"Four environmental groups are suing to stop a new law requiring Ohio to accept private petitions to drill for oil and gas underneath state parks.
House Bill 507, which Republicans passed in the final days of the last legislative session, changed Ohio's code to require rather than authorize state agencies to lease the lands they own for oil and gas development. And it directed the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission to develop a set of rules for applications.
Opponents called the move a "dirty industry power grab." Proponents said the change forced state agencies to finally fulfill the intent of a law passed a decade ago legalizing these kinds of leases.
But the main legal objections in the lawsuit filed Thursday centered around how HB 507 became law and how the commission has written those rules."
Anna Staver reports for the Columbus Dispatch April 6, 2023.
