# West Virginia HB 4696: Authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to deposit funds granted pursuant to federal programs West Virginia HB 4696, Authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to deposit funds granted pursuant to federal programs, is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by William Anderson (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-06-29 (Chapter 146, Acts, Regular Session, 2026) (as of 2026-11-04). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4696-2026rs - As of: 2026-11-04 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: West Virginia HB 4696 - State: West Virginia - Session: 2026 Regular Session - Title: Authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to deposit funds granted pursuant to federal programs - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2026-01-21 - Last action: 2026-06-29, Chapter 146, Acts, Regular Session, 2026 - Sponsor: William Anderson (Republican) - Cosponsors: 8 - Subjects: §22-2-4 - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 4 (255 yes, 1 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 3 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Cleanup funds fix water and land: benefit, low. DEP spends fund money to restore land and water harmed by old coal mining. Work includes sealing mines, planting to stop erosion, treating polluted water, and stopping coal‑waste fires. DEP must follow the law’s listed spending priorities in order. The state also uses specified federal grants to bu… - State deposits and saves cleanup funds: benefit, low. The DEP deposits federal mine‑cleanup grants, donations, state money, and land‑sale proceeds with the State Treasurer. Money goes to the Abandoned Land Reclamation Fund, and to continued state accounts for cleanup. The state may keep up to 30% of annual federal grants in set‑aside accounts for allo… - Which mine sites qualify for cleanup: mixed, low. Cleanup funds mainly cover coal sites abandoned before August 3, 1977, with no ongoing reclamation duty. Some later sites can qualify in two narrow cases: mines active Aug 4, 1977–Jan 21, 1981 with bonds too small, or Aug 4, 1977–Nov 5, 1990 where the surety went insolvent and funds are not enough.… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: William Anderson (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Geno Chiarelli (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jeff Eldridge (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Bob Fehrenbacher (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Josh Holstein (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Clay Riley (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Charles Sheedy (Republican), House - Cosponsor: George Street (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Mark Zatezalo (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-02-20 | House | Effective from passage (Roll No. 136) | pass | 95 | 1 | | | 2026-02-19 | Senate | Passed Senate (Roll No. 155) | pass | 33 | 0 | | | 2026-02-19 | Senate | Effective from passage (Roll No. 156) | pass | 33 | 0 | | | 2026-02-05 | House | Passed House (Roll No. 51) | pass | 94 | 0 | | ## Actions (38) - 2026-06-29: Chapter 146, Acts, Regular Session, 2026 (House) - 2026-02-26: To Governor 2/23/2026 (House) - 2026-02-25: To Governor 2/23/2026 - Senate Journal (Senate) - 2026-02-25: Approved by Governor 2/25/2026 (House) - 2026-02-25: Approved by Governor 2/25/2026 - Senate Journal (Senate) - 2026-02-21: House Message received (Senate) - 2026-02-20: House received Senate message (House) - 2026-02-20: Effective from passage (Roll No. 136) (House) - 2026-02-20: Communicated to Senate (House) - 2026-02-19: On 3rd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-19: Read 3rd time (Senate) - 2026-02-19: Passed Senate (Roll No. 155) (Senate) - 2026-02-19: Effective from passage (Roll No. 156) (Senate) - 2026-02-19: Senate requests House to concur in changed effective date (Senate) - 2026-02-19: Completed legislative action (House) - 2026-02-18: On 2nd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-18: Read 2nd time (Senate) - 2026-02-17: On 1st reading (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Read 1st time (Senate) - 2026-02-16: Reported do pass (Senate) - 2026-02-06: Introduced in Senate (Senate) - 2026-02-06: To Energy, Industry, and Mining (Senate) - 2026-02-06: To Energy, Industry, and Mining (Senate) - 2026-02-05: On 3rd reading, Special Calendar (House) - 2026-02-05: Read 3rd time (House) - 2026-02-05: Passed House (Roll No. 51) (House) - 2026-02-05: Title amendment adopted (Voice vote) (House) - 2026-02-05: Communicated to Senate (House) - 2026-02-04: On 2nd reading, Special Calendar (House) - 2026-02-04: Read 2nd time (House) - 2026-02-03: On 1st reading, Special Calendar (House) - 2026-02-03: Read 1st time (House) - 2026-02-02: Do pass (House) - 2026-01-27: Markup Discussion (House) - 2026-01-21: Filed for introduction (House) - 2026-01-21: To Energy and Public Works (House) - 2026-01-21: Introduced in House (House) - 2026-01-21: To House Energy and Public Works (House) ## Bill text - Engrossed: [HTML](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 eng.htm), [PDF](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 eng.pdf) - Enrolled: [HTML](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 enr.htm), [PDF](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 enr.pdf) - Introduced Version: [HTML](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 intr.htm), [PDF](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 intr.pdf) ## Related bills - HB 4452: To remove Mortmain restrictions on religious organizations (signed) - HB 4354: Relating to necessity allowance (signed) - HB 4390: Relating to the temporary payment to a kinship parent of a subsidy equal to that of a foster parent (signed) - HB 4191: Relating to providing child care generally (became law) - HB 4138: Relating to persons convicted of a crime (signed) - HB 4106: Allowing constitutional carry for 18- to 20-year-olds (signed) ## Sources - [Engrossed (HTML)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 eng.htm) - [Engrossed (PDF)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 eng.pdf) - [Enrolled (HTML)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 enr.htm) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 enr.pdf) - [Introduced Version (HTML)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 intr.htm) - [Introduced Version (PDF)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb4696 intr.pdf) ## Related - [HB 4452: To remove Mortmain restrictions on religious organizations](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4452-2026rs) - [HB 4354: Relating to necessity allowance](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4354-2026rs) - [HB 4390: Relating to the temporary payment to a kinship parent of a subsidy equal to tha…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4390-2026rs) - [HB 4191: Relating to providing child care generally](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4191-2026rs) - [HB 4138: Relating to persons convicted of a crime](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4138-2026rs) - [HB 4106: Allowing constitutional carry for 18- to 20-year-olds](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4106-2026rs) - [West Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/west-virginia/bills) - [West Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/west-virginia) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4696-2026rs (as of 2026-11-04).