SALEM, Ohio — Ohio is one step closer to gaining primacy over Class VI injection wells after Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 170 into law on June 24, which establishes a regulatory framework for carbon capture and sequestration technology in the state.
CCS is the practice of capturing carbon emissions and injecting them into the ground for long-term storage via Class VI wells.
House Bill 170, introduced by Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel, R-Waterford, and Rep. Bob Peterson, R-Sabina, establishes rules for CCS, a necessary first step for a state to obtain primacy from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“For years, burdensome federal regulations have slowed investment and limited growth in this industry,” Peterson said, in a press release. “House Bill 170 creates a more efficient path forward that strengthens Ohio’s energy future, supports responsible development and positions our state to compete for new jobs and economic opportunities.”
Gaining primacy
Class VI wells are permitted by the federal EPA in all but six states that have primacy: North Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, West Virginia, Arizona and Texas.
More states are seeking primacy because it allows them to permit wells faster than the federal process.
Last year alone, three states obtained primacy — West Virginia was granted primacy in February 2025, followed by Arizona in September and Texas in November.
The bill
House Bill 170 establishes definitions for CCS operations, including “pore space” as “subsurface cavities and voids, whether naturally or artificially created, that are used for sequestration.”
It also creates language recognizing the owner of pore space as the landowner who owns the surface rights and water of a property. Pore space leasing will work similarly to leasing mineral rights for oil and gas operations.
Under the new law, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Resources will oversee Class VI injection wells permitting and is required to notify “pore space” owners of a CCS project occurring on their property 30 days after an application is deemed complete.
If operators can’t get a landowner to sign over their pore space rights, the bill states that an operator must have at least 70% of landowners’ approval in the proposed project area to proceed — something called “forced pooling.”
The bill also sets up funds to support the local community with money coming from operator fees. This includes a fee of five cents for each metric ton of carbon dioxide injected, funneled into a carbon dioxide storage facility fund for post-closure care, like maintenance of the wells.
The Senate Energy Committee added language to create a host community fund to the bill, requiring operators to pay three cents for each metric ton of carbon injected into a storage facility. The community fund will be available to the county commissioners, townships, municipal corporations or school districts to be used for infrastructure improvements, parks and recreation, education and public safety.
Support vs concerns
Proponents of this technology — including oil and gas companies and farm/biofuels groups — see it as a way to reduce the carbon footprint of energy operations and bring in new markets to the state.
The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation testified in support of the bill: “This legislation could draw new ethanol and biofuels plants to Ohio, creating a central market for Ohio’s crops amidst one of the most unstable agricultural economies we’ve experienced,” said Evan Callicoat, director of state policy for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, at a March committee hearing for the bill.
Meanwhile, opponents, including environmental groups like Save Ohio Parks and Buckeye Environment Network, say that CCS would require more energy infrastructure, including a pipeline to transport CO2, which could harm landowners and the environment.
“The carbon capture pipelines and injection wells would steal more land, create more threats for farmland and create more risks for humans, animals and vegetables,” said Mick Luber, an organic vegetable farmer in Harrison County, at a May hearing for the bill.
In the past, pipelines transporting CO2 have led to explosions, including an incident in Satartia, Mississippi, in February 2020, when a pipeline ruptured after weeks and months of rain led the uneven ground to shift.
The CO2, an invisible and poisonous gas, caused nearby residents to fall unconscious and others to have lasting respiratory and cognitive problems.
According to EPA data, there are 12 Class VI injection well applications filed in Ohio already and two active injection wells in the United States.
House Bill 170 will go into effect in September.
(Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.)
