Senate concurs in House amendments and passes oil, gas and hydrogen production bill with landowner protections

The Senate on May 2 concurred in House amendments to Senate File 2490 — a bill that updates regulation of oil, gas and hydrogen exploration and production — and passed the measure 35–11.

Senator Polk Bussello, who opened the Senate’s consideration, described the bill as a follow-up to earlier legislation and said it includes protections for surface owners, a compensatory scheme so landowners receive payment for hydrogen produced under their property regardless of drill location, and a severance tax with specified distributions. "It put in place a compensatory scheme so that landowners, regardless of whether or not that drill is on their property, would be compensated for hydrogen that is produced from underneath their land," the sponsor said.

The Senate considered House amendment 52-56. Sponsor comments said the House amendments: (1) require identified pools of natural hydrogen within a spacing unit before a pooling order can be put in place, (2) clarify that developers must have written permission from a landowner before entering land, and (3) provide an opt-out procedure allowing landowners to end negotiations or decline further communications. The Senate concurred in the House amendments and adopted them prior to final passage.

The Secretary’s roll-call record named several senators who voted on the measure (for example, Senator Whitver aye; Senator Dickey aye; Senator Webster aye; Senator Guth aye; Senator Warmie aye; Senator Quornbuck nay; Senator Dawson aye). The chair announced the final tally as 35 ayes and 11 nays; the bill was declared to have received a constitutional majority and was ordered messaged.

The adopted amendments emphasize written landowner protections and limit pooling orders to identified hydrogen pools, while the core bill establishes a compensation framework and surface-owner protections that sponsors said are intended to benefit landowners who may be affected by future hydrogen exploration.