Ohio EPA's DMWM Proposes Beneficial Use Rules to JCARR

Earlier today I had published information regarding Ohio's Dredged Material Program. This afternoon I received the following information from the Ohio EPA's Division of Materials and Waste Management ("DMWM") regarding it's proposed rules on the beneficial use of dredged material.

The DMWM has proposed the beneficial use rules in O.A.C. Chapter 3745-599 to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.  Click here to access the proposed rules and here to view the public notice.

The DMWM plans to host a webinar on August 23, 2016 to answer questions that anyone might have regarding the beneficial use rules. When the Division publishes more information regarding the webinar, we will post it here on our web site.
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Ohio's Dredged Material Program -- Additional Information

 

Given the passage of Ohio Senate Bill 1 earlier this year, finding solutions for keeping Ohio’s northern shipping channels open has taken on new urgency. As stated in previous blog articles, the Army Corps of Engineers handles the dredging of shipping channels but will only pay for the most cost effective options, which is dumping the dredged material in deeper waters in the Great Lakes or putting dredged material into a diked disposal site. If a state requires the Army Corps of Engineers to dump the dredged material in a way that increases the cost, then that state is responsible for payment of the additional costs.

Beginning July 1, 2020, dredged material can no longer be dumped in Lake Erie. The state of Ohio is seeking creative solutions for handling dredged material that will provide for cost effective solutions to its disposal, including the reuse of much of the dredged materials.

Click here for more info about the goals and objectives of Ohio’s Dredged Material Program.

Below are links to additional resources provided by the Ohio EPA related to Ohio’s Dredged Material Program:

-          U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes and Ohio River Division

-          Toledo Harbor Project, Ohio Lake Erie Commission

-          Senate Bill 1 Text and Analysis

-          Ohio Clean Lakes Initiative

-          Great Lakes Dredging Team

-          Soil Erosion and Dredging, Great Lakes Commission

-          Dredging in the Great Lakes Region Great Lakes Information Network

 

Maintain does not mean Relocate

(Watch your Language [with easements] & Say What You Mean, Precisely or a Judge Will Tell You What You Meant #11)

                                              

Watch Your Language. As established in other “Watch Your Language” articles for this Blog, as a general rule, courts will uphold language in commercial agreements, unless it is contrary to statutory law or public policy. They traditionally presume that commercial parties are on more of an equal playing field and are more sophisticated concerning commercial real estate transactions, since both will usually have attorneys to review their documents. Because of this judicial deference to “commercial language”, you must say what you mean, precisely, or a judge will decide what you meant. This principle is just as true with regard to easements, as it is with contracts, leases and other commercial documents.

Easements in General. An “easement” is basically a right to use the property of another for a specific purpose. Most common are drive/access easements and utility easements. While there are limited exceptions, the vast majority of easements are created by separate written instruments (or are contained within deeds) and are recorded. Some easements are personal in nature and only apply while the burdened landowner owns the property, and others are “perpetual” and burden the land forever.

Easements will either spell out the specific rights to use the property granted to the easement “holder” (e.g. right to use the property to place above-ground or below ground electric lines), or be “blanket” in nature and not be limited as to use. Many easements will also contain 1) restrictions for the benefit of the easement holder which burden the land described as the “easement premises” (e.g., no buildings may be constructed upon the easement area); and  2) obligations imposed upon the easement holder for the benefit of the burdened landowner (e.g., requirements such as maintenance of the easement premises, and relocation of such premises or the facilities within the easement premises).

 Because of the possibility of easements existing forever, and the potential for unintended consequences due to a court misinterpreting easement language, “don’t try this (easement review/analysis/negotiation) at home”, without legal counsel.

Easement rights, for example often do not go far enough. If you need to install a storm water drainage pipe on your neighbor’s property (assuming the neighbor consents) you need to insist upon much more than the right to install the piping. The easement should also include the right to construct, remove, reinstall, reconstruct, operate, enlarge, supplement, repair, inspect, maintain and relocate such storm water drainage pipes as well as the right to permit storm water to flow through such piping. Similarly, easement obligations are often drafted in general terms, with the parties assuming intent is clear. The relatively recent case of Aqua Ohio Inc. v. Allied Indus. Dev. Corp., 2014-Ohio-1473 (7th Dist. Ct. of App., Mahoning Cty.) helps to reinforce the need to be specific and leave as little as possible to “interpretive chance.”

Aqua Ohio Inc. v. Allied Indus. Dev. Corp.  In the “Aqua Ohio” case, Aqua had an easement right to lay and maintain an 18” waterline across land owned by Lake Erie & Eastern Railway Company (which land was later sold to Allied). The easement agreement specifically required the easement holder to lay the pipeline so as not to interfere with railroad tracks on the property and to maintain such pipeline.

A number of years later, the waterline began leaking and flooded portions of Allied’s property. The leaking was eventually remedied but Allied (presumably still concerned) took the position that the waterline interfered with its plans for the property and that the easement holder needed to and was required to relocate the waterline. While the procedural facts are a bit muddled, the court of appeals upheld the lower court’s judgment in favor of Aqua, based on what the courts claimed was the plain and ordinary meaning of the language used in the contract. The 7^th District Court of Appeals held that Aqua was only prohibited from interfering with the tracks when it laid pipeline, because that is specifically what the contract called for. Allied alleged that per the contract, any time Allied determined that the waterline was interfering with the development of the property, the waterline would have to be removed and relocated. As clearly stated by the court, “Reading of the contract in the manner Allied suggests ignores the plain language of the contract and is illogical.”

