Revised oil and gas rules go into effect in Ohio this week before full review from industry, environmentalists and other stakeholders.

Republican Gov. John Kasich signed an executive order Tuesday that authorizes the state oil and gas agency to immediately enforce tighter rules for underground injection wells, which are used to dispose of fluid used in shale drilling.

Usually, such changes would first receive stakeholder input and be approved by a legislative committee, but Kasich wrote that "an emergency exists requiring the immediate amendment" of the rules. Increased drilling activity and public concern over 2011 earthquakes near a Youngstown-area well prompted the sped-up process.

The order lasts for 90 days, during which time the agency will continue to review and tweak the draft rules as needed.

"Hopefully, that gives [the Ohio Department of Natural Resources] that 90 days to really make a good rule and one that has all that input involved," said Trent Dougherty, attorney for the Ohio Environmental Council.

The draft rules have been public since early this year, when state officials concluded that shale drilling disposal wells likely caused a series of earthquakes last year (Greenwire, March 9).

Dougherty said the executive order prevents oil and gas companies from scrambling to obtain permits under the weaker standards before the new ones are approved.

"For far too long, we've seen worthy regulations wither away in the regulatory drafting process," he said, "but in this case, the governor has put a plug in the dike that helps keep the flood of injection well permits that would be grandfathered into the current rules."

Under the new rules, regulators can order seismicity tests before a well is drilled and specify the volume and pressure of fluids injected. Once the well is operating, the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management can monitor it and force it to shut off.

Industry representatives have often criticized the Kasich administration for mounting regulations on drilling, including recently passed legislation that addresses chemical disclosure and water quality, among other things. But Tom Stewart, executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, said the governor's order was welcome because it moves along a permitting process that had slowed because of earthquake concerns.

"It was probably the best thing they could do to get things moving forward," Stewart said.

Lake Erie still off-limits

Kasich issued a second drilling-related executive order this week. Yesterday, during a meeting with anglers in Port Clinton, the governor signed an order banning drilling within and under Lake Erie.

The order simply reiterates an existing federal ban on new drilling in the Great Lakes, but it was a popular symbolic move by the governor on Fish Ohio Day. Then-Gov. Bob Taft (R) signed a similar directive in 2003, but it expired when his term ended in 2007 and was not taken up by the next governor, Ted Strickland (D).

"This is legally significant because there's no guarantee the federal law will always be there," said Ohio Environmental Council legal director Jack Shaner, "and because this industry is relentless in trying to drill under every square inch in Ohio."

Stewart, of the industry association, dismissed the order as immaterial in light of the federal ban.

"We'll just let the Canadians have the natural gas in Lake Erie," he said.