A provision in Ohio's oil and gas bill shifts where injection well fees flow—and it matters if your business operates in or near drilling regions.
Most construction and trades owners in Ohio don't realize that a bill focused on oil and gas wells contains a provision that changes how regulatory fees flow through the state—and where local money ends up.
Senate Bill 219, which revises Ohio's oil and gas well law, includes a buried change to injection well barrel fees. Here's what it does and why it matters to your business.
Currently, operators of injection wells—facilities that dispose of brine and other waste substances deep underground—pay a fee of 5¢ to 20¢ per barrel. That fee goes into Ohio's Oil and Gas Well Fund (Fund 5180), a state-level account.
SB219 redirects those fees instead to the county or counties where the injection well is physically located. The bill creates a new "Brine and Waste Substances Permitting Fund" to receive these redirected revenues.
Here's the mechanics: Injection well operators still collect the fee from their customers and remit it—but now it flows to county coffers rather than the state fund. This effective-upon-enactment change (meaning it takes effect as soon as the governor signs it) alters both the regulatory structure and the financial relationship between the state, counties, and the operators themselves.
If your construction or trades business operates in counties with active oil and gas drilling, this matters. Counties receiving these redirected fees will have new revenue to manage injection well permitting and oversight locally. That can mean changes to:
For businesses that service the oil and gas industry directly—hauling, site prep, equipment installation, or other trades—the shift to county-level funding could affect the pace and scale of local drilling activity.
The provision appears in Section 1509.22 on page 34 of SB219. The fee redirection takes effect upon enactment. (Note: The bill also includes a separate tax exemption for natural gas gathering that applies starting tax year 2027, but that's a different provision.)
The key point: money that previously pooled at the state level now stays in the counties where wells operate. Counties gain direct control over those revenues and the regulatory authority that comes with them.
If you operate in a county with injection wells, it's worth monitoring how your county commissioners plan to use this new revenue stream. Will they hire more inspectors? Fund infrastructure improvements? Adjust permitting timelines? These decisions could ripple through local construction and trades activity.
For businesses bidding on oil and gas–related work, understanding the local regulatory environment—now shaped more directly by county decisions—can help you anticipate project timelines and requirements.
For a free, detailed breakdown of how SB219 affects specific trades and regions, contact your local construction or trades association.