or similar activity shall be dug or placed on the real property of any person who does not expressly consent to its placement.”
6. Page 2, line 1, by striking “the following”
7. Page 2, line 2, after “year” by inserting “, which filings the department shall maintain in an online, searchable registry, accessible to the public without fee or registration and updated promptly upon receipt of each filing, the following information”
8. Page 2, after line 14 by inserting: “(6) A list of all active and pending oil, gas, and metallic minerals leases held by the filer, by location and acreage. (7) Summary financial information sufficient to evaluate the filer’s ability to perform surface damage, restoration, and abandonment obligations under this chapter. (8) Confirmation of all bonds posted by the filer under this chapter or under rules adopted by the department, with documentation sufficient to establish current effectiveness.”
9. Page 3, by striking lines 1 through 4 and inserting “shall provide notice of the variance request to each landowner whose property is within one-half mile of the operation that is the subject of the request, and shall allow a public comment period of not less than fourteen days before issuing a decision. The director shall issue a written decision, supported by a contemporaneously public statement of reasons, not later than forty-five days after receipt of the request. The director shall report any variance granted at the subsequent hearing and shall contemporaneously make public any variance granted. A variance granted under this subsection is appealable to the district court by an affected landowner under the procedure set forth in section 458A.14 within thirty days of the date of issuance. The filing of a notice of appeal shall stay the effect of the variance pending the court’s final disposition of the appeal.”
10. Page 3, line 16, after “good cause.” by inserting “Notwithstanding any designation of confidentiality under this section, information subject to this section shall be disclosed to a landowner within the affected area upon written request, subject to execution of a nondisclosure agreement sufficient to protect the information from further disclosure to competitors of the submitting owner. For purposes of this section, “affected area” means the lands subject to the pooling order, spacing unit, or exploratory spacing unit that is the subject of the submission, together with lands within one-half mile thereof.”
11. Page 3, line 33, after “information.” by inserting “Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, information reported pursuant to rules adopted by the commission concerning fires, breaks, leaks, or blowouts, and any other information concerning safety incidents, environmental contamination, or spills, shall not be designated confidential under this section, regardless of any claim of commercial sensitivity.”
12. Page 4, line 3, by striking “the permitted” and inserting “the permitted”
13. Page 5, line 7, after “relevant.” by inserting “An application for establishment of an exploratory spacing unit under this subsection shall be subject to all of the following conditions:”
14. Page 5, after line 7 by inserting: “a. The department shall provide not less than sixty days’ notice of the hearing to each landowner within the proposed exploratory spacing unit and to each landowner whose property is within one-half mile of the proposed exploratory spacing unit. b. The applicant’s supporting evidence shall be made publicly available not later than thirty days before the hearing. c. Each affected landowner shall have the right to cross-examine the applicant’s technical witnesses at the hearing. d. The department shall make specific written findings of the evidentiary basis for any determination to establish an exploratory spacing unit. e. An exploratory spacing unit established under this subsection shall expire two years after the date of the department’s order establishing the unit, unless the department, upon a new application and a full evidentiary hearing, determines that the existence of a pool has been established and converts the exploratory spacing unit into a spacing unit under subsection
15. Upon written application and a showing of good cause, the department may extend the life of an exploratory spacing unit for one additional period not to exceed one year.”
16. Page 6, line 15, after “subsection 1,” by inserting “and only if the producer has identified pools of existing hydrogen within the spacing unit,”
17. Page 6, line 16, by striking “not less than twenty-five” and inserting “more than seventy”
18. Page 6, line 17, after “spacing unit” by inserting “and constituting more than seventy percent of the number of the owners in the spacing unit”
19. Page 6, line 22, after “reasonable” by inserting “, provided that no application for a pooling order shall be considered by the department unless the applicant certifies, under oath, that the applicant has engaged in not less than ninety days of good faith negotiation with each nonconsenting owner on commercially reasonable lease terms prior to the filing of the application”
20. Page 7, line 28, by striking “two hundred” and inserting “one hundred ten”
21. Page 7, line 31, by striking “two hundred” and inserting “one hundred ten”
22. Page 8, line 8, by striking “twelve and one-half” and inserting “twenty-five”
23. Page 8, line 9, after “percent.” by inserting “Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the producer’s right to recover costs against a nonconsenting owner under subsection 3 shall terminate five years after the date of first production from the well. Upon termination of cost recovery under this subsection, an unleased nonconsenting owner shall be deemed to have elected to participate as a working interest owner on a pro rata basis for all subsequent production, net of costs actually recovered to the date of termination.”
