property law, had yet to issue details about their electronic report requirements and the exact report inclusions. Information, such as where the legal land description will be recorded in the reporting format, is not yet available. Note that the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas have similar reporting requirements for mineral interests.
written delivery of its best and final lease offer, option (1) will accumulate as a reserve interest and be subject to the quarterly reporting requirements. - “Reserved Interests” are defined as follows: all amounts payable for the use, development, extraction, production or sale of minerals due for an unknown or unlocatable interest owner. In sum, in very specific instances, oil and gas industry holders are required to report and remit amounts on a quarterly basis to the West Virginia unclaimed property department. While no formal administrative rule or law was enacted, Wyoming is now only accepting online reports. These reports must be formatted as a “.txt” file. The state no longer accepts compact disks (“CDs”) and email reports. To avoid penalties for late filing, businesses should ensure that they file reports via the state’s online portal and maintain confirmation of the uploaded report. _____________________________________________ Significant Bills on the Move and Pending in State Legislatures This section provides information about legislation that is currently making its way through state legislatures. While there are no guarantees that these bills will become law, they provide indications of unclaimed property trends. Nebraska LB 406 – Introduced 1/18/2019 – Eliminates aggregate reporting In addition to various internal state administrative changes, if enacted, LB 406 would: - Eliminate aggregate reporting (currently $25 threshold). Nevada SB 44 – Pre-filed 11/19/2018 – Eliminates aggregate reporting, codifies penalties SB 44 generally proposes amendments to the existing statute that would add provisions from the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act of 2016. If enacted, some proposed changes pertinent to the oil and gas industry are: - The elimination of the current aggregate limit ($50). Wyoming - Effective after 11/1/2019 - Change to Reporting Requirements Annual Reporting and Remittance Requirements
Tennessee HB 2278 – Effective 4/24/2018 – Change to reporting deadline
As enacted, this bill changes the reporting deadline from April 30 to October 31 beginning in 2019. The Fall 2019 report should contain property reaching dormancy during or before the period of January 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019. Thereafter, the report must be filed before November 1 of each year and must include property reaching dormancy during the period twelve (12) months preceding July 1 of that year. Unless there are other reasons to file an unclaimed property report and remittance on or before the former April 30 th deadline, holders should exclude Tennessee from the spring reporting protocols, and ensure that any escheat applications are up to date with the current deadline and requirements. West Virginia HB 4268 – Effective 7/1/2018 – Potential quarterly report requirements West Virginia HB 4268, as enacted, has created confusion and concern throughout the unclaimed property community. Of particular concern is the requirement that for unknown or unlocatable interest owners, who did not consent to the development of oil or natural gas mineral property, a reserve interest must be reported as unclaimed property on a quarterly basis. This is required when the criteria, described below, is met: - The property to be drilled, or currently being drilled, is located in West Virginia. - In cases where there are seven or more royalty owners, if an operator or owner makes or has made reasonable efforts to negotiate with all royalty owners in an oil or natural gas mineral property and royalty owners vested with at least three fourths of the right to develop, operate, and produce oil, natural gas, or their constituents consent to the lawful use or development of the oil or natural gas mineral property. - If the nonconsenting cotenant does not elect to receive (1) a prorated share of production royalty or (2) net revenue as a working interest owner, within 45 days following the operator’s
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G r o w t h T h r o u g h E d u c a t i o n - J a n u a r y / F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 1 9
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