House File 2531 - Reprinted HOUSE FILE 2531 BY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES (SUCCESSOR TO HF 2213) (As Amended and Passed by the House February 25, 2026 ) A BILL FOR An Act relating to interests in minerals owned by counties and 1 cities. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 HF 2531 (3) 91 ms/js/md

H.F. 2531 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 331.310 Mineral interests. 1 1. For purposes of this section: 2 a. “Mineral interests” means any real property interest 3 in one or more natural resources or minerals underlying the 4 surface of a tract of land, which can be owned separately from 5 the surface estate. 6 b. “Minerals” means coal, any naturally occurring gas, oil, 7 or other gaseous, liquid, or solid hydrocarbons; oil shale; 8 gemstones; metals; fissionable or nonfissionable ore; or steam 9 or other geothermal resources. 10 2. A county shall divest itself of any mineral interest 11 owned or controlled by the county and shall convey such mineral 12 interest to the surface owner of the land to which the mineral 13 interest pertains except when the county is the fee simple 14 surface owner of the land. A conveyance under this section 15 shall be made without consideration and shall be without cost 16 to the surface owner of the land. 17 3. A county shall complete all conveyances required under 18 this section no later than five years after the effective date 19 of this Act. Conveyances pursuant to section 458A.20 shall 20 be completed within one hundred fifty days of service of the 21 required notice. Any interest in minerals acquired by the 22 county after the effective date of this Act shall be conveyed 23 as required under this section within ninety days. 24 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 364.26 Mineral interests. 25 1. For purposes of this section: 26 a. “Mineral interests” means any real property interest 27 in one or more natural resources or minerals underlying the 28 surface of a tract of land, which can be owned separately from 29 the surface estate. 30 b. “Minerals” means coal, any naturally occurring gas, oil, 31 or other gaseous, liquid, or solid hydrocarbons; oil shale; 32 gemstones; metals; fissionable or nonfissionable ore; or steam 33 or other geothermal resources. 34 2. A city shall divest itself of any mineral interests 35 -1- HF 2531 (3) 91 ms/js/md 1/ 7

H.F. 2531 owned or controlled by the city and shall convey such mineral 1 interests to the surface owner of the land to which the mineral 2 interest pertains except when the city is the surface owner 3 of the land. A conveyance under this section shall be made 4 without consideration and shall be without cost to the surface 5 owner of the land. 6 3. A city shall complete all conveyances required under this 7 section no later than five years after the effective date of 8 this Act. Any mineral interest acquired by the city after the 9 effective date of this Act shall be conveyed as required under 10 this section within ninety days. 11 Sec. 3. Section 446.7, Code 2026, is amended by adding the 12 following new subsection: 13 NEW SUBSECTION . 3. The county shall not offer mineral 14 interests, as defined in section 331.310, for sale. If 15 the taxes on any mineral interests not owned by the surface 16 owner of the land are delinquent, the county shall proceed in 17 accordance with section 458A.20. 18 Sec. 4. Section 458A.18, Code 2026, is amended to read as 19 follows: 20 458A.18 Mineral rights taxed separately. 21 All rights and interests in or to oil, gas, or other minerals 22 underlying land, whether created by or arising under deed, 23 lease, reservation of rights, or otherwise, which rights or 24 interests are owned by any person other than the surface owner 25 of the land, shall be assessed and taxed separately to the 26 owner of such rights or interests in the same manner as other 27 real estate. The taxes on such rights or interests that are 28 not owned by the surface owner of the land shall not be a lien 29 on the land. 30 Sec. 5. Section 458A.19, Code 2026, is amended to read as 31 follows: 32 458A.19 Rate. 33 In order to pay the costs of assessment and collection and 34 provide a reasonable minimum standard of taxation, the taxes on 35 -2- HF 2531 (3) 91 ms/js/md 2/ 7

H.F. 2531 any mineral rights or interests not owned by the surface owner 1 of the land shall be not less than five cents per acre. 2 Sec. 6. Section 458A.20, Code 2026, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 458A.20 Tax sale —— redemption by owner. 5 1. When If the taxes on any mineral rights or interests 6 not owned by the surface owner of the land are sold at tax 7 sale, and when delinquent, the county treasurer shall send a 8 statement of delinquent taxes and a notice that the mineral 9 rights or interests will be conveyed to the owner of the 10 associated surface tract unless the owner of those mineral 11 rights or interests does not redeem under the provisions of 12 chapter 447 pays the total amount of the delinquent taxes, 13 interest, and costs to the county treasurer within ninety days 14 after the tax sale, the owner of the land shall thereafter have 15 the same right of redemption as the owner of the mineral rights 16 or interests has, and redemption by the notice is served. 17 The county treasurer shall serve the notice by sending it by 18 regular first class mail to the person’s last known address and 19 to the address of the person’s registered agent listed with the 20 secretary of state, applicable. 21 2. When the owner of those mineral rights or interests does 22 not pay the total amount due by the deadline, the county shall 23 convey the mineral rights or interests pursuant to section 24 331.310 to the surface owner of the land . Such conveyance 25 shall terminate any right of redemption of the owner of the 26 mineral rights or interests. 27 3. a. The county may collect the total amount due by 28 converting the amount due to a personal judgment against the 29 owner of the delinquent mineral interest pursuant to sections 30 445.3 and 446.20, notwithstanding the absence of a tax sale or 31 tax sale certificate. 32 b. If the treasurer determines that it is impractical to 33 pursue collection of the total amount due and the personal 34 judgment remedies, the treasurer shall make a written 35 -3- HF 2531 (3) 91 ms/js/md 3/ 7

