<?xml version="1.0"?>
<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>55823</law_id><section_number>45.2-1647</section_number><catch_line> Hydraulic fracturing; groundwater management area</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="45.2">Mines, Minerals, and Energy</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="IV">Gas and Oil</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="16">Virginia Gas and Oil Act</unit><unit label="article" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="4">Drilling for Gas or Oil in the Chesapeake Bay or Tidewater Virginia; Hydraulic Fracturing</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>No person shall conduct any hydraulic fracturing in any <span class="dictionary">well</span> that has been drilled through any portion of a groundwater management area declared by regulation prior to January 1, 2020, pursuant to the provisions of the Ground Water Management Act of 1992 (&#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Findings and purpose" href="/62.1-254/">62.1-254</a> et seq.). For purposes of this section, &#x201C;hydraulic fracturing&#x201D; means the treatment of a <span class="dictionary">well</span> by the application of hydraulic fracturing fluid, including a base fluid and any additive, under pressure for the express purpose of initiating or propagating fractures in a target geologic formation to enhance production of <span class="dictionary">natural gas</span> or <span class="dictionary">oil</span>.</p></section></text><history>2020, c. 626; &#xA7; 62.1-195.3; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
