The General Assembly has now recessed, and lawmakers have returned to their districts to begin focusing on their fall re-election campaigns. The Senate is scheduled to be back in Columbus for two weeks beginning in late September, while the House won’t return until after the November 8 General Election.

Our Legislative Wrap-Up blog series will recap the accomplishments and also highlight a few things that the Ohio Chamber will continue to push for when the legislature returns later this year. There will be seven blog posts, each focusing on specific policy areas. The second part of our series is Energy and Environment:

—

Last fall, a legislative study committee issued its report containing recommendations for further legislative action regarding Ohio’s existing renewable energy and energy efficiency mandates. The committee made five recommendations:

1) indefinitely postponing the statutorily imposed escalation of these mandates;

2) permitting more commercial and industrial customers to opt out of paying for the mandates;

3) letting additional sources of energy count towards benchmark compliance;

4) incentivizing energy efficiency improvements;

5) formally declaring the General Assembly’s authority to regulate Ohio’s energy policies.

As expected, several pieces of legislation addressing one or more of these recommendations were subsequently introduced. Although no bills have advanced out of committee so far, when legislators return this fall the Ohio Chamber will continue to push the legislature to enact further reforms that would protect Ohio employers from the escalating costs associated with these energy mandates.

A slimmed down version of an Ohio Chamber-supported plan to provide incentives for alternative fuel vehicles was added to House Bill 390. The plan makes available at least $5 million in grants through the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for the purchase of new alternative fuel vehicles or for the conversion of traditional fuel vehicles into alternative fuel vehicles. By converting vehicles to ones powered by alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas, liquid natural gas, and liquid petroleum gas, businesses can run cheaper, cleaner fleets while utilizing an abundant, domestic fuel source.

Federal regulations continue to drive much of the discussion of environmental policy. After the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final Clean Power Plan (CPP) rule was released last summer, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine joined 23 other states in launching a legal challenge to it, arguing that the EPA lacks the authority to impose these new regulatory requirements. The Ohio Chamber filed an amicus brief in the case, asking the courts to overturn the CPP and expressing our concern that the rule will cause devastating harm to Ohio businesses with little to no proven benefit in return. In February – in a welcomed move – the U.S. Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the CPP nationwide until all legal challenges have been addressed.

Another issue working its way through the courts involves an effort by U.S. EPA to dramatically expand federal jurisdiction over land use. The Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule would define such waters to include not only bodies of water that are large enough to transport goods by boat, but also those small enough to comprise the majority of the rivers and farmland in the United States. Under the new WOTUS definition, property owners with even small bodies of water would be required to obtain costly permits under the Clean Water Act. The Ohio Chamber continues to oppose the EPA’s expanded WOTUS definition and is actively monitoring related litigation, including a current nationwide stay of the rule’s enforcement.

 

Part Three will cover Health Care policy.