24. Page 8, line 15, after “notice shall” by inserting “include a certified accounting of all receipts, costs, and projected costs attributable to the well through the date of notice, and shall”
25. Page 8, line 16, after “order” by inserting “as a working interest owner”
26. Page 8, line 19, by striking “sixty” and inserting “one hundred eighty”
27. Page 8, line 19, after “notice” by inserting “and a certified accounting under paragraph “a””
28. Page 8, line 23, after “subsection
29. ” by inserting “The accounting shall be certified by an independent certified public accountant at the producer’s expense.”
30. Page 8, lines 26 and 27, by striking “continue receiving the royalty specified in subsection 4” and inserting “participate as a working interest owner”
31. Page 8, after line 32 by inserting: “
32. During the time the producer is recovering costs from a nonconsenting owner under subsection 3, the producer shall deliver to each nonconsenting owner, on a quarterly basis, a written statement setting forth all of the following: a. Production volumes and prices attributable to the well during the reporting period. b. Costs incurred and recovered to date. c. The producer’s good faith projection of the date on which cost recovery will be completed. d. A computation of royalty amounts due to the nonconsenting owner under subsection
33. ”
34. Page 8, line 33, by striking “
35. ” and inserting “
36. ”
37. Page 9, line 20, by striking “
38. ” and inserting “
39. ”
40. Page 9, line 20, before “An” by inserting “Notice of a pooling application shall inform each nonconsenting owner of the right to be represented at the hearing by the office of landowner advocacy established under section 458A.31.”
41. Page 9, line 27, by striking “penalty.” and inserting “penalty, which shall include all of the following: (1) Documented calculations of dry-hole risk based on geological data and data from comparable wells in the same or analogous formations. (2) A sworn certification by an officer of the applicant that the applicant engaged in at least ninety days of good faith negotiation with the nonconsenting owner on commercially reasonable lease terms prior to filing the application and attaching copies of all written offers made during that period. (3) A specific factual finding by the department regarding the risk actually borne by the producer with respect to the well.”
42. Page 9, before line 31 by inserting: “
43. Subsections 2 through 8 shall apply only if the surface owner does not own mineral rights in the spacing unit that is subject to a pooling order. An operator may only enter a site that is subject to a pooling order if the operator has a contract with the owner of the mineral rights of the real property on which the site is located.”
44. Page 9, line 31, by striking “
45. ” and inserting “
46. ”
47. Page 10, line 2, after “drill” by inserting “upon payment of the agreed damages”
48. Page 10, line 3, by striking “
49. ” and inserting “
50. ”
51. Page 10, line 4, by striking “subsection 1” and inserting “subsection 2”
52. Page 10, lines 9 and 10, by striking “After the operator has petitioned for appointment of appraisers, the operator may enter the site to drill.” and inserting “The operator shall not enter the site with heavy equipment for the purpose of drilling until the appraisers have filed their report under subsection 4 and the producer has either paid the recommended compensation to the surface owner or deposited the recommended compensation with the clerk of the district court for the benefit of the surface owner.”
53. Page 10, line 20, after “publication.” by inserting “As a condition of entry, the producer shall post a bond with the clerk of the district court, payable to the surface owner, in an amount equal to the greater of two hundred percent of the appraisers’ recommended compensation or fifteen thousand dollars per acre of surface area subject to the drilling operation. The bond shall remain in effect until the drilling operation is completed and all compensation, including any compensation awarded upon reassessment under subsection 8, has been paid. Upon producer default, insolvency, or failure to remediate damages, the bond shall be available to satisfy the surface owner’s claim.”
54. Page 10, line 21, by striking “
55. ” and inserting “
56. ”
57. Page 11, line 11, after “paid.” by inserting “Compensable damages under this section include but are not limited to the loss of use of land during drilling; diminution of market value of the land; crop damage; livestock loss and injury; damage to springs, wells, and other water sources; soil compaction and restoration costs; damage to improvements, fences, and drainage; lost quality of life during active operations; and consequential damages to adjoining or related operations.”
58. Page 11, line 16, by striking “
59. ” and inserting “
60. ”

Shortened here; the full amendment is in the official document.

Official amendment (PDF) · In the Bill Book