H.F. 2531 recommendation to the board of supervisors to abate the amount 1 due. The board of supervisors shall abate, by resolution, the 2 amount due and direct the treasurer to strike the amount due 3 from the county system. 4 Sec. 7. Section 557C.1, Code 2026, is amended to read as 5 follows: 6 557C.1 Lapse of mineral interests in coal —— prevention. 7 A mineral interest in coal shall be extinguished is 8 abandoned if it has not been active in accordance with section 9 557C.2A for a period of twenty years after its creation, 10 transfer, or preservation, unless a statement of claim is 11 filed in accordance with section 557C.3 , and the ownership 12 shall revert to the person who was then the owner of the 13 interest from which the mineral interest in coal was created, 14 transferred, or preserved . Title to an abandoned mineral 15 interest vests in the owner of the surface estate in the land 16 in, or under, which the mineral interest is located on the date 17 of abandonment. Upon the filing of a statement of claim within 18 the specified period, the mineral interest shall be deemed to 19 have been preserved for an additional period of twenty years, 20 or a shorter period as may be specified in the instrument 21 creating the interest. 22 Sec. 8. Section 557C.2, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended 23 to read as follows: 24 2. “ Mineral Severed mineral interest in coal ” means an 25 interest created by an instrument which that creates or 26 transfers , either by grant, assignment, reservation, or 27 otherwise, an interest of any kind in coal, as described in 28 chapter 207 , without limitation on the manner of mining the 29 coal any naturally occurring gases, oil, or other gaseous, 30 liquid, or solid hydrocarbons; oil shale; gemstones; metals; 31 fissionable or nonfissionable ore; or steam or other geothermal 32 resources . 33 Sec. 9. NEW SECTION . 557C.2A Active mineral interests. 34 A severed mineral interest is active when any one of the 35 -4- HF 2531 (3) 91 ms/js/md 4/ 7

H.F. 2531 following conditions exists: 1 1. Minerals are produced or explored by the record owner 2 of the mineral interest, or the rightful assignees or lessees 3 of the record owner of the severed mineral interest, or 4 pursuant to a pooling order issued by the department of natural 5 resources pursuant to chapter 458A. 6 2. Operations are conducted for extraction, withdrawal, 7 injection, storage, or disposal of water, gas, or other fluid 8 substances to produce or enhance the production of minerals 9 by or with the express permission of the record holder of the 10 mineral interest, or pursuant to a pooling order issued by the 11 department of natural resources pursuant to chapter 458A. 12 3. For solid minerals, there is a production from a well or 13 a common vein or seam with the express permission, including 14 such permission as provided for in an instrument of lease or 15 other form of assignment, of the record owner of the severed 16 mineral interest, or pursuant to a pooling order issued by the 17 department of natural resources pursuant to chapter 458A. 18 4. Any valid conveyance, lease, mortgage, assignment, 19 private distribution, termination of joint tenancy interest 20 affidavit, termination of life estate affidavit, or any 21 judgment or decree that makes specific references to the record 22 owner’s severed mineral interest is recorded within the last 23 twenty years in the recorder’s office for the county in which 24 the severed mineral interest is located. 25 5. The severed mineral interest is subject to a written 26 agreement or pooling order issued by the department of natural 27 resources pursuant to chapter 458A. 28 6. A statement of claim is filed in accordance with section 29 557C.3. 30 Sec. 10. Section 557C.3, Code 2026, is amended to read as 31 follows: 32 557C.3 Statement of claim —— filing requirement. 33 The statement of claim provided in section 557C.1 shall be 34 filed by the owner of the severed mineral interest in coal 35 -5- HF 2531 (3) 91 ms/js/md 5/ 7

H.F. 2531 prior to the end of the twenty-year period set forth in section 1 557C.1 or by July 1, 1994, whichever is later. The statement 2 of claim shall contain the name and address of the owner of 3 the severed mineral interest in coal , and a description of the 4 real estate on, or under, which the severed mineral interest in 5 coal is located. The statement of claim shall be filed in the 6 office of the recorder in the county in which the real estate 7 is located. 8 Sec. 11. Section 557C.4, Code 2026, is amended to read as 9 follows: 10 557C.4 Statement of claim —— recorder’s duty. 11 Upon the filing of the statement of claim provided for 12 in section 557C.3 in the recorder’s office for the county 13 where the real estate on, or under, which the severed mineral 14 interest in coal exists , is located, the recorder shall record 15 the statement of claim and index the entries required to be 16 made pursuant to section 557C.3 and any applicable entries 17 specified in sections 558.49 and 558.52 . 18 Sec. 12. Section 557C.5, Code 2026, is amended to read as 19 follows: 20 557C.5 Reservation in other conveyance. 21 A reservation of a mineral interest in coal or an exception 22 of a mineral interest in coal , contained in a conveyance of 23 the interest out of which it is carved, by a nonowner of the 24 mineral interest in coal shall not be deemed to satisfy the 25 requirements of this chapter or as a revival of a severed 26 mineral interest in coal otherwise extinguished under this 27 chapter . 28 Sec. 13. Section 557C.6, Code 2026, is amended to read as 29 follows: 30 557C.6 Exemption. 31 The filing of the statement of claim required under section 32 557C.3 to preserve the severed mineral interest in coal shall 33 not be required of an owner if the severed mineral interest was 34 separately taxed for real estate tax purposes at any time after 35 -6- HF 2531 (3) 91 ms/js/md 6/ 7

H.F. 2531 July 1, 1971 , the tax was paid, the mineral interest has not 1 been subject to a tax sale, and the severed mineral interest 2 has not been conveyed to the owner of the surface estate 3 pursuant to sections 331.310 or 458A.20 . 4 -7- HF 2531 (3) 91 ms/js/md 7/ 7