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| Clean Ohio | |
|---|---|
| Name | Clean Ohio |
| Formation | 2000 |
| Type | Environmental remediation and land conservation initiative |
| Headquarters | Columbus, Ohio |
| Region served | Ohio |
| Parent organization | Ohio Public Works Commission |
Clean Ohio is a statewide initiative enacted to remediate contaminated brownfields, acquire and conserve open space, and expand recreational infrastructure across Ohio. Launched through state ballot measures and legislative actions, the initiative mobilized public funding, public-private partnerships, and nonprofit participation to convert industrial sites and rural tracts into parks, trails, and preserved habitats. The program intersected with municipal planning, regional development, and federal grant programs to influence land use in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and numerous counties.
The initiative emerged after campaigns involving the Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio Ballot Board, and advocates from groups like the Ohio Environmental Council and the The Nature Conservancy sought remedies for post-industrial landscapes such as sites in Youngstown, Akron, and Dayton. Early phases built on precedents from the Environmental Protection Agency brownfields programs and federal statutes including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and influenced municipal redevelopment projects linked to authorities such as the Port Authority of Allegheny County model and county commissioners in Cuyahoga County, Hamilton County, and Franklin County. Voter-approved bond measures in the early 2000s enabled allocations that paralleled initiatives like the Land and Water Conservation Fund and coordinated with state agencies including the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Funding mechanisms incorporated statewide ballot-authorized bonds administered by entities such as the Ohio Public Works Commission and disbursed via competitive grants to local governments, land trusts like the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department and nonprofit conservancies including the Cleveland Metroparks and the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. Eligible applicants ranged from municipal corporations and port authorities to regional planning commissions like the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency and hospital foundations engaged in site redevelopments. Criteria for grants referenced environmental assessment protocols used by the Environmental Protection Agency and leveraged federal funds from programs administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the United States Department of Agriculture. Financial oversight intersected with rules from the Ohio Auditor of State and accounting practices employed by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.
Projects funded under the initiative included brownfield cleanups in former steel and manufacturing corridors associated with corporations such as U.S. Steel and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, municipal park expansions in suburbs served by bodies like the Metropolitan Park District of the Toledo Area, and trail development connecting networks like the Ohio to Erie Trail. Conservation acquisitions conserved riparian corridors along the Cuyahoga River, restored wetlands near the Maumee River, and created greenways linking historic districts in Springfield and Newark. Redevelopment conversions produced mixed-use sites adjacent to transit hubs associated with agencies like the Central Ohio Transit Authority and catalyzed projects involving developers such as Forest City Realty Trust and community development corporations including Midtown Cleveland, Inc..
Environmental outcomes included remediation of contamination at sites impacted by operations of companies like Armco, reduction of point-source risks near watersheds feeding into the Great Lakes, and habitat restoration benefiting species monitored by organizations such as the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the Audubon Society. Economically, cleaned sites enabled private investment, increased assessed property values in neighborhoods like those in Lorain and Ashtabula, and supported tourism tied to trails and park amenities promoted by regional visitor bureaus such as the Greater Cleveland Convention and Visitors Bureau. The initiative’s allocations were analyzed alongside statewide development indicators tracked by the Ohio Development Services Agency and urban metrics used by the Brookings Institution and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Administration involved coordination among state bodies including the Ohio Public Works Commission, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, with grant evaluation panels drawing expertise from universities like Ohio State University, Miami University, and Kent State University. Local implementation relied on municipal parks departments, county commissioners, and nonprofit land trusts such as the Ohio Herpetological Society partnerships and regional conservancies. Governance structures incorporated grant compliance auditing by the Ohio Auditor of State and legal frameworks influenced by case law adjudicated in courts such as the Ohio Supreme Court when disputes over land titles or environmental liability arose.
Critiques focused on allocation equity among urban and rural jurisdictions, debates involving elected officials in Cuyahoga County and Hamilton County about prioritization, and controversies over liability protections attractive to developers tied to firms like PNC Financial Services and regional contractors. Environmental advocates from groups including the Sierra Club and the Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan complained about insufficient monitoring in some remediation projects, while fiscal watchdogs raised issues audited by the Ohio Auditor of State regarding bond use and matching fund requirements. Political debate occurred within the Ohio General Assembly and during ballot campaigns involving opponents citing precedent from other states’ conservation bond initiatives.
Category:Environment of Ohio Category:Ohio public policy