"To protect the environment and public health by ensuring compliance with environmental laws and demonstrating leadership in environmental stewardship."
"The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is a trusted leader and environmental steward using innovation, quality service and public involvement to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all Ohioans."
Who is Ohio EPA?
Everyone needs clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. We want to keep our environment clean, but we enjoy modern conveniences that create pollution, like air emissions from electric plants and automobiles and hazardous waste like leftover paint and cleaning chemicals. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is a state agency whose 
goal is to protect the environment and public health by ensuring compliance with environmental laws. Those laws and related rules outline Ohio EPA’s authority— what we can and can’t do, and what things we can consider when making decisions about facility operations.
Ohio EPA was created on October 23, 1972. It combined environmental programs that previously had been scattered throughout several state departments. Ohio EPA’s Central Office is located in Columbus, and five district offices manage the Agency’s programs throughout the state. You can find a district map and contact information on this site. A chart that shows how Ohio EPA is organized is also available. [PDF]
Ohio EPA establishes and enforces standards for air, water, waste management and cleanup of sites contaminated with hazardous substances. We also provide financial assistance to businesses and communities; environmental education programs for businesses and the public; and pollution prevention assistance to help businesses minimize their waste at the source.
What Does Ohio EPA Do?
Ohio EPA is divided into six regulatory divisions that play different roles in environmental protection. Each division issues permits to regulate industries that pollute in a specific area, like air emissions or wastewater discharges to rivers and streams. The permits include requirements for operating, monitoring and reporting compliance. There are a few core responsibilities that each division of Ohio EPA must fulfill.
- Reviewing permit applications and issuing permits to facilities.
- Investigating citizen complaints.
- Monitoring to make sure all environmental standards are met (usually accomplished by collecting samples of air, water or soil and testing them for pollutants in a laboratory; and reviewing sampling and monitoring data submitted by a facility).
- Providing technical assistance to help regulated facilities
understand and follow environmental laws and permit
requirements.
- Taking enforcement action against facilities that
violate environmental laws and permit requirements.
Ohio EPA establishes and enforces standards to protect the environment in the following areas:
Air
The Division of Air Pollution Control ensures compliance with the federal Clean Air Act and works to reduce the emissions of air toxins. We issue permits to sources of air pollution such as factories and monitor emissions from some vehicles.
Drinking Water
The Division of Drinking and Ground Waters ensures compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and evaluates potential threats to source waters of Ohio’s 1,500 public water systems. We approve plans for public water systems (not private wells), and regulate underground disposal of certain kinds of liquid waste.
Lakes, Rivers and Streams
The Division of Surface Water ensures compliance with the federal Clean Water Act and works to increase the number of water bodies that can safely be used for swimming and fishing. We issue permits to wastewater treatment plants and factories, and oversee management of storm water to reduce the impact of pollutants in runoff. We develop comprehensive watershed plans aimed at improving polluted streams. We also sample water, bugs and fish to determine the health of Ohio’s streams.
Solid Waste Management
The Division of Solid and Infectious Waste Management ensures proper handling of solid waste and encourages people to reduce, reuse or recycle solid waste generated in Ohio. We issue permits to landfills, waste incinerators, transfer facilities, composting facilities, scrap tire facilities, construction and demolition disposal sites, infectious waste disposal sites and industries that generate infectious wastes, such as hospitals. We also oversee state and local planning for long-term solid waste management.
Hazardous Waste Management
The Division of Hazardous Waste Management promotes pollution prevention and the proper management and cleanup of hazardous waste. We issue permits to hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities. We also make sure that companies properly close hazardous waste areas that are no longer used.
Cleanup
The Division of Emergency and Remedial Response cleans up contaminated sites and prevents the spread of contamination. We oversee investigation and cleanup work at contaminated sites. We also provide assistance to industries and communities during spills or other environmental emergencies.
What else does Ohio EPA do?
Compliance Assistance and Pollution Prevention
Environmental regulations can be confusing. The Office of Compliance Assistance and Pollution Prevention (OCAPP) is a non-regulatory program that provides information and resources to help businesses understand and follow applicable rules and permit requirements. OCAPP also helps customers identify and implement pollution prevention measures that can save money, increase business performance and benefit the environment.
Environmental Education
The Office of Environmental Education administers the Ohio Environmental Education Fund, which awards up to one million dollars annually in grants to schools, advocacy groups, industry associations, non-profit groups and others for projects that increase awareness and understanding of environmental issues throughout Ohio. The office works closely with partner organizations and other government agencies to coordinate environmental education efforts.
Financial Assistance
The Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance finances water quality improvement projects through a lowinterest revolving loan program. Eligible projects include building or renovating drinking water plants or wastewater plants and sewers, cleaning up abandoned industrial sites (brownfields) and wellhead protection programs.
What Ohio EPA doesn’t do...
With so many state departments and agencies, it can be difficult to determine exactly who handles a particular issue. Ohio EPA often receives comments or questions about environmental issues that we can’t address because the laws give that authority to other departments. Here’s a list of issues that Ohio EPA doesn’t handle, along with the state department or agency that does.
- Food safety
- Pesticide application
- Confined animal feeding operations
- Underground petroleum storage tanks
- Indoor air pollution (lead, mold)
- Private wells
- Private septic systems
- Radon
- Water bacteria levels at local beaches
- West Nile virus (carried by mosquitoes)
- Mining Permits
- Recycling
- State parks
- Well water draw-down
Click here for a pdf version of this information.