Ohio judge blocks repeal of air nuisance rule, citing one-subject constitutional violation

A Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge has blocked a state law that ended Ohioans’ ability to use a longstanding air nuisance rule against industrial neighbors, according to Signal Ohio reporting published by LimaOhio.com. Judge Julie Lynch found that lawmakers’ move to have state officials repeal the rule, added late to the state budget, violated the Ohio Constitution’s requirement that legislation address a single subject, the outlet reported.

The rule, in place since 1974 as part of Ohio’s plan to meet the federal Clean Air Act, treats emissions such as smoke, ash, dust, fumes and vapors that endanger public health, safety or welfare as unlawful nuisances. The ruling also struck a related budget provision that barred the Ohio EPA from using data from privately owned community air monitors when deciding whether to impose a fine or penalty.

Donna Ballinger, a Cincinnati-area plaintiff, has invoked the rule against a 2,800-acre steel plant owned by Cleveland Cliffs in Butler and Warren counties, the outlet reported. The state and private residents have used the rule before; one resident obtained a $1.3 million settlement from a Dayton-area nuclear waste disposal company.

The Ohio Attorney General’s office said it is reviewing the ruling and did not say whether the state will appeal. Environmental groups that joined the case, including the Ohio Environmental Council and Case Western Reserve University’s Environmental Law Clinic, called the decision a victory. The source described the outcome as the second time in recent years that environmental interests had at least temporarily defeated an attempt to eliminate the rule.

The source also reported that SunCoke lobbied the U.S. EPA in 2019 to remove the rule, and that the rule was reinstated in February 2025 after litigation and a change in presidential administration. A budget amendment later directed repeal, drawing support from SunCoke, Cleveland Cliffs and the Chamber of Commerce. State Sen. Jerry Cirino, a Kirtland Republican, has declined to identify who proposed it.