Here’s
the Akron Beacon Journal editorial at Ohio.com here:
Oil
and gas interests prevail again in Ohio
By the Beacon Journal editorial board
Published: February 20, 2015 - 10:26 PM
The oil and gas industry won a narrow victory this week over the
city of Munroe Falls. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the city’s local
permitting and zoning ordinances are pre-empted by a 2004 state law giving
control over drilling to the state Department of Natural Resources. Because
Beck Energy Corp. has a state permit, it can proceed to drill on a site in
Munroe Falls.
In its ruling, the majority effectively blocked local governments
from acting as a voice for citizens legitimately concerned about the effects of
oil and gas drilling. The new wells being drilled in Ohio represent nothing
less than heavy industrial development, well within the boundaries of local
control. Horizontally drilled and hydraulically fractured, each new oil and gas
well can use millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and toxic chemicals.
In stopping Munroe Falls, the court missed an important
opportunity to restore a balanced approach to industry oversight. In 2004, the
state went too far in seizing control over oil and gas drilling from local
governments, the legislature under the influence of the industry’s powerful
lobby. That influence continues. The legislature is unable to pass even a
modest increase in the state’s severance taxes to fairly compensate citizens for
the one-time extraction of resources.
In a thoughtful dissent, Justice Judith Lanzinger noted that the
2004 state law did not expressly prohibit local zoning regulations on oil and
gas drilling, arguing persuasively that the law leaves room for state and local
input. She pointed to several examples in which the legislature set up a
regulatory mechanism, then specifically excluded local control through zoning.
Important to her thinking is preserving the exercise of home rule
powers through zoning, local governments acting to reflect citizens’ concerns
and protect the general health and welfare of the community. That is in
contrast to the state’s role, to deal with the highly technical aspects of
drilling. Lanzinger pointed to other states, among them Colorado, Pennsylvania
and New York, where the courts have found that state regulations and local
zoning can work together. In other words, some local control over drilling does
not necessarily conflict with state law.
Lanzinger thus invites the legislature to bring clarity to the
situation, spelling out more precisely how local governments could use their
home rule power to play a meaningful role in overseeing what can be a dangerous
and environmentally damaging activity. She rightly describes the state now as “the
thousand-pound gorilla.”
At the Statehouse, the oil and gas industry certainly has gotten
its way. It lobbied hard for the Department of Natural Resources to take
control of oil and gas drilling. Gov. John Kasich has tried unsuccessfully for
four years to gain an increase in severance taxes. Perhaps the ultimate irony
is that while Republicans control of all branches of state government in Ohio
and often pay homage to local control in principle, many of them are most
willing to crush it when it gets in their way.
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