Ohio's Governor Kasich signed Amended Substitute House Bill Number 153 (HB 153) on Thursday amending several significant provisions of Ohio's oil and gas conservation laws. HB 153, for example, clarifies that production operations in Ohio include "all operations and activities and all related equipment, facilities, and other structures that may be used in or associated with the exploration and production of oil, gas, *** including operations and activities associated with site preparation, site construction, access road construction, well drilling, well completion, well stimulation, well site activities, reclamation, and plugging." See 1509.01(AA).
It also clarifies that the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management has, with only limited exceptions, sole and exclusive authority over all aspects of oil and gas E&P operations in Ohio:
There is hereby created in the department of natural resources the division of oil and gas resources management, which shall be administered by the chief of the division of oil and gas resources management. The division has sole and exclusive authority to regulate the permitting, location, and spacing of oil and gas wells and production operations within the state, excepting only those activities regulated under federal laws for which oversight has been delegated to the environmental protection agency and activities regulated under sections 6111.02 to 6111.029 of the Revised Code. The regulation of oil and gas activities is a matter of general statewide interest that requires uniform statewide regulation, and this chapter and rules adopted under it constitute a comprehensive plan with respect to all aspects of the locating, drilling, well stimulation, completing, and operating of oil and gas wells within this state, including site construction and restoration, permitting related to those activities, and the disposal of wastes from those wells.