Municipalities across the country have attempted to place restrictions on the use of fracking associated with oil & gas drilling. Most cases involve outright bans on fracking or more rigorous permitting requirements. Ohio was no different. Other states, like Pennsylvania and New York, both allowed local regulation of fracking. Ohio was different
Ohio EPA Begins Policy to Rotate Inspectors
Ohio EPA has recently announced a new policy of rotating personnel within its districts and divisions. The new policy will apply to inspectors and staff, but will not apply to management.
The policy is intended to provide Ohio EPA staff with a wider range of experience and technical skill.
This from Director Butler
TSCA Penalty Serves as Warning Regarding Non Compliance with Disclosure Requirements
In a very significant case, the Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for U.S. EPA imposed a $2.5 million dollar penalty against a manufacturer, Elementis Chromium, Inc. ("Elementis") for failing to submit a health study to EPA pursuant to the requirements of TSCA. The EPA imposed the large penalty despite the fact,
- Many of the
Ohio EPA Director Scott Nally Resigns- Butler Named as Interim Director
On January 7th, Scott Nally resigned as Director of Ohio EPA after a three year stint. Local media coverage of his resignations raised questions regarding the abrupt and surprise announcement. Speculation included the fact that it was tied to the Nally’s firing of long-time Division of Surface Water Chief George Elmaraghy earlier this year. This
State Settlements: When Can You Recover Costs from Prior Owners/Operators
If you settle with the State EPA in your jurisdiction and perform a cleanup under State regulatory statutes, can you recover costs from prior a owner and/or operator?
This is an issue that federal courts are grappling with in the aftermath of the U.S Supreme Court Ruling in Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Aviall Services,
Huge Increase in Disposal of Frac Water in Ohio Deep Wells
An article in the Akron Beacon Journal discusses a study by Kent State University regarding the disposal of flow back water from natural gas fracking in deep wells in Ohio. Flow back water is the water that comes back up from fracking a natural gas well. The flow back water is considered wastewater.
A prior
What Does a Second Term for President Obama Mean for Environmental Regulation?
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Through out the long and contentious election process the focus of the debate was getting America back to work. Much of the debate centered on tax policy and budget cuts. However, the President was accused of "over-regulation" which Mitt Romney argued cooled the economic recovery.
As part of the debate over regulation, environmental regulation was
The Threat of Personal Liability for Environmental Violations of Small Businesses
Owners of small business form corporations, in part, to insulate themselves from personal liability. A recent trend in Ohio is that the State has become far more aggressive in pursuing owners of small businesses personally in environmental enforcement actions.
A business owner could still be pursued even if the corporate formalities were followed. More and
Ohio EPA Attempts Second Effort to Develop Beneficial Use Rules
In June 2012, Ohio EPA issued an Early Stakeholder Outreach for Beneficial Use of Industrial Byproducts. This is the Agency’s second attempt at developing a comprehensive regulatory scheme for reuse of industrial materials such as fly ash, bottom ash, foundry sand, slag and other materials.
From 1994 until the early 2000’s, Ohio EPA regulated these materials
Governor Signs Three Major Pieces of Environmental Legislation
Typically, environmental legislation may be passed in Ohio once every few years. In fact, most environmental regulatory reform is done in small doses during the budget bill process. In the last two weeks, Governor Kasich has signed into law three separate bills that including major environmental regulatory provisions.
- S.B. 315– Establishes new regulations for oil