The Road to State Control Over Drilling is Paved with Legislation

Robertson discusses legislative action related Ohio shale oil and gas law. Localities regulate activities within their borders for the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens. Ohio’s constitution even includes a Home Rule provision to protect this authority. Localities can enact, for example, noise ordinances, zoning plans, and traffic controls. State legislatures, though, sometimes enact laws that claim total regulatory authority, cutting out the power of the locality. That’s what the Ohio Legislature has done by tinkering with Ohio Revised Code section 1509.02, the state’s oil and gas law. The Legislature has worked hard to establish tight state regulatory control over shale oil and gas operations