Section 1521.16. Registering facilities capable of withdrawing more than 100,000 gallons a day - rules for ground water stress areas

(A) Any person who owns a facility that has the capacity to withdraw waters of the state in an amount greater than one hundred thousand gallons per day from all sources and whose construction is completed before January 1, 1990, shall register the facility by January 1, 1991, with the chief of the division of water resources, and any person who owns a facility that has the capacity to withdraw waters of the state in such an amount and whose construction is completed on or after January 1, 1990, shall register the facility with the chief within three months after the facility is completed. The person shall register the facility using a form prescribed by the chief that shall include, without limitation, the name and address of the registrant and date of registration; the locations and sources of the facility's water supply; the facility's withdrawal capacity per day and the amount withdrawn from each source; the uses made of the water, places of use, and places of discharge; and such other information as the chief may require by rule.

The registration date of any facility whose construction was completed prior to January 1, 1990, and that is registered under this division prior to January 1, 1991, shall be January 1, 1990. The registration date of any facility whose construction was completed prior to January 1, 1990, and that is required to register under this division prior to January 1, 1991, but that is not registered prior to that date, and the registration date of any facility whose construction was completed after January 1, 1990, and that is required to register under this division shall be the date on which the registration is received by the chief.

(B) In accordance with division (D) of this section, the chief shall adopt rules establishing standards and criteria for determining when an area of ground water is a ground water stress area, the geographic limits of such an area, and a threshold withdrawal capacity for the area below which registration under this division shall not be required. At any time following the adoption of those rules, the chief may by order designate an area of ground water as a ground water stress area and shall establish in any such order a threshold withdrawal capacity for the area below which registration under this division shall not be required.

Following the designation of a ground water stress area, the chief immediately shall give notice by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the designated area that shall include a map delineating the designated ground water stress area and a statement of the threshold withdrawal capacity established for the area below which registration under this division shall not be required. The notice shall not appear in the legal notices section of the newspaper. Any person who owns a facility in the designated ground water stress area that is not registered under division (A) of this section and that has the capacity to withdraw waters of the state in an amount greater than the threshold withdrawal capacity for the area from all sources shall register the facility with the chief not later than thirty days after publication of the notice. A person registering a facility under this division shall do so using a form prescribed by the chief. The form shall include the information specified in division (A) of this section.

(C) Any person who owns a facility registered under division (A) or (B) of this section shall file a report annually with the chief listing the amount of water withdrawn per day by the facility, the return flow per day, and any other information the chief may require by rule. Any person who, under Chapter 6109. of the Revised Code, provides such information to the Ohio environmental protection agency is exempt from reporting under this division. The director of environmental protection shall provide the chief any such reported information upon request.

(D) The chief shall adopt, and may amend or rescind, rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to carry out this section.

(E)

(1) No person knowingly shall fail to register a facility or file a report as required under this section.

(2) No person shall file a false report under this section. Violation of division (E)(2) of this section is falsification under section 2921.13 of the Revised Code.

(F) At the request of the director of natural resources, the attorney general may commence a civil action to compel compliance with this section, in a court of common pleas, against any person who has violated or is violating division (E)(1) of this section. The court of common pleas in which a civil action is commenced under this division has jurisdiction to and shall compel compliance with this section upon a showing that the person against whom the action is brought has violated or is violating that division.

Any action under this division is a civil action, governed by the rules of civil procedure and other rules of practice and procedure applicable to civil actions.

Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 64, §101.01, eff. 1/1/2016.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.9, HB 1, §101.01, eff. 7/17/2009.

Effective Date: 10-20-1994