# Tennessee SB 2231: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 59; Title 60 and Title 68, relative to the production of oil and gas. Tennessee SB 2231, AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 59; Title 60 and Title 68, relative to the production of oil and gas., is a 114th General Assembly (2025-2026) Senate bill sponsored by no sponsor on record; status signed, last action 2026-05-05 (Effective date(s) 04/14/2026) (as of 2026-11-01). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/TN-SB2231-2025-2026 - As of: 2026-11-01 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Tennessee SB 2231 - State: Tennessee - Session: 114th General Assembly (2025-2026) - Title: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 59; Title 60 and Title 68, relative to the production of oil and gas. - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-02-02 - Last action: 2026-05-05, Effective date(s) 04/14/2026 - Sponsors: no sponsor on record - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Gas, Petroleum Products, Volatile Oils - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 2 (39 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 8 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - State gains funds and contractors for cleanup: benefit, low. The law creates the Tennessee oil and gas reclamation fund as a separate state treasury account. Penalty and bond-forfeiture payments collected under this part must go into that fund for reclamation. The state oil and gas authority can hire private parties to plug wells or restore sites. The law se… - Landowners gain control over well locations: mixed, medium. Well applicants must send affected surface owners certified-mail notice by the permit filing and before site preparation begins. The notice describes proposed well locations, access routes, tanks, pits, and other surface disturbances. Owners have 15 business days from mailing to discuss locations;… - Landowners can keep roads but maintain them: mixed, low. Oil and gas access roads must meet applicable local, state, and federal rules, including water-pollution requirements. A landowner can avoid required road reclamation through a sworn statement that the road will serve uses beyond well access. The surface owner then must keep the road usable and com… - Well pollution controls and stream rules: mixed, low. Operators must prevent or reduce soil erosion and surface-water pollution throughout operations, including preparation and related work. A stream-related permit condition now covers streams within one-fourth mile of the well site. It replaces the rule covering blue-line streams within one-half mile… - Well bonds face forfeiture with appeal safeguards: mixed, low. The supervisor can forfeit bonds to the department for violations of oil and gas law, rules, orders, or permits. Noncompliance notices must identify the violation and location within six months after inspection or investigation, and allow reasonable correction time. Extensions are available for goo… - Well operators face bonds and shared-production rules: mixed, low. Tennessee regulators gain broad rulemaking powers over well construction, plugging, records, pollution, spacing, waste, neighboring leases, and land restoration. Operators must post bonds with permit applications for wells permitted and drilled after July 1, 1987. Certificates of deposit, irrevocab… - Well operators face fines with appeal rights: mixed, low. The supervisor can assess civil fines up to $10,000 for each day of an oil and gas violation. Covered violations include the law, rules, board orders, and permit terms. The amount depends on seriousness, good faith, violation history, business size, economic gain, and state damages and costs. A per… - Well operators regain bonds after cleanup checks: mixed, low. The supervisor can release one-third of a reclamation bond after satisfactory regrading and planting of disturbed areas. This first release excludes active work areas and access roads needed for production. The remaining bond can be released after well plugging, final reclamation, and satisfactory… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Cosponsor: Reeves ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-02-23 | Senate | FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 2/23/2026 | pass | 32 | 0 | | | 2026-02-18 | Senate | SENATE ENERGY, AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE | pass | 7 | 0 | | ## Bill text - Enrolled / Public Chapter: [PDF](https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/acts/114/pub/pc0725.pdf) - Fiscal Note: [PDF](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Fiscal/SB2231.pdf) - Introduced: [PDF](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/SB2231.pdf) ## Related bills - SB 2228: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 29; Title 5, Chapter 21; Title 8, Chapter 50, Part 8; Title 49, Chapter 10, Part 1; Title 49, Chapte… (failed) - SB 2229: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 12, Chapter 4, Part 4, relative to the prevailing wage rate. (failed) - SB 2221: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71, Chapter 5, Part 15, relative to ambulances. (signed) - SB 2213: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 7; Title 13, Chapter 7; Title 65 and Title 68, relative to utilities. (signed) - SB 2224: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 29, Part 2; Title 20, Chapter 9, Part 6; Title 55, Chapter 17, Part 1; Title 62, Chapter 13; Title 6… (failed) - SB 2177: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 8; Title 9 and Title 38, relative to compensation of law enforcement officers. (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled / Public Chapter (PDF)](https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/acts/114/pub/pc0725.pdf) - [Fiscal Note (PDF)](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Fiscal/SB2231.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/SB2231.pdf) ## Related - [SB 2228: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 29; Title 5, Chapter…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/TN-SB2228-2025-2026) - [SB 2229: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 12, Chapter 4, Part 4, relative…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/TN-SB2229-2025-2026) - [SB 2221: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71, Chapter 5, Part 15, relativ…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/TN-SB2221-2025-2026) - [SB 2213: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 7; Title 13, Chapter 7; Title 6…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/TN-SB2213-2025-2026) - [SB 2224: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 29, Part 2; Title 20…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/TN-SB2224-2025-2026) - [SB 2177: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 8; Title 9 and Title 3…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/TN-SB2177-2025-2026) - [Tennessee bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/tennessee/bills) - [Tennessee state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/tennessee) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/TN-SB2231-2025-2026 (as of 2026-11-01).