As previously posted, OhioPLANT scored a legislative victory at the end of 2022 with the inclusion of our pesticide preemption language in HB 507 that was passed at the end of the General Assembly.  The language preempts local governments from banning or regulating pesticides on private property.  These are pesticides that must be registered with the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

Unfortunately, the City of Columbus filed suit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in March claiming in an eight-count complaint that our language is an unconstitutional violation of Columbus home rule authority.  The Attorney General’s office has filed an answer in the case denying the claims by the city.  

OhioPLANT's Board considered a couple of options, one of which was filing a motion requesting to intervene as a defendant in the case.  The other option was to wait and see how the case, defended by the Attorney General's office, would play out and to file an amicus brief (a friend of the court brief) if there was an appeal from the trial court.  After much discussion, OhioPLANT's Board voted not to intervene but to file an amicus brief in the Tenth District Court of Appeals, depending on the outcome at trial.

We will keep you posted as developments happen in the case.