Local governments in Ohio cannot usurp the state government to regulate fracking, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The 4-3 decision would block the use of home-rule authority to prevent or restrict hydraulic fracturing, the controversial drilling method that has sparked a U.S. oil and natural gas boom. The court said the state must regulate the practice under a 2004 law.
“We have consistently held that a municipal-licensing ordinance conflicts with a state-licensing scheme if the local ordinance restricts an activity which a state license permits,” wrote Justice Judith L. French in a move that rejected enforcement of fracking regulations proposed by Munroe Falls, Ohio.
Fracking opponents in other states have tried to use local ordinances to slow fracking to varying degrees of success. In Colorado, several cities have instituted fracking moratoria or bans only to have those measures overturned by the courts. In New York, several local governments took aim at fracking, helping compel the state to put the brakes on the practice.
Fracking injects a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals into tight-rock formations to access hydrocarbons buried deep underground. Industry groups say the practice is safe, but opponents are concerned it pollutes drinking water.
