Ohio Code 5301.91 – Civil action for violation – regulatory authority – liability
(A) A civil action for injunctive or other equitable relief for violation of an environmental covenant may be maintained by any of the following:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5301.91
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
(1) A party to the environmental covenant specified in division (A) of section 5301.90 of the Revised Code that is not otherwise specified in divisions (A)(2) to (6) of this section;
(2) The environmental protection agency;
(3) The applicable agency if it is other than the environmental protection agency;
(4) Any person to whom the environmental covenant expressly grants the authority to maintain such an action;
(5) A person whose interest in the real property or whose collateral or liability may be affected by the alleged violation of the environmental covenant;
(6) A unit of local government in which the real property that is subject to the environmental covenant is located.
(B) Sections 5301.80 to 5301.92 of the Revised Code do not limit the regulatory authority of the applicable agency or the environmental protection agency if it is not the applicable agency under any law other than sections 5301.80 to 5301.92 of the Revised Code with respect to an environmental response project.
(C) A person is not responsible for or subject to liability for environmental remediation solely because it has the right to enforce an environmental covenant.