Committee hears industry-backed bill to set oversight for underground limestone mining

The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee heard proponent testimony on Senate Bill 181, which would create a statutory framework for regulating underground limestone mining and fold oversight of that activity into the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) industrial-minerals program.

Pat Giacomet, executive director of the Ohio Aggregates and Industrial Minerals Association (OAIMA), told the committee the industry "is pleased to offer our very strong support for Senate Bill 181," saying the measure and its rulemaking would give the sector and regulators predictable standards for underground mining.

The bill, as described by OAIMA legal counsel Brian Barger, would: assign ODNR primary oversight of underground mining activities that could cause off-site impacts (groundwater, blasting and hydrology); replace the current 15-year permit renewal paperwork with a five-year review process to…