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As an attorney, I've come to appreciate over the years how
our state government in Ohio is quite helpful when it comes to putting
resources on the Internet. You just need to know where to look for it. Since
this blog is about Ohio real estate law, I wanted to provide an overview of the
legal/regulatory or generally helpful information you can access through the
Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), just by selecting the 'Regulation'
tab on their web site navigation bar and viewing the pages for the following 4
ODNR divisions:
This division regulates Ohio's oil and gas drilling
operations, oil and gas production operations, brine disposal operations,
solution mining operations and underground injection operations. Its staff
inspects the drilling, restoration, and plugging of all oil and gas wells in
the state.
In
additional to having access to the various laws, regulations and permitting
requirements, this division’s web pages provide searchable databases for well locations, other well data such
as information on completion, permitting and
production of the wells, and shale activity in the state.
This division oversees
the development and restoration of mineral and fossil fuel extraction sites. It
operates various programs to address the environmental and safety aspects of
the coal and mineral mining industries. The division also restores abandoned
mine land, enforces mining safety laws, and ensures the protection of citizens,
land and water resources.
Program and support
services include permitting, bonding, inspection, enforcement, mine safety
rescue support and training, hydrology, soils, blasting, archaeology,
engineering, design, information technology and administrative support.
The division's stated purposes include the following:
"The Permitting,
Hydrology and Bonding section reviews all permit applications to mine
industrial minerals and coal; it verifies all bonding and surety requirements;
and manages permit records, databases, and permit related information.
The Field Inspection
and Enforcement program enforces the laws regulating active mining activities
to ensure the protection of citizens and conservation of environmental resources;
and oversees land reclamation requirements to assure operators restore mine
lands and waters to productive uses.
The Abandoned Mine
Land program eliminates health and safety hazards and cleans up lands and
waters damaged by coal mining that occurred prior to today’s stricter
reclamation laws; including reclamation of underground mine openings, dangerous
highwalls, dangerous mine subsidence, and cleanup of hazardous and/or polluted
water impoundments, acid mine drainage, burning coal refuse, and others.
The Mine Safety program promotes safe mining
practices for the protection of miners through services that include
inspections at surface and underground mines, focused on accident prevention;
examination and certification testing; mine rescue support; and safety
training."
You can
also find on their web page a Mine
Locator that provides an interactive map of underground and surface coal
and mineral mines in Ohio
The ODNR Division of Geological Survey is the
state's oldest natural resources agency, established by the state legislature
in 1837 as the Geological Survey of Ohio.
Its mission is to "To
provide geologic information and services needed for responsible management of
Ohio's natural resources."
Topics include, to name just a few, an
abandoned underground mine map, astrogeology (including a meteorite
find map), Ohio seismic information, Lake Erie
geology, and..... who knew ̶ Fossil Hunting in Ohio.
The Division of Soil and Water Resources was
statutorily created in July 2010 through the merger of the Division of Soil and
Water Conservation and the Division of Water. Its mission includes, among other
things:
- Providing administrative guidance, training, program development support and financial to Ohio's SWCDs, their board members and staff;
- Regulating construction and repair of dams and levees;
- Implementing agricultural and non-point source water pollution control programs;
- Maintaining and distributing data on all water resources including ground water levels, stream flow, and precipitation;
- Supporting and assisting fund local development of watershed management and protection action plans;
- Implementing a comprehensive statewide soils information program; and
- Maintaining standards
for sediment control and stormwater management.
The web page for this division contains numerous mapping
options including: a groundwater
resources map, access to well water logs
and technical assistance such as pipeline
construction standards.
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