ODNR Division of Mineral Resources Management - Oil and Gas

Review of Ohio's Oil and Gas Regulatory Program

A review team representing state environmental regulators, the oil and gas industry and the enviromental community completed a comprehensive follow-up and supplemental review of Ohio's oil and gas regulatory program in June, 2005.

The review process evaluates the state program against a set of national guidelines developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) to improve state oil and gas regulatory programs and is conducted on a strictly voluntary basis.

The 96-page report concluded that "Ohio has a well-managed and innovative oil and gas environmental regulatory program" and has followed through with the implementation of many of the recommendations contained in a 1995 initial review and noted that several activities by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Division of Mineral Resources Management actually go above and beyond guideline standards that were established in 2000.

The three person review team plus four industry and regulatory observers was appointed by State Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations, Inc. (STRONGER), a non-profit organization formed in 1999 to reinvigorate and carry forward the state review process begun cooperatively in 1988 by the USEPA and the IOGCC.

View FOLLOW-UP REVIEW OF OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL OIL AND GAS PROGRAM (pdf)