The omnibus House Bill 59, passed by the Ohio state legislature in 2013. This short extract of that massive 699-page bill deals with new procedures for how Ohio's Oil & Gas drillers, including Utica Shale drillers, must handle potentially radioactive substances created during the drilling process. TENORM means Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material and is material that exists deep below the earth's surface (naturally occurring) that is brought to the surface during drilling operations. The new rules were developed to protect the environment from becoming contaminated.

1. Legislative Service Commission -507- Am. Sub. H.B. 59
As Passed by the General Assembly
Material safety data sheet
(R.C. 1509.10)
The act requires the term "material safety data sheet," as used in the statute
governing well completion records in the Oil and Gas Law, to conform to any revision
of or change in the term by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
TENORM and other material from horizontal wells
(R.C. 1509.074, 3734.01, 3734.02, 3734.125, 3748.01, and 3748.04)
The act establishes requirements and procedures governing technologically
enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material as defined by the act (hereafter
TENORM) (see below) and other material from horizontal wells. It assigns to the
Departments of Natural Resources and Health and the Environmental Protection
Agency specific functions and responsibilities regarding those requirements and
procedures. Under the Oil and Gas Law, a horizontal well is a well that is drilled for the
production of oil or gas in which the wellbore reaches a horizontal or near horizontal
position in the Point Pleasant, Utica, or Marcellus formation and the well is stimulated.
Department of Natural Resources
With regard to material, presumably any material, that results from the
construction, operation, or plugging of a horizontal well, the act establishes all of the
following requirements and procedures in the Oil and Gas Law:
(1) Except as discussed below, the owner of a well or a person that is an
authorized agent of the owner (hereafter owner) must determine the concentration of
radium-226 and radium-228 in representative samples of the material if the material is
TENORM. The owner must provide for the collection and analysis of the representative
samples of the material, which must be performed in accordance with requirements
approved by the Chief of the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management. The act
does not specify under what authority or in accordance with what procedures the Chief
approves those requirements.
Additionally, the owner cannot remove the material from the location associated
with the production operation of the horizontal well until the analysis is complete and
the results are available. However, the owner may do one of the following:
--Temporarily store the material in an area adjacent to that location while the
results from the analysis are pending if the material is located in an area that is
designated by the Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management and the owner
complies with all conditions imposed by the Chief; or

2. Legislative Service Commission -508- Am. Sub. H.B. 59
As Passed by the General Assembly
--Prior to the collection of representative samples, transport the material to a
location for which a permit or order has been issued under the act for the storage,
recycling, treatment, processing, or disposal of brine or other waste substances (see
"Brine and other waste substances," above). The owner must provide for the
collection of representative samples of the material at that location in the same manner
as discussed above and must temporarily store the material at that location while the
results from the analysis are pending.
The act does not specify any other purpose of the analysis or use of the results.
An owner who has obtained results from the collection and analysis must keep
and maintain the results for a period of three years. The owner must provide a copy of
the results to the Chief upon request.
(2) The owner is not required to determine the concentration of radium-226 and
radium-228 of the TENORM if any of the following applies:
--The material is reused in the horizontal well from where it originated or is
transferred to another site for reuse in a horizontal well. For purposes of that provision,
a material is reused if the material is used in a substantially similar manner as it was
originally used.
--The owner disposes of the material at an injection well for which a permit has
been issued under continuing law;
--The owner uses the material in association with a method of enhanced recovery
for which a permit has been issued under ongoing law; or
--The material is transported out of the state for lawful disposal, in which case
the owner must retain records that substantiate the lawful disposal and provide them to
the Chief upon request.
(3) Except as discussed above in item (2), the owner must transport and dispose
of TENORM in accordance with all applicable laws.
(4) If the material is not TENORM and the material has come in contact with a
refined oil-based substance, the owner must do one of the following:
--If the material is removed from the location associated with the production
operation of the well or from a location specified in a permit or order issued under the
act for the storage, recycling, treatment, processing, or disposal of brine or other waste
substances as discussed above, dispose of the material at a solid waste facility that is
authorized to accept the material in accordance with the Solid, Hazardous, and

