[Green] Oil & Gas Drilling on Ohio Public Lands

[George Banziger]

Green Sanctuary Committee

    The Ohio legislature has passed and the governor has signed HB 507,
which allows extraction of oil & gas on public lands. There is still an
opportunity to put limits on this activity by advocating for public comment
on plans for this extraction. Below is the way that this can be done.
Sending the message to Mr. Moffitt would be helpful at this point--try to
modify your message so it doesn't look like you copied and pasted too much.
I usually do this by putting something individual to me at the beginning.


*Over the holiday, the Ohio Legislature passed HB 507 mandating oil and gas
extraction on public lands. This includes all state parks, forests and
university lands and ODOT land. *

The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission
<https://ohiodnr.gov/business-and-industry/municipalities-and-public-entities/commissions-and-councils/oil-gas-land-management-commission>,
established in 2011, will oversee the leasing of public lands for oil and
gas extraction in Ohio.
The commission is now accepting public comments regarding the rules around
public involvement in leasing Ohio public lands for oil and gas extraction.
Deadline January 13, 5 pm. This is our only opportunity to have some say in
giving away our public trust in Ohio. There are scripted comments below
that you can make your own.  However passionate, please be professional and
polite in your comments. We hope to start a group to oversee this process
and advocate for protections. If you would like to be involved contact:
Loraine McCosker loraine.mccosker at gmail.com, Cathy Cowan Becker
Becker.271 at gmail.com  Thank you! Loraine, Cathy and Roxanne Groff


*Public comments are due to the Commission by 5:00 pm this Friday, January
13, 2023.* Please submit all comments to Nate Moffitt at
Nathan.Moffitt at dnr.ohio.gov

Here is a suggested comment that you can edit or copy and paste to send in:

*Suggested email subject line*: Please provide for meaningful public
involvement in oil and gas extraction on Ohio public lands




*Dear Oil & Gas Land Management Commissioners,Please include strong public
notice and comment procedures regarding oil and gas leases on public lands
in the proposed rule O.A.C. § 155-1-01. I care about Ohio's state parks and
public lands. And I want a voice in their management and their future.*








*Please revise the proposed rule to include strong procedures for public
involvement in the state lands leasing nomination process. State law
requires the Commission to consider public comments and objections when
deciding nominations (i.e., whether a state parcel will be offered for oil
and gas leasing). R.C. § 155.33(B)(1)(h). However, nothing in the proposed
rule provides meaningful procedures for public notice of and comment on
nominations received by the Commission. These procedures are necessary for
the implementation of the Commission's statutory function and for
meaningful public involvement.Please revise this proposed rule to provide
at least a 60-day period for public comment on any nominations received by
the Commission.  And please provide for both timely website and email
(optional notification list sign-up) notification of all nominations
received. Along with each notice of nomination, please provide the parcel
identifying information specified in statute. Please ensure the launch of
the state lands nomination leasing process includes strong public
involvement procedures. Strong public involvement is necessary for the
meaningful operation of the Commission's decisional process.Sincerely,*


George & Gwen Banziger; 740-434-5685; 740-434-3354 (mobile)
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