[Green] Fwd: Two Environmental Bills in the Ohio Legislature You Should Care About

Mon Apr 7 21:25:12 CDT 2025

Sorry, friends, to bug you yet again, but I am motivated to DO SOMETHING, now more than ever. The information below from the Buckeye Environmental Network isn’t asking you to call or write to anyone immediately. They just want you to be informed about what’s coming in the Ohio Legislature, so that you can educate yourself. One of these days, we will be asked to contact our legislators and comment on these bills, but not yet. Now is the time to learn about them. I hope you will read the email below, and as they ask: stay tuned!

—dawn

> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: "Buckeye Environmental Network" <bev.reed at benohio.org>
> Subject: Two Environmental Bills in the Ohio Legislature You Should Care About
> Date: April 7, 2025 at 2:28:19 PM EDT
> To: "Dawn Hewitt" <hewitt at earth-maker.com>
> Reply-To: bev.reed at benohio.org
> 
>  <https://click.everyaction.com/k/105379691/538149642/1322170159?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9FQS9FQTAxNi8xLzEwNjUzNSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmYTRhNTkwYS1kZTEzLWYwMTEtOGIzZC0wMDIyNDgyYTlmYjciLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImhld2l0dEBlYXJ0aC1tYWtlci5jb20iDQp9&hmac=zgosn4OZ-vGA6G8MnWcTpiV0-Anq-6PoLnS5rNfjd-4=&emci=cb8f84de-be13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&emdi=fa4a590a-de13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&ceid=22742358>
> Learn about two important bills in the Ohio legislature
> The Ohio House Natural Resources Committee meeting is this Wednesday at 9 AM
> Hi Dawn,
>  
> Buckeye Environmental Network has been tracking a number of bills in the Ohio legislature this legislative session, and two of them will have sponsor testimony this Wednesday at 9:00AM. Please read on to learn about the bills, why you should care, and what you can do about them.
>  
> The two bills we want to alert you to are H. B. No. 170  <https://click.everyaction.com/k/105379694/538149646/-353608409?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9FQS9FQTAxNi8xLzEwNjUzNSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmYTRhNTkwYS1kZTEzLWYwMTEtOGIzZC0wMDIyNDgyYTlmYjciLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImhld2l0dEBlYXJ0aC1tYWtlci5jb20iDQp9&hmac=zgosn4OZ-vGA6G8MnWcTpiV0-Anq-6PoLnS5rNfjd-4=&emci=cb8f84de-be13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&emdi=fa4a590a-de13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&ceid=22742358>"Establish process to regulate carbon capture, storage technology" and  H. B. No. 71 <https://click.everyaction.com/k/105379697/538149650/-1416020153?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9FQS9FQTAxNi8xLzEwNjUzNSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmYTRhNTkwYS1kZTEzLWYwMTEtOGIzZC0wMDIyNDgyYTlmYjciLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImhld2l0dEBlYXJ0aC1tYWtlci5jb20iDQp9&hmac=zgosn4OZ-vGA6G8MnWcTpiV0-Anq-6PoLnS5rNfjd-4=&emci=cb8f84de-be13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&emdi=fa4a590a-de13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&ceid=22742358> "Require certain info disclosure for wells drilled in state parks". Both will have sponsor testimony this Wednesday in the House Natural Resources Committee. Please tune in to the Natural Resources Committee meeting on the "Ohio Channel <https://click.everyaction.com/k/105379701/538149653/913569324?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9FQS9FQTAxNi8xLzEwNjUzNSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmYTRhNTkwYS1kZTEzLWYwMTEtOGIzZC0wMDIyNDgyYTlmYjciLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImhld2l0dEBlYXJ0aC1tYWtlci5jb20iDQp9&hmac=zgosn4OZ-vGA6G8MnWcTpiV0-Anq-6PoLnS5rNfjd-4=&emci=cb8f84de-be13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&emdi=fa4a590a-de13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&ceid=22742358>" internet broadcast website at meeting start time to hear what the bill sponsors have to say about their bills.
>  
> Here's what you should know about H.B. 170:
>  
> A new push to inject massive, unprecedented volumes of industrial carbon dioxide (CO₂) beneath our homes and communities using carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) poses serious risks to human health and the environment and raises questions about economic viability. (See infographics on CCS below in this email.) 
>  
> Carbon storage is unpredictable, largely untested, and unsafe.Ohio’s potential carbon storage reservoirs are overlaid by tens of thousands of abandoned oil & gas wells, which could be conduits for CO2 to leak and migrate. Earthquakes are also a risk.
> H.B. 170 is a bill that would allow companies to store dangerous, acidic carbon dioxide underneath Ohioans property without their consent. It allows companies to only obtain 70% of land owners' consent before CO2 injection, allowing them to use "force pooling" to require other landowners to have CO2 underneath their land. 
> H.B. 170 would let carbon storage developers off the hook for long-term responsibility over their projects with a “liability transfer” clause. The clause allows developers to walk away from projects and any long-term consequences or emergency response mandates, incentivizing companies to cut corners on well construction, maintenance, and monitoring.
> The bill would also give ODNR exclusive authority to regulate carbon injection wells, taking away the rights of local governments to decide whether and how they want carbon injection to occur in their communities.
> 
>  
> 
> Here's what you should know about H.B. 71:
>  
