Ohio Agricultural Law Blog--The Ag Law Harvest

The midterm elections are over, and Thanksgiving is upon us.  A lot of activity is expected out of Washington and Columbus as the legislative sessions wind up.  The OSU Extension Agricultural and Resource Law team will continue to keep you up to date on the legal issues affecting agriculture as we enter into the holiday season.

Here’s our gathering of ag law news you may want to know:

State of Ohio sued over wind turbine setbacks.  Four farmers in Paulding County have joined with The Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition to sue the State of Ohio over wind turbine setbacks added to the 2014 biennial budget that some allege curtailed wind energy development in Ohio.  In that budget bill, lawmakers included provisions late in the lawmaking process to amend Ohio Revised Code § 4906.20, which establishes the setback requirements for wind turbines.  Those provisions more than doubled the distance that wind turbines must be located away from the nearest residential structures.  The plaintiffs in this lawsuit allege that including these restrictions in the budget bill violated the single-subject provisions of the Ohio Constitution because the setbacks lack a “common purpose or relationship” to the rest of the budget bill.  On this issue, the Ohio Supreme Court said in the case In re Nowak (cited as 2004-Ohio-6777) that the single-subject rule is a requirement that legislators must abide by, but that only a “manifestly gross and fraudulent” violation will result in the law being struck down.  The plaintiff’s complaint is available here.  Stay tuned to the Harvest for updates.

Department of Labor proposes rule requiring H-2A advertisements be posted online.  The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on November 9th that would change how employers must advertise available positions before they may obtain H-2A worker permits.  H-2A permits are work visas for temporary agricultural workers who are non-U.S. citizens.  Currently, employers must advertise work in a local newspaper of general circulation for at least two consecutive days, one of which must be a Sunday.  This requirement is located in the Code of Federal Regulations at 20 C.F.R. § 655.151.  The DOL now proposes to modernize the recruitment advertising rule by requiring employers to post the jobs online instead of in print.  The DOL’s notice explained that it believes online postings would more effectively and efficiently give U.S. workers notice of job opportunities.  Further, the notice explained that the DOL intends to only require online advertisements, which would render newspaper advertisements unnecessary.  U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued a press release in support of the DOL’s proposal.  The public may submit comments to the DOL about the proposed rule.  Those wishing to comment may do so until December 10th, 2018, by visiting the proposed rule’s webpage in the Federal Register.

LLC agreement to adjust member financial contributions must be in writing.  The Ohio Fourth District Court of Appeals recently affirmed a decision finding a verbal agreement to adjust contributions between members of a Limited Liability Company (LLC) to be unenforceable, even if the other party admitted to making the statements.  Ohio Revised Code § 1715.09(B) requires a signed writing in order to enforce a “promise by a member to contribute to the limited liability company,” and therefore the court could not enforce an oral agreement to adjust contributions.  The Fourth District Court of Appeals heard the case of Gardner v. Paxton, which was originally originally filed in the Washington County Court of Common Pleas.  The plaintiff, Mr. Gardener, argued that his business partner breached an agreement to share in LLC profits and losses equally.  In order to share equally, both parties would have needed to adjust their contributions, but Mr. Paxton only made verbal offers that were never reduced to writing.  Because there was no writing, Mr. Paxton’s statements were not enforceable by his business associate against him.

Ohio legislation on the move:

The Ohio General Assembly has returned from the midterm elections with a potentially busy lame duck session ahead of it.  Already a number of bills that we have been monitoring have seen activity in their respective committees.

• Ohio Senate Agriculture Committee held first hearing on multi-parcel auction bill.  State senators heard testimony on House Bill 480 last Tuesday, November 13th.  The bill would authorize the Ohio Department of Agriculture to regulate multi-parcel auctions, which are currently not specifically addressed in the Ohio Revised Code.  The bill also defines “multi-parcel auction,” saying such an auction is one involving real or personal property in which multiple parcels or lots are offered for sale in part or in whole.  The bill would also establish certain advertising requirements.  The bill’s primary sponsor, Representative Brian Hill of Zanesville, says that he introduced the bill in an effort to recognize by statute what auctioneers are already doing, and to do so without interrupting the industry.  The bill passed the Ohio House of Representatives 93-0 in June.  For more information on the legislation, visit the House Bill 480 page on Ohio General Assembly’s website or view this bill analysis prepared by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.