Ohio EPA has redesigned Weekly Review and Public Notice data base and webpage. Once the public notice search page opens, you can search public notices, public comment periods, public meeting information or the Weekly Review. Scroll down to “Entity Search Criteria” and enter the name and, if possible, the state and city in which the action took place. Next, fill out the Notice Search Criteria with as much information as possible – identification number, county in which the site is located, program initiating the action and keywords. You may also consult a drop-down menu to choose the type of notice for which you're searching. If you know the approximate date that the action took place or when it may have appeared in the Weekly Review, you can include that information as well. A table of public notices will appear in alphabetical order by entity name. The action date, notice type and program also will be listed. You can arrange the search results by any of those categories by clicking on the arrow in the column title.

Public notices are published in the largest newspaper of general circulation (usually in the legal notices section) for the county in which the facility is or is proposed to be located. If no newspaper of general circulation is published in the county, the notice will be published in a newspaper of general circulation in an adjoining county.

Actions

Actions include the adoption, modification or repeal of orders (other than emergency orders); the issuance, denial, modification or revocation of licenses, permits, leases, variances or certificates; and the approval or disapproval of plans and specifications.

Draft Actions

Draft actions are written statements of the Director of Environmental Protection’s (Director’s) intent with respect to the issuance, denial, etc. of a permit, license, order, etc. Interested persons may submit written comments or request a public meeting regarding draft actions. Comments or public meeting requests must be submitted within 30 days of notice of the draft action.

Proposed Actions

Proposed actions are written statements of the Director’s intent with respect to the issuance, denial, modification, revocation or renewal of a permit, license or variance. Written comments and requests for a public meeting regarding a proposed action may be submitted within 30 days of notice of the proposed action. An adjudication hearing may be held on a proposed action if a hearing request or objection is received by Ohio EPA within 30 days of issuance of the proposed action.

Written comments, requests for public meetings and adjudication hearing requests must be sent to:
Hearing Clerk
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
50 W. Town St., Suite 700
Columbus, OH 43215

HClerk@epa.ohio.gov
(614) 644-3037 or as otherwise directed in the public notice by county detail.

Final Actions

Final actions are actions of the Director which are effective upon issuance or a stated effective date. Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 3745.04, a final action may be appealed to the Environmental Review Appeals Commission (ERAC) by a person who was a party to a proceeding before the Director by filing an appeal within 30 days of notice of the final action.

Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 3745.07, a final action issuing, denying, modifying, revoking or renewing a permit, license or variance which is not preceded by a proposed action, may be appealed to the ERAC by filing an appeal within 30 days of the issuance of the final action. ERAC appeals accompanied by a $70.00 filing fee which the Commission in its discretion may reduce if by affidavit the appellant demonstrates that payment of the full amount of the fee would cause extreme hardship, must be filed with:

Environmental Review Appeals Commission
30 East Broad St,. 4th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 466-8950

A copy of the appeal must be served on the Director within three days after filing the appeal with ERAC.

The Environmental Review Appeals Commission (ERAC) is an appellate review commission, which is separate and distinct from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA). To inform the public of the time and place of Regular Scheduled Meetings, each week ERAC uses the Ohio EPA Weekly Review, pursuant to Revised Code Section 3745.04. Any questions or concerns regarding the docket should be directed to ERAC at (614) 466-8950.

Adjudication Proceedings

Ordinarily, actions of the Director of Environmental Protection (which include the adoption, amendment or rescission of rules, the issuance, modification or rescission of most orders, and the issuance, denial, modification or revocation of permits and licenses) are issued as final actions appealable to the Environmental Review Appeals Commission (ERAC).

However, in some instances Ohio EPA is required, or chooses, to provide the person subject to an action an opportunity for a prior hearing. These instances will most often involve the denial of an application for a permit or license. In these cases, the Director will issue a "proposed action" that may be adjudicated before the Ohio EPA hearing officer.

An adjudication hearing on a proposed action of the Director may be requested by the person subject to the proposed action, or by any person who would be aggrieved or adversely affected by issuance of the permit in question, by the filing of a hearing request or objection within 30 days of issuance of the proposed action. The hearing request or objection is filed with Ohio EPA's hearing clerk in the Legal Records Section. The hearing clerk dockets the request and refers it to the hearing officer.

The first step in an adjudication proceeding is the scheduling of a prehearing conference by the hearing officer. The first prehearing conference will be scheduled to be held approximately four-to-six weeks after receipt of the hearing request, and will be attended by all parties to the case or their counsel (Ohio EPA will be represented by an Assistant Attorney General from the Environmental Enforcement Section). The purpose of the prehearing conference is to focus the issues in dispute, explore the possibility of settlement of the controversy, and discuss preliminary schedules for discovery and hearing if settlement of the case appears unlikely.

Most adjudication cases before Ohio EPA, as with most cases in any tribunal, settle without going to formal litigation. As long as all parties agree that settlement negotiations are being actively and productively pursued, the hearing officer will encourage efforts to resolve cases informally. If a case cannot be resolved informally, or cannot be resolved within a reasonable period of time, the case will proceed to a formal adjudication hearing.

Following the adjudication hearing and post-hearing briefing, the hearing officer submits a Report and Recommendation to the Director. The parties have an opportunity to file objections to the Report and Recommendation, and then the Director issues final Findings and Orders. This final action is then appealable to ERAC.

The Environmental Review Appeals Commission (ERAC) is an appellate review commission, which is separate and distinct from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA). To inform the public of the time and place of regular scheduled meetings, each week ERAC uses the Ohio EPA Weekly Review, pursuant to Revised Code Section 3745.04. Any questions or concerns regarding the docket should be directed to ERAC at (614) 466-8950.

Law Summary