The 70/30 rule, in plain English
How carbon storage ‘consent’ is really counted under Ohio HB 170 (ORC 1509.76, effective Sept. 23, 2026)
01
It is counted in acres of pore space — not in households, votes, or signatures
The law says a company may force the project on everyone once it has ‘the consent of owners of at least seventy per cent of the pore space’ in its proposed storage area. Each owner counts in proportion to how much land they own inside the boundary. One 400-acre farm counts 40 times more than a 10-acre homestead. It is not one-landowner-one-vote. It never was.
02
What that means on the ground: a 1,000-acre example
FARM A · 400 ac
SIGNED · 40%
200 ac
FARM B · SIGNED · 20%
100
FARM C · SIGNED · 10%
300 ac
30 HOMES & SMALL FARMS — ALL SAID NO
3 signatures = 70% threshold met
The company’s proposed storage area covers 1,000 acres. Three large farms sign leases. The other 30 property owners — 300 acres of homes and small farms — all refuse to sign.
Result: 3 owners outvote 30.
The company may file to consolidate the whole 1,000 acres. The 30 ‘no’ owners are pooled in, with payment set by the state — not negotiated by them.
03
Who draws the boundary? The company does.
The ‘storage facility’ is defined as the underground CO2 plume plus its sealing rock — as mapped in the company’s own permit application, using the company’s own computer model. The test borehole is one data point; the boundary comes from modeling choices the company makes and its consultants defend. Regulators review the map, but the company draws it first — which means the company effectively chooses which parcels are inside the boundary, and therefore whose acres count toward the 70% and whose consent is never needed at all. The results of the Amanda Township test well are sealed as confidential until roughly 2031.
04
The 70% can be assembled right now — quietly. Some of it may already exist.
Pore-space leases are private contracts. Nothing requires the company to announce the boundary, say who has been approached, or notify anyone while signatures are gathered — and lease offers often include confidentiality clauses. September 23, 2026 is only when the forced-pooling tool switches on; the leasing itself can happen before that, and may already be under way.
Pore space can also have been severed or conveyed in past deeds — but only if the document expressly said so. A standard old oil & gas lease does not give away your pore space. Check your deed history; if in doubt, have an attorney read it.
The first legally required notice to non-signing owners comes only after the company files — after the 70% is already assembled.
Every big-acreage signature makes every small parcel easier to pool.
If you own land near the Amanda Township test well — large or small — talk to your neighbors before anyone signs anything.
Sources: Ohio HB 170 as enacted — ORC 1509.71 (definitions), 1509.76 (70% consolidation, notice, hearing, 60-day order), 5301.58 (pore space vests in surface owner; express conveyance required).
Community education, not legal advice. · EX-46 · Current as of August 29, 2026.
Questions or leasing activity to report: info@fairfieldgrounded.org