ODNR director requests access to oil-and-gas bonus funds, seeks fee changes and monitoring staff in biennial budget

Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, presented the agency’s biennial operating request in a committee hearing on Oct. 12, 2025, outlining funding needs across parks, wildlife, water resources, forestry, oil and gas, and natural areas. Mertz said most ODNR operations are supported by non‑GRF revenue and that the agency’s total biennial request is roughly $696.3 million for fiscal 2026 and $730.3 million for fiscal 2027; the General Revenue Fund portion is about $156 million in 2026 and $175.9 million in 2027.

Mertz asked the committee to allow ODNR to access one-time bonus payments from recent oil-and-gas leases. She said roughly $40 million remains in that account and requested authority to use $20 million in each year of the biennium for capital improvements, law enforcement equipment, payroll increases tied to a recent bargaining agreement, and fleet replacement. She said those expenditures would not increase GRF spending but would draw from the one‑time bonus funds currently held in an account.

On user fees, Mertz proposed indexing watercraft registration fees to the consumer price index beginning in 2027; Ohio currently registers about 650,000 watercraft. She also said the Division of Wildlife is requesting authority to increase selected nonresident fees to align with neighboring states, listing examples: the annual nonresident fishing license from $49 to $74, a three‑day license from $24 to $50, a one‑day license from $13 to $26, and a nonresident deer permit from $74 to $210. ODNR said the resident fee structure would remain unchanged.

Mertz asked for a $750,000 GRF increase for the Division of Water Resources to hire engineers and buy sensors to expand groundwater monitoring and better analyze surface-water recharge rates. She said the agency also plans a modest fee for major water‑withdrawal registrations (threshold: 100,000 gallons per day) to cover program costs, and estimated that the fee changes would raise less than $500,000 annually.

Other budget items Mertz described:

- The Division of Parks and Watercraft: Ohio has no admission fee at most state parks; ODNR is not seeking additional GRF for parks but asked to use lease bonus funds for capital needs. - The Buckeye State Tree Nursery in Zanesville is being restored; the agency expects eventual production of millions of seedlings annually. - The Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management requested a modest appropriation increase (about 3.4 percent) for permitting, inspection, and an orphan‑well plugging program; ODNR said it has plugged increasing numbers of orphan wells in recent years and has a goal of about 500 plugs this year. The department documented 20,000 wells for federal grant purposes and said the true number may be higher. - The Division of Geological Survey: ODNR proposed increasing that division’s share of oil-and-gas severance-tax distributions from 10 percent to 16 percent to sustain its work; the severance tax fund balance was cited at roughly $239 million. - H2Ohio and water-quality work: Mertz described ODNR’s role in wetlands, river restoration and natural infrastructure under the H2Ohio initiative; ODNR’s request for H2Ohio‑related funding in the biennium was flat for programs the department administers.

Committee members pressed staff on several operational points: Representative Pleasadale asked for nonresident fishing fee details (ODNR provided the line-item increases). Representative Geraldson requested a breakdown of H2Ohio funding buckets; Mertz replied that H2Ohio funds are administered across three agencies and that ODNR’s request is dedicated to wetlands and river work while Ohio EPA administers infrastructure programs such as lead‑service‑line replacement. Representative Rader and others asked about the stability of anticipated federal grants (including methane‑reduction and orphan‑well funding); Mertz said some federal programs were under administrative review and that ODNR was awaiting final federal decisions.

Members raised concerns about contractor sourcing for the orphan‑well program after members said contracts totaling about $11.2 million had gone to out‑of‑state firms. Mertz and Eric Bridal, chief of ODNR’s Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, said the agency follows state contracting procedures and that a primary constraint has been finding qualified contractors; Bridal said plugging contractors must meet state contracting requirements and that ODNR had dozens of qualified plugging contractors and rigs operating in the state.

Economic impacts were a frequent theme in testimony. Mertz cited ODNR‑commissioned studies showing annual economic activity associated with hunters, anglers and other outdoor recreation at roughly $12.5 billion statewide and annual direct spending by state‑park visitors of about $392 million; she also referenced a marine‑trades study estimating boating’s contribution to the Ohio economy at about $6.4 billion.

The hearing closed with committee members requesting follow‑up materials and fiscal notes; no committee votes were recorded on House Bill 96 during the budget testimony.