---
type: "Bill"
title: "Establish affirmative defense-certain hazardous substance release"
description: "Establish affirmative defense-certain hazardous substance release"
jurisdiction: "us/states/oh"
legislature: "Ohio General Assembly"
session: "133"
identifier: "HB 168"
citation: "Ohio HB 168 (133)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts and Civil Law", "Civil Law", "Environment and Natural Resources", "Environment and Natural Resources", "Waste Disposal"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Steven Arndt"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 12
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-03-26"
last_action: "2020-09-15T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ca6f9b00-17f0-4f07-92a6-2b72ed770651"
source_url: "http://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/solarapi/v1/general_assembly_133/bills/hb168/"
source_hash: "481b24a7826d12b97327042858d6a36bc0db191fdf5875badd4bc13b448929d2"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-oh"]
---

# Ohio HB 168 (133) — Establish affirmative defense-certain hazardous substance release

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **As Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/solarapi/v1/general_assembly_133/bills/hb168/IN/00?format=pdf)
2. **As Passed by the House** (committee substitute) — [source](https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/solarapi/v1/general_assembly_133/bills/hb168/PH/02?format=pdf)
3. **As Passed by the Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/solarapi/v1/general_assembly_133/bills/hb168/PS/06?format=pdf)
4. **As Re-reported by the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee** (committee substitute) — [source](https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/solarapi/v1/general_assembly_133/bills/hb168/RRS/05?format=pdf)
5. **As Recommitted to the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee** (committee substitute) — [source](https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/solarapi/v1/general_assembly_133/bills/hb168/RCS/04?format=pdf)
6. **As Reported by the House Civil Justice Committee** (committee substitute) — [source](https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/solarapi/v1/general_assembly_133/bills/hb168/RH/01?format=pdf)
7. **As Reported by the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee** (committee substitute) — [source](https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/solarapi/v1/general_assembly_133/bills/hb168/RS/03?format=pdf)
8. **As Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/solarapi/v1/general_assembly_133/bills/hb168/EN/07?format=pdf)

## Votes

- Reported - Substitute — **10–0** (pass) · upper
- Pass — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported - Substitute — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported - Substitute — **10–1** (pass) · lower
- Pass — **90–0** (pass) · lower
- Concurred in Senate amendments — **94–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Steven Arndt — primary (person)
- Adam Holmes, A. — cosponsor (person)
- Bill Coley — cosponsor (person)
- Bill Dean — cosponsor (person)
- Bill Reineke — cosponsor (person)
- Bill Seitz — cosponsor (person)
- Bob Hackett — cosponsor (person)
- Bob Peterson — cosponsor (person)
- Brian Baldridge — cosponsor (person)
- Cecil Thomas — cosponsor (person)
- Craig Riedel — cosponsor (person)
- Dave Burke — cosponsor (person)
- Dave Greenspan — cosponsor (person)
- Diane Grendell — cosponsor (person)
- Dick Stein — cosponsor (person)
- Don Jones — cosponsor (person)
- Doug Green — cosponsor (person)
- Frank Hoagland — cosponsor (person)
- Gary Scherer — cosponsor (person)
- Gayle Manning, G. — cosponsor (person)
- Hearcel Craig — cosponsor (person)
- J. Koehler — cosponsor (person)
- James Hoops — cosponsor (person)
- Jay Hottinger — cosponsor (person)
- Jeffrey Crossman — cosponsor (person)
- Jeffrey Smith, T. — cosponsor (person)