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Ohio Environmental Advocates Sue State of Ohio to Block HB 507 from Requiring Mandatory Oil and Gas Leasing in State Parks
In late December during the 134th General Assembly lame duck session, legislators rushed House Bill 507 through at the last minute, logrolling wildly disparate subjects together into an ultimately dangerous bill for our environment. The Ohio General Assembly knew Ohioans would oppose defining natural gas as green energy and mandating oil and gas leasing on public lands, yet it added those provisions to an agricultural bill, and sent the unconstitutional legislation to Governor DeWine’s desk for signature anyways.
In an adamant effort to stop Ohioans’ beloved public lands from forced fossil fuel leasing, we filed a lawsuit against HB 507 alongside our environmental partners.
On April 6, 2023, the Ohio Environmental Council joined with Buckeye Environmental Network, Ohio Valley Allies, and Sierra Club to file a preliminary injunction to stop the leasing of Ohio state parks and other public lands to the oil and gas industry. In addition to the OEC’s own attorneys, we’re represented by Earthjustice and Case Western Environmental Law Clinic. The coalition of environmental advocates that filed the lawsuit against HB 507 together represent thousands of Ohioans all directly impacted by the passage of this unconstitutional, harmful bill.
HB 507 was originally introduced as a “chicken” bill, focused entirely on agricultural laws pertaining to poultry. But in early December 2022, the Ohio General Assembly stuffed HB 507 with numerous other provisions, including a Mandatory Leasing Provision that requires the State to lease state parks with very little procedural safeguards. An open-season opportunity for oil and gas companies to lease public lands would significantly set back Ohio’s pathway toward a carbon-free future while damaging the state parks Ohioans love.
Our lawsuit asks the Court to find HB 507 unconstitutional under the One-Subject and Three-Considerations Rules of the Ohio Constitution. This lawsuit filed against HB 507 will stop the Mandatory Leasing Provision from ever taking effect to protect Ohio’s state parks.
The Numerous Unrelated Provisions of HB 507
In addition to the Mandatory Leasing Provision, HB 507 included all of the following subjects:
- Poultry
- Defining gas as “green” energy
- Food purity
- Agriculture law, including pesticides
- Electric utilities
- The licensing of environmental health specialists
- The licensing of auctioneers, and
- The towing and storage of motor vehicles by conservancy district police departments
Constitutional Violations
Under the Ohio Constitution, a law can only have one subject. It’s a constitutional provision designed to ensure clarity and transparency as the Ohio General Assembly passes legislation. But HB 507 includes numerous subjects that deviated from the original bird-related subject matter.
Under the Ohio Constitution, a bill must be considered three times, on three separate days, by each chamber of the Ohio General Assembly. If a chamber hears a bill three times, but then the bill is vitally altered, that chamber must hear the bill an additional three times. After the Senate amended HB 507 to include its many different subjects, both chambers did not hear it three times before it was signed by Governor DeWine.
Impacts of the Mandatory Leasing Provision
Leasing state parks to the oil and gas industry directly harms the many Ohioans who live around and recreate in those public lands. It will increase Ohio’s contributions to climate change by allowing companies to drill for more fossil fuels.
The mandatory leasing provision will require the State—especially the Ohio Department of Natural Resources—to lease state lands for oil and gas development until the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission finalizes rules governing the state leasing process.
Until those rules are finalized, the mandatory leasing provision requires the State to lease with limited oversight, including no public notice or comment on what lands will be leased, no requirement for an auction for the leases, nor a requirement that the leases go to the highest bidder.
Timeline of the Case
On April 6, 2023 the OEC and its co-plaintiffs filed both their Complaint and Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction.
>> Read our April 6, 2023 Press Release: Lawsuit Filed Against HB 507.
>> Read the full Ohio Environmental Council, et al. vs. State of Ohio complaint here.