Across the country more local governments are attempting to pass their own ordinances regulating or even prohibiting natural gas drilling in their jurisdictions. Under home rule principals, the typical rule of thumb is that local ordinances are preempted if the state has a comprehensive regulatory scheme for that area. However, various state courts have reached
President Issues Executive Order Creating Interagency Work Group on Fracking
On April 13th, President Obama issued an Executive Order creating a federal inter-agency task to coordinate efforts on oversight of horizontal well drilling and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. Method such as hydraulic fracturing (i.e. "fracking") have allowed access to massive new deposits of natural gas bring the price down for natural gas to
Ohio EPA and ODNR Propose Major Fee Increases in Upcoming State Budget
During Governor Strickland’s State of the State he made the "no new taxes" pledge. However, the Governor did mention that to balance the budget he will propose "new fees, fines and penalties." No specifics were provided, however, now that details are beginning to take shape the Governor Strickland has been criticized for his roll out of