Battery storage rules: Village of Lordstown (Trumbull County), OH

Fire and building codes in force

• State fire code: the Ohio Fire Code incorporates "Chapters 1 through 11 and 20 through 80 of the 2021 edition of the International Fire Code and Chapter 12 of the 2024 edition of the International Fire Code" (OAC 1301:7-7-01 §101.1.1), in effect November 20, 2025, so the energy storage section (1207) is the 2024 edition. Ohio's edits to the energy storage section (OAC 1301:7-7-12, items 20-35) change no quantity, threshold or distance; they swap cross-references and code names, and one rewords section 1207.1.5.1, "Utilities applicability", to read "in accordance with Section 104.2" in place of "based on the requirements of the applicable governmental laws and regulations". The State Fire Marshal adopts and enforces the code (ORC 3737.22(A)), and the Fire Marshal's interpretations and technical bulletins are "definitive throughout the state" (§104.1)
• Local fire codes: a political subdivision may adopt local fire code provisions "that meet or exceed the minimum safety requirements as set forth in this code or that are more extensive in scope than this code," never a lower threshold (§103.2), and the state code "remains in effect and is enforceable at all locations in the state" either way (§103.1). Townships may adopt a fire code by resolution (ORC 505.373). Ask your fire department which code and edition it enforces
• Fire code permits: the local fire code official is "authorized, but not required, to establish a permit program" (§105.1.1.2); where no permit is required, the person must first notify the local fire code official (§105.1.1.3). Ask your fire department whether it issues energy storage permits
• Power Siting Board projects: for a battery with a Board certificate, ask the State Fire Marshal's office and your fire chief which Ohio Fire Code provisions they apply. The code's exemptions include "Structures and premises subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the power siting board ... to the extent of such exclusivity" (§101.2.2.1 item 8), and the code does not say how that applies to a battery
• Building code: the Ohio Building Code is based on the 2021 International Building Code (OAC 4101:1-1-01 §101.1), in force since March 1, 2024. Its scope excepts "Structures on the premises of and directly related to the operation of a generating plant defined as a major utility facility regulated by the power siting board"; the building department may be asked to review and inspect them as a condition of the Board's approval, "However, the building department has no enforcement authority" (§101.2, exception 11). Ask your building department whether it treats a certificated battery as a "generating plant" under this exception. The Residential Code of Ohio is based on the 2018 International Residential Code (OAC 4101:8-1-01)
• Electrical: the 2023 National Electrical Code (NFPA 70-23), in the Ohio Building Code's referenced standards (OAC 4101:1-35-01)

How a project is permitted

A battery of 50 megawatts or more: the Ohio Power Siting Board has issued certificates for stand-alone batteries under the statute that requires one for a generating plant of 50 megawatts or more (ORC 4906.01(B)(1)(a), 4906.04), and once a certificate is issued, "No public agency or political subdivision of this state may require any approval, consent, permit, certificate, or other condition for the construction or operation of a major utility facility ... authorized by a certificate"; the same section does not prevent "the application of state laws for the protection of employees engaged in the construction of such facility ... nor of municipal regulations that do not pertain to the location or design of, or pollution control and abatement standards for" it (4906.13(B)). The Board's case record (docket) holds the application, the staff report, the certificate conditions and the compliance filings; the Flint Grid docket, for example, holds a notice of compliance with its condition No. 28, "Fire Protection Plan." The county restricted-area and project-veto powers added in 2021 are written for wind and solar: "'Utility facility' means an economically significant wind farm, a large wind farm, or a large solar facility" (ORC 303.57(D)). Below 50 megawatts, ask whether the battery is part of a larger project that has a Board certificate (the Board's battery list includes solar projects with a battery component); if it isn't, the approvals are local. Ohio's township and county zoning laws, with listed exceptions, give no power over the location, construction or use of "any buildings or structures of any public utility ... or the use of land by any public utility ... for the operation of its business" (ORC 519.211(A), 303.211(A)). Ask: is the battery 50 megawatts or more, and what is the Board case number? If smaller, does your township, county or city zoning list battery storage in any district, and does it treat the owner as a public utility? Which fire code does your fire department enforce, and does it require a permit or a notice for the battery?

State permits and reporting rules that may apply

• Ask whether the project has construction stormwater coverage under Ohio EPA's general permit, through a Notice of Intent. Coverage is for construction activities, "any clearing, grading, excavating, grubbing and/or filling activities that disturb one or more acres," or less than one acre that is part of a larger common plan of development or sale that will disturb one or more acres. Ohio EPA general permit OHC000006, Parts I.B.1, I.E.1; OAC 3745-38-02
• Ask whether the site, access road or power-line route touches a wetland or stream. Filling an isolated wetland (one not regulated under the federal Clean Water Act) needs a state isolated wetland permit from Ohio EPA; a project that needs a federal permit or license (an Army Corps of Engineers permit, for example) for an activity that may result in a discharge to a water of the state also needs a Section 401 water quality certification from Ohio EPA before the work starts. ORC 6111.02(F), 6111.021(B); OAC 3745-32-02(A)-(B)
• Ask your county or city floodplain administrator whether the site is in a mapped floodplain and whether a floodplain permit is needed. Counties and cities with a 100-year floodplain that adopt a floodplain management ordinance or resolution submit it to the chief of the Division of Water Resources (Ohio Department of Natural Resources) for review. ORC 1521.18(B)
• Ask who would report a spill or release at the site, and how. A release of a listed hazardous substance at or above its reportable quantity, or of oil (25 gallons or more on land; any amount that causes a film or sheen on navigable waters), must be reported verbally within 30 minutes of knowing of it to the community emergency coordinator, the fire department and Ohio EPA, unless that is impracticable, with a written follow-up within 30 days; a release that exposes people only within the site is excepted. ORC 3750.06(A), (C)-(E); OAC 3750-25-01, 3750-25-20(A)
• Ask whether the site will hold hazardous chemicals at or above the Tier II reporting thresholds (10,000 pounds, or 500 pounds or the threshold planning quantity, whichever is less, for an extremely hazardous substance) and, if so, whether the inventory is filed by March 1 each year with the local emergency planning committee, the Ohio Emergency Response Commission and the fire department. ORC 3750.08(A); OAC 3750-30-20(A), 3750-30-27(A)(1)

Sources

• Lordstown Village Council agendas and records of proceedings Village of Lordstown