Also important to the court was that the plain language of the easement agreement was consistent, throughout. In the remedies section of the agreement, damages were only allowable if they resulted from the “improper maintenance, operation and/or use of the waterline.” There was no specific mention of “interference damages.”

Couldn’t Allied have taken the position that removal of the pipeline was part of Aqua’s duty to maintain? It is certainly possible that the original owner of the burdened property intended that to be the case. The court, however would have no part in writing presumed intent into the contract.  That is the opposite of what Ohio law (and most other jurisdictions) require of a court when interpreting commercial contracts. As aptly summarized by the court in Aqua, “When the language of a written contract is clear, a court may look no further than the writing itself to find the intent of the parties. In addition, we will look to the plain and ordinary meaning of the language used in the contract unless another meaning is clearly apparent from the contents of the agreement… The word ‘maintain’ is not defined by the agreement, therefore, we must use the ordinary meaning of the word. Maintain means, ‘To preserve or keep in a given existing condition, as of efficiency or good repair.’ Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary 717 (1984). This does not mean relocate or move. As such, we will not read such language into the contract.”

What is the moral of this story? As with all of our “Watch Your Language posts, it is the same moral, just a different story. Namely, regarding easements, leases, deeds and other commercial contracts, courts are not psychic mind readers; they are “literal translators”, so say what you mean, precisely, or a judge will decide what you meant.

Time to Proudly and Statutorily Display our Flags in Ohio

On this 4th of July holiday, in a world of economic uncertainty and cowardly acts of terrorism, it seems more than prudent to be patriotic and proud of displaying our symbols of G-d and country, particularly our flag and the banners that honor the men and women in our armed services. Believe it or not, however, the right to display is not absolute and has been subject to challenge.

Recently, in Columbus, Ohio, an 86-year-old mother of veterans was asked by her rental company to take her flag down. The company claimed the flag mount could damage the structure of the house.  You may also recall the story, several years ago of a 77-year-old U.S. Army veteran who was asked by a Summit County homeowners association to take down a flagpole he installed to display an American flag at his home. The association claimed the flagpole violated its rules that allowed flagpoles installed on homes, but not installed, in-ground. Eventually, the association backed down, but it seems incredulous that our proud veterans should have to fight for their flag, after fighting so hard for our country.  

Nonetheless, these types of challenges are happening all over the country. For example, in Connecticut, recently, an Air Force veteran is facing fines for flying the American flag in the front of his residential unit, and not in the back of the home where it is permitted.

You would think there should be laws protecting our rights to proudly display our flags. And there are; but they don’t go far enough.

At the federal level, The Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 "prohibits a condominium, cooperative or real estate management association from adopting or enforcing any policy or agreement that would restrict or prevent a member of the association from displaying the flag in accordance with the ‘United States Flag Code’ [a federal law that establishes advisory rules for display and care of the national flag of the United States] on residential property to which the member has a separate ownership interest."

Clearly, the “Flag Act” prohibits condo and similar associations from restricting flag displays. However, what about manufactured home park operators, and landlords? The federal law does not apply to them. What about state flags? I am sure there are law enforcement and other state employees who would like to pledge their allegiance to their state, as well as their country. The federal law, however, does not address the right to display state flags. Finally, the federal law does not address the right to display service banners and the POW/MIA flag.

Ohio also has what is basically a codification and elaboration of the federal law in Ohio Revised Code Section 5311.191. However, it too is silent regarding applicability to landlords, manufactured home park operators, service banners and the state flag.

Fortunately, while many states are still struggling with this issue, our great State of Ohio seems poised to fill the gaps of the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 and ORC Section 5311.191. In fact, Ohio has two, alternate versions of a Flag-Banner Display statute: Ohio House Bill 18 and Ohio Senate Bill 84, which are summarized below:

SB84-FLAG-BANNER DISPLAY (COLEY,W) To prohibit manufactured homes park operators, condominium associations, neighborhood associations, and landlords from restricting the display of Ohio flags and blue star banners, gold star banners, and other service flags, and to prohibit manufactured homes park operators and landlords from restricting the display of the United States flag.

Current Status: 4/12/2016 - House Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Public Safety, (First Hearing)

HB18-FLAG-BANNER DISPLAY (GONZALES, A; GINTER, T) To prohibit manufactured homes park operators, condominium associations, neighborhood associations, and landlords from restricting the display of blue star banners, gold star banners, and other service flags, and to prohibit manufactured homes park operators and landlords from restricting the display of the United States flag.

Current Status: 11/18/2015 - SUBSTITUTE BILL ACCEPTED & REPORTED OUT, Senate State and Local Government, (Third Hearing)

The only real difference between HB18 and SB84 seems to be the right to display the state flag, which is incorporated in the Ohio Senate vs the Ohio House version.

Truly, on this July 4^th, congratulations are in order to the Ohio House and Ohio Senate for recognizing the need to display our banners, our flags, and our patriotic pride. However, “timing is everything”, and in this author’s opinion it is time to bring one of these bills (preferably the senate version) out of committee, to a vote and to the governor to sign.