SB 118 — Establishing Forest Carbon Registry

CS for SB 118 WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION IntroducedCommittee FISCALSubstitute for Senate Bill 118 NOTE By Senator Tarr [Introduced[Reported January 14,20, 2026;2026, from the Committee on Energy, Industry and Mining] CS for SB 118 A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new article, designated §19-1D-1, §19-1D-2, §19-1D-3, and §19-1D-4, relating to the establishment of a Forest Carbon Registry under the administration of the Division of Forestry;

referredproviding toregistration theof Committeecarbon onprojects Energy,affecting Industry,West andVirginia Mining;forestlands;

and then to the Committee on F]nance Intr SB 118 2026R1430A A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new article, designated §19-1D-1, §19-1D-2, §19-1D-3, and §19-1D-4, relating to the establishment of a Forest Carbon Registry under the administration of the Division of Forestry;

providing for the registration of carbon offset agreements and projects affecting West Virginia forestlands;

assigning responsibility to purchasers and certain landowners to record such agreements or projects;

(a) The purpose of this article is to establish a Forest Carbon Registry to track properties in West Virginia that are encumbered by forest carbon offset agreements orin forest carbon offset projects and to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of forest carbon resources.

(1) "Forest carbon offset agreement" means a contractual arrangement in which a landowner agrees to maintain or enhance carbon sequestration on their property in exchange for compensation from a purchaser.

(2) "Forest carbon offset project" means an undertaking by a third-party forest carbon project developer to locate and solicit the sale of carbon offsets on the property of a landowner to an end purchaser of those credits.

(3) “Division” means the Division of Forestry created in §19-1A-1§19-1A-1, et seq.

(4) "GIS shapefile" means a geospatial data file format that contains the boundaries and location of a property in a format compatible with geographic information systems.

(5) "Landowner" includes any individual or entity that owns forestland and engages in a carbon offset agreement or project.

IntrCS for SB 118 2026R1430A(6) “Developer” means a forest carbon project developer as an entity that designs, implements, or manages forest carbon projects for the purpose of generating carbon credits that may be sold to offset certain carbon emissions.

(6) "Purchaser" means the entity or individual acquiring rights to carbon offsets under a carbon offset from developer or a landowner.

(7) "Registry" means the Forest Carbon Registry established under this article.

(a) The Division of Forestry shall establish and administer a Forest Carbon Registry to record all forest carbon offset agreements and forest carbon offset projects affecting forestlands within the state.

(b) The registry shall include,include: at a minimum:

(1) The legal description of any property encumbered by a carbon offset agreement orin a carbon offset project with reference to the tax map and lot number of the subject land;

(3) The names and contact information of the landowners,landowners developers, and purchasers;developers;

and (5) The duration and forest management obligations of each carbon offset obligation.obligation;

and (6) Whether any agreement prohibits harvesting timber for the life of a project.

and (2) Establish reasonable feesfees, not to exceed $50 per forest carbon project, to cover administrative costs.

CS for SB 118 (1) The developer who contracts with the landowner and end purchaser of carbon credits;

Intr SB 118 2026R1430A (2) Any landowner, including a carbon trading company, only when the landowner directly initiates and sells carbon offsets through a carbon offset project on their own property.

(b) The developer or landowner required to report pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall submit the required information, including the GIS shapefile, to the registry within 60120 days of executing of a carbon offset agreementproject or initiatingany alteration to a carbon offset project.

(c) By July 1, 2027, the developerdeveloper, or landowner where there is no developerdeveloper, is responsible for filing a memorandum describing the land by reference to its tax map and lot number and the duration of the agreement of any existing forest carbon offset agreement with the county courthouse of any county in which the land is sited:sited.

Provided,The That the county clerk of the county in which the land is sited shall file the memorandum of the agreement in such a manner as will ensure it is readily apparent when performing a title search for the encumbered land.

(a) Any developerdeveloper, or landowner where there is no developerdeveloper, who fails to record with the registry a carbon offset agreementproject or carbon offset project alteration as required by §19-1D-3 of this article, is subject to the following penalties:

(1) For the first offense, a civil penalty of $2,500;$1,000;

and (2) For thea second and any subsequent offense, a civil penalty of $5,000;$2,000;

(3)(b) ForThe any60th subsequentday offense,following permanentthe suspensioninitial of120-day deadline during which the responsibleagreement party'sor Westproject Virginiaremains businessunrecorded license.constitutes a subsequent offense.

(b)(c) TheMonetary 30thpenalties daycollected followingunder thesubsection initial(a) 60-dayof deadlinethis duringsection whichshall be deposited into the agreementdivision's oroperating projectfund remainsto unrecordedsupport constitutesthe aadministration subsequentof offense.the registry.

(c)(d) The division shallmay notifypursue theenforcement Secretaryactions ofthrough State of any subsequent offense resulting in a business license suspension, and the Secretaryappropriate ofcourts Stateto shallensure effectuatecompliance the suspension in accordance with statethis law.article.

IntrCS for SB 118 2026R1430A4 (d) Monetary penalties collected under subsection (a) of this section shall be deposited into the division's operating fund to support the administration of the registry.

(e) The division may pursue enforcement actions through the appropriate courts to ensure compliance with this article.

NOTE:

The purpose of this bill is to establish a Forest Carbon Registry under the administrationof the West Virginia Division of Forestry.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.