To amend section 1509.10 and to enact sections 1509.101 and 1509.102 of the Revised Code to alter the requirements regarding the disclosure of certain information involving chemicals used in oil and gas well operations.
HB958 would expand Ohio’s oil-and-gas chemical disclosure requirements for well drilling, stimulation, and completion activities. It amends existing law governing reports filed with the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management and adds new sections requiring a public chemical disclosure database and a verification program. The bill requires well owners to report, among other things, the trade names, suppliers, volumes, additives, chemical abstracts service (CAS) numbers, and maximum concentrations of chemicals used in drilling and hydraulic fracturing-related operations, along with supporting records such as logs, invoices, and pumping graphs.
The bill also requires disclosure of recycled fluid sources, updated reporting when chemical information changes, and continued record retention for at least two years. It preserves a trade-secret process for certain chemical identities, amounts, concentrations, or purposes, but allows medical professionals to obtain exact chemical composition information when needed for diagnosis or treatment. In addition, the chief of the division would have to maintain a searchable online database of disclosed chemicals and adopt rules for random wastewater testing to verify the accuracy of disclosures.
HB958 would materially revise section 1509.10 of the Revised Code and add new sections 1509.101 and 1509.102, increasing the amount of chemical and operational information that oil and gas well owners must submit to the state. It would also create a public-facing chemical disclosure database, require rulemaking for a verification/testing program, and authorize civil penalties under existing law if disclosures are found inaccurate. The bill affects well owners, drilling and stimulation contractors, chemical suppliers, the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, the Division of Geological Survey, medical professionals, and property owners or other parties seeking to challenge trade-secret claims.
The bill appears to be framed as a transparency and accountability measure, with no recorded committee testimony or votes available in the provided materials. Based on the text, its policy direction is strongly pro-disclosure, emphasizing public access to chemical information, state verification, and medical access in emergencies. Because the bill was only introduced and no vote history is provided, there is no documented legislative consensus or opposition in the available record.
The main points of contention are likely to be the scope of chemical disclosure, the treatment of trade secrets, and the burden placed on well owners and operators to obtain and verify information from contractors and suppliers. The bill allows trade-secret withholding, but also creates a mechanism for property owners, adjacent property owners, and state agencies to challenge those claims in court, which could be controversial for industry stakeholders. Another likely issue is the proposed wastewater sampling and public posting of verification results, which may raise concerns about compliance costs, confidentiality, and regulatory enforcement.