Ohio Code 1571.16 – Filing of complaint – hearing – injunctions
(A) The gas storage well inspector or any person having a direct interest in the subject matter of this chapter may file with the division of oil and gas resources management a complaint in writing stating that a person is violating, or is about to violate, a provision or provisions of this chapter, or has done, or is about to do, an act, matter, or thing therein prohibited or declared to be unlawful, or has failed, omitted, neglected, or refused, or is about to fail, omit, neglect, or refuse, to perform a duty enjoined upon the person by this chapter. Upon the filing of such a complaint, the chief of the division of oil and gas resources management shall promptly fix the time for the holding of a hearing on such complaint and shall send by certified mail or electronic format to the person so complained of, a copy of such complaint together with at least five days’ notice of the time and place at which such hearing will be held. Such notice of such hearing shall also be given to all persons having a direct interest in the matters complained of in such complaint. Such hearing shall be conducted in the same manner, and the chief and persons having a direct interest in the matter being heard, shall have the same powers, rights, and duties as provided in divisions (B), (C), (D), and (E) of section 1571.10 of the Revised Code, in connection with hearings by the chief, provided that if after conclusion of the hearing the chief finds that the charges against the person complained of, as stated in such complaint, have not been sustained by a preponderance of evidence, the chief shall make an order dismissing the complaint, and if the chief finds that the charges have been so sustained, the chief shall by appropriate order require compliance with those provisions.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 1571.16
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Bond: includes an undertaking. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Coal mine: means the underground excavations of a mine that are being used or are usable or are being developed for use in connection with the extraction of coal from its natural deposit in the earth. See Ohio Code 1571.01
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Gas: means any natural, manufactured, or by-product gas or any mixture thereof. See Ohio Code 1571.01
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures; this provision does not affect any law relating to signatures. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- operator: when used in referring to the operator of a gas storage reservoir, means a person who is engaged in the work of preparing to inject, or who injects gas into, or who stores gas in, or who removes gas from, a gas storage reservoir, and who owns the right to do so. See Ohio Code 1571.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- reservoir: means a continuous area of a subterranean porous sand or rock stratum or strata, any part of which or of the protective area of which, is within a coal bearing township, into which gas is or may be injected for the purpose of storing it therein and removing it therefrom, or for the purpose of testing whether such stratum is suitable for such storage purposes. See Ohio Code 1571.01
- Well: means any hole, drilled or bored, or being drilled or bored, into the earth, whether for the purpose of, or whether used for:
(1) Producing or extracting any gas or liquid mineral, or natural or artificial brines, or oil field waters;
(2) Injecting gas into or removing gas from an underground gas storage reservoir;
(3) Introducing water or other liquid pressure into an oil bearing sand to recover oil contained in such sand, provided that "well" does not mean a hole drilled or bored, or being drilled or bored, into the earth, whether for the purpose of, or whether used for, producing or extracting potable water to be used as such. See Ohio Code 1571.01
- Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
(B) Whenever the chief is of the opinion that any person is violating, or is about to violate, any provision of this chapter, or has done, or is about to do, any act, matter, or thing therein prohibited or declared to be unlawful, or has failed, omitted, neglected, or refused, or is about to fail, omit, neglect, or refuse, to perform any duty enjoined upon the person by this chapter, or has failed, omitted, neglected, or refused, or is about to fail, omit, neglect, or refuse, to obey any lawful requirement or order made by the chief, or any final judgment, order, or decree made by any court pursuant to this chapter, then and in every such case, the chief may institute in a court of competent jurisdiction of the county or counties wherein the operation is situated, an action to enjoin or restrain such violations or to enforce obedience with law or the orders of the chief. No injunction bond shall be required to be filed in any such proceeding. Such persons or corporations as the court may deem necessary or proper to be joined as parties in order to make its judgment, order, or writ effective may be joined as parties. An appeal may be taken as in other civil actions.
(C) In addition to the other remedies as provided in divisions (A) and (B) of this section, any reservoir operator or coal mine operator affected by this chapter may proceed by injunction or other appropriate remedy to restrain violations or threatened violations of this chapter or of orders of the chief, or of the hearing officer appointed under section 1571.14 of the Revised Code, or the judgments, orders, or decrees of any court or to enforce obedience therewith.
(D) Each remedy prescribed in divisions (A), (B), and (C) of this section is deemed concurrent or contemporaneous with each other remedy prescribed therein, and the existence or exercise of any one such remedy shall not prevent the exercise of any other such remedy.
(E) The provisions of this chapter providing for conferences, hearings by the chief, appeals to the hearing officer from orders of the chief, and appeals to the court of common pleas from orders of the hearing officer, and the remedies prescribed in divisions (A), (B), (C), and (D) of this section, do not constitute the exclusive procedure that a person, who deems the person’s rights to be unlawfully affected by any official action taken thereunder, must pursue in order to protect and preserve such rights, nor does this chapter constitute a procedure that such a person must pursue before the person may lawfully proceed by other actions, legal or equitable, to protect and preserve such rights.
Last updated August 9, 2023 at 2:47 PM