3. Legislative Service Commission -509- Am. Sub. H.B. 59
As Passed by the General Assembly
Infectious Wastes Law and rules adopted under it, or beneficially use the material in
accordance with rules adopted by the Director of Environmental Protection under the
act (see below); or
--If the material is not removed from the location associated with the production
operation of the well, recycle or reuse it with the approval of the Chief.
(5) If the material is not TENORM and the material has not come in contact with
a refined oil-based substance, the material may be used at the location associated with
the production operation of the horizontal well or at another location associated with a
production operation.
Environmental Protection Agency
The act prohibits the owner or operator of a solid waste facility licensed under
the Solid, Hazardous, and Infectious Wastes Law (hereafter licensed solid waste facility)
from accepting for transfer or disposal TENORM if that material contains or is
contaminated with radium-226, radium-228, or both (hereafter contaminated TENORM)
at concentrations equal to or greater than five picocuries per gram above natural
background. It defines "natural background" as two picocuries per gram or the actual
number of picocuries per gram as measured at an individual licensed solid waste
facility, subject to verification by the Director of Health. The act does not specify who is
required to take the measurements or how it is determined if the two picocuries level or
the actual number of picocuries level applies.
The owner or operator of a licensed solid waste facility may receive and process,
for purposes other than transfer or disposal, contaminated TENORM at concentrations
equal to or greater than five picocuries per gram above natural background, provided
that the owner or operator has obtained and maintains all other necessary
authorizations, including any authorization required by rules adopted by the Director
of Health under the Radiation Control Program Law.
Under the act, the Director of Environmental Protection may adopt rules in
accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act governing the receipt, acceptance,
processing, handling, management, and disposal by licensed solid waste facilities of
material that contains or is contaminated with radioactive material, including
contaminated TENORM at concentrations less than five picocuries per gram above
natural background. The rules may include, at a minimum, requirements in accordance
with which the owner or operator of a licensed solid waste facility must do both of the
following:
(1) Monitor leachate and ground water for radium-226, radium-228, and other
radionuclides; and

4. Legislative Service Commission -510- Am. Sub. H.B. 59
As Passed by the General Assembly
(2) Develop procedures to ensure that TENORM accepted at the facility neither
contains nor is contaminated with radium-226, radium-228, or both at concentrations
equal to or greater than five picocuries per gram above natural background.
Additionally, the act prohibits the owner or operator of a licensed solid waste
facility from receiving, accepting, processing, handling, managing, or disposing of
TENORM associated with drilling operations without first obtaining representative
analytical results to determine compliance with the above provisions and rules adopted
by the Director under them. The act defines "drilling operation" to include a production
operation as that term is defined in the Oil and Gas Law, which defines "production
operation" in part as all operations and activities and all related equipment, facilities,
and other structures that may be used in or associated with the exploration and
production of oil, gas, or other mineral resources that are regulated under that Law.
Under the act, the Director may adopt rules in accordance with the
Administrative Procedure Act establishing requirements governing the beneficial use of
material from a horizontal well that has come in contact with a refined oil-based
substance and that is not TENORM. The act expands the definition of "beneficially use"
in the Solid, Hazardous, and Infectious Wastes Law to include, with regard to material
from a horizontal well as described above, to use the material in any manner authorized
as a beneficial use in rules adopted by the Director under the act.
Department of Health
The act requires the Director of Health to adopt rules in accordance with the
Administrative Procedure Act establishing requirements governing TENORM and
requiring the maintenance of records on the receipt, use, storage, transfer, and disposal
of TENORM. It stipulates that the rules must not apply to naturally occurring
radioactive material. The act defines "technologically enhanced naturally occurring
radioactive material" as naturally occurring radioactive material with radionuclide
concentrations that are increased by or as a result of past or present human activities,
excluding drill cuttings, natural background radiation, byproduct material, or source
material. "Naturally occurring radioactive material" is defined by the act to mean
material that contains any nuclide that is radioactive in its natural physical state,
excluding source material, byproduct material, or special nuclear material. "Drill
cuttings" means the soil, rock fragments, and pulverized material that are removed
from a borehole and that may include a de minimus amount of fluid that results from a
drilling process. "Byproduct material," "source material," and "special nuclear material"
are defined in the continuing Radiation Control Program Law.