[Green] Oil & Gas Drilling on Ohio Public Lands

[Rebecca Phillips]

Done.

Rebecca

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."-- Cicero
________________________________
From: Green <green-bounces at fuusm.org> on behalf of George Banziger via Green <green at fuusm.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2023 2:07 PM
To: Green Sanctuary List for Environment Issues <green at fuusm.org>
Cc: George Banziger <gbanziger497 at gmail.com>
Subject: [Green] Oil & Gas Drilling on Ohio Public Lands

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<mailto:loraine.mccosker at gmail.com>, Cathy Cowan Becker Becker.271 at gmail.com<mailto: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<mailto: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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