Ohio EPA seeks fee changes, H2Ohio and solid-waste funding in HB 96 budget testimony

Anne Vogel, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, told the Ohio House Natural Resources Committee that the agency’s biennial budget request and associated policy changes in House Bill 96 are designed to sustain regulatory programs, support local cleanups and infrastructure projects, and modernize fee structures that fund Ohio EPA operations.

Vogel said the agency’s FY26 operating request is $277,000,000 and FY27 is $285,000,000. She described several proposals: extend or modernize fee authorities that fund more than 70% of Ohio EPA’s revenue stream; add base fees to Title V and minor air permits to close a roughly $7,000,000 annual shortfall in the Division of Air Pollution Control; restructure solid-waste disposal fees so all waste delivered to solid-waste landfills pays the solid-waste fee of $4.75 per ton rather than the lower $1.60 per ton charged for construction and demolition debris at some sites; continue H2Ohio and H2Ohio Rivers programs; expand the scrap-tire cleanup program; and create a cybersecurity grant program for public water systems.

On air permitting, Vogel said Ohio has 509 Title V facilities that presently pay about $8.5 million annually overall. The agency proposes a $5,000 base fee for Title V permits, a $5,000 base fee for minor emitters, and a 50% increase in emission-based fees, generating an estimated $4,000,000 in additional annual revenue. Increasing the permit-to-install fee by 50% would generate about $400,000 a year, Vogel said. She told members the additional revenue is intended to maintain the agency’s capacity to issue permits and provide service — not to fund new programming.

On solid waste, Vogel said requiring all solid-waste landfills that accept construction and demolition debris to charge the $4.75-per-ton solid-waste fee would increase revenues at affected facilities by about 20%. The governor’s proposal would allocate up to $9,000,000 a year to the 50 local health districts that regulate landfills on a delegated basis and direct more than $4,000,000 to abandoned-landfill and open-dump remediation statewide.

Vogel described H2Ohio and H2Ohio Rivers as programs that have funded salt-storage upgrades, technology to reduce road-salt runoff and dam removals. She said six low-head dams in Miami, Trumbull, Shelby and Tuscarawas counties were funded for removal with H2Ohio dollars, and that H2Ohio will remain flat-funded in the governor’s proposal.

Vogel also asked the committee for authority to broaden scrap-tire program eligibility to include land banks and to allow more flexibility when co-located solid waste is found. She said the scrap-tire program removed 231,000 tires from 217 sites in FY24 at a cost of about $1 million.

On the motor-vehicle inspection program known as eCheck, Vogel said the requirement flows from the federal Clean Air Act for areas not in attainment with ozone standards. The agency’s request keeps eCheck funded from the General Revenue Fund so inspections remain free to Ohioans in the affected seven-county area in Northeast Ohio.

Vogel detailed an $8,000,000 request tied to the governor’s Cyber Ohio initiative to support cybersecurity grants to water utilities; she said about 90% of Ohioans rely on drinking water from more than 1,200 community water systems and that many systems have cyber vulnerabilities.

Committee members pressed Vogel on lead-service-line replacement funds and workforce constraints. Representative Charles said many municipalities are still working through lead inventories; Vogel said the state has set aside $1,000,000 of H2Ohio funds to prioritize day-care service-line replacement and that overall needs are substantially greater than available funds. She said estimates for complete replacement run much higher and that workforce and supply constraints will affect the pace of replacements.

On federal funding, Vogel told Ranking Member Rogers the agency receives roughly 18% federal funding and that staff are watching federal developments closely. She said Ohio EPA seeks to retain the delegated federal programs because local responsiveness and district offices enable quicker service to businesses and communities.

Vogel said the agency had coordinated with industry and with neighboring states on the Title V fee model and would continue to consult businesses to avoid unintended economic harm.

No formal committee action was taken on the budget during the hearing; the session recorded testimony and questions for the record.