> The Ohio legislature approved fracking under our beloved state parks and public lands in 2022, and companies have recently started to drill. To learn more or to be involved in state-wide efforts with that campaign, please contact Save Ohio Parks <https://click.everyaction.com/k/105379704/538149658/-944617060?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9FQS9FQTAxNi8xLzEwNjUzNSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmYTRhNTkwYS1kZTEzLWYwMTEtOGIzZC0wMDIyNDgyYTlmYjciLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImhld2l0dEBlYXJ0aC1tYWtlci5jb20iDQp9&hmac=zgosn4OZ-vGA6G8MnWcTpiV0-Anq-6PoLnS5rNfjd-4=&emci=cb8f84de-be13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&emdi=fa4a590a-de13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&ceid=22742358>, one of BEN's partner groups.  
>  
> H.B. 71 aims to protect first responders and communities by requiring fracking companies to disclose the chemicals and other substances they are using in the process to the ODNR 60 days prior to injecting anything into the earth. Currently, the companies only have to do so 30 days after injection. This allows first responders in the areas to be fracked time to have information regarding the toxins they are dealing with when fighting fires and blow-outs at well pad sites. It is also important for EMS workers and police officers to have information on these chemicals so they know how to treat impacted people.
>  
> The bill also requires the ODNR to post the chemicals on their website immediately for the public to see. As it is now, people must request that information, and it takes sometimes weeks or months for ODNR to provide information.
>  
> The bill does not include certain trade secret chemicals to be disclosed - those are protected by other laws. That is a serious issue as well, and presents major challenges to first responders and fire fighters who respond to well pad accidents, of which there have been many.
>  
> There was recently a well pad explosion and fire at the Groh well pad owned by Gulfport Appalachia just 5.7 miles – a seven-minute drive along SR 22 – from the entrance to Salt Fork State Park. Gulfport was involved in $3.7 million EPA settlement. The Groh well pad was one of the 17 subject facilities listed in the EPA-Gulfport consent decree. This is a stark reminder of why we should not be fracking near or under state parks.
>  
> Over the past eight years, approximately 2,000 incidents  <https://click.everyaction.com/k/105379708/538149662/1529980599?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9FQS9FQTAxNi8xLzEwNjUzNSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmYTRhNTkwYS1kZTEzLWYwMTEtOGIzZC0wMDIyNDgyYTlmYjciLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImhld2l0dEBlYXJ0aC1tYWtlci5jb20iDQp9&hmac=zgosn4OZ-vGA6G8MnWcTpiV0-Anq-6PoLnS5rNfjd-4=&emci=cb8f84de-be13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&emdi=fa4a590a-de13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&ceid=22742358>associated with oil and gas wells occurred in Ohio. Buckeye Environmental Network has been tracking and writing detailed reports of those incidents. See our Facebook page with a listing of those reports here <https://click.everyaction.com/k/105379710/538149667/-670831672?profile_tab_item_selected=about&_rdr&nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9FQS9FQTAxNi8xLzEwNjUzNSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmYTRhNTkwYS1kZTEzLWYwMTEtOGIzZC0wMDIyNDgyYTlmYjciLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImhld2l0dEBlYXJ0aC1tYWtlci5jb20iDQp9&hmac=zgosn4OZ-vGA6G8MnWcTpiV0-Anq-6PoLnS5rNfjd-4=&emci=cb8f84de-be13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&emdi=fa4a590a-de13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&ceid=22742358>.  
> The state of Ohio is not adequately protecting its citizens from the oil and gas industry. Instead, they are passing more bills that prioritize the industry's interests over the people who live here. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Groh well pad explosion near Salt Fork state park in Ohio in January 
> What can you do about it?
> 
> 
>  
> Learn about these two issues. The images above on carbon capture are very helpful educational tools. We've listed out the main issues with the carbon capture bill, as well as why carbon capture is harmful to communities and why it doesn't make sense environmentally or economically.
> Tune in to the Natural Resources Committee meeting this Wednesday at 9AM on the "Ohio Channel <https://click.everyaction.com/k/105379713/538149669/913569324?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9FQS9FQTAxNi8xLzEwNjUzNSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmYTRhNTkwYS1kZTEzLWYwMTEtOGIzZC0wMDIyNDgyYTlmYjciLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImhld2l0dEBlYXJ0aC1tYWtlci5jb20iDQp9&hmac=zgosn4OZ-vGA6G8MnWcTpiV0-Anq-6PoLnS5rNfjd-4=&emci=cb8f84de-be13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&emdi=fa4a590a-de13-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&ceid=22742358>"  website. You can listen to the bill sponsors discuss their bills. 
> Stay tuned to Buckeye Environmental Network on these bills. We will need as many people as we can get to speak out on these two bills! Attending the committee meetings in person is always helpful, but submitting written comment is important, too. Opponent testimony for H.B. 170 could be as early as next week. We won't know when we can submit opposition testimony until the chair decides to move the bill forward to the next stage. The same goes for support testimony for H.B. 71.  
> If you would like us to contact you when the testimony days will be for these bills, please email Bev at bev.reed at benohio.org <mailto:bev.reed at benohio.org>, or simply respond to this email with that request. We will contact you when it's time to submit testimony. We can also help you craft comments!
>  
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