State ex rel. Food & Water Watch v. State, 153 Ohio St. 3d 1, 2018-Ohio-555

Summary

The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment against Food and Water Watch and the FreshWater Accountability Project in their mandamus action seeking to compel Ohio Department of Natural Resources officials to promulgate rules governing oil-and-gas waste substances. The court held that the organizations lacked associational standing because their members had not established a concrete, redressable injury, and it rejected application of the public-right doctrine. The court also held that arguments concerning statutory beneficial-interest and taxpayer standing had been waived.

Holdings

1. Arguments concerning standing under R.C. 2731.02 and taxpayer standing were waived because relators did not specifically object to the magistrate's conclusions on those issues.
2. FreshWater Accountability Project failed to establish associational standing because none of the members identified in the affidavits demonstrated standing to sue in their own right.
3. The court declined to broaden or apply the public-right doctrine to permit relators to proceed without traditional standing.
4. Relators were not entitled to a writ of mandamus because they failed to establish standing, including that the requested rulemaking would likely redress the alleged injury.

Questions Presented

1. Whether FreshWater Accountability Project and Food and Water Watch had traditional or associational standing to seek a writ of mandamus compelling ODNR officials to promulgate rules.
2. Whether relators waived arguments based on statutory standing under R.C. 2731.02 and taxpayer standing by failing to object to the magistrate's decision.
3. Whether the public-right doctrine permitted relators to pursue mandamus without establishing a personal injury.
4. Whether the requested rulemaking would likely redress the alleged injury.

Disposition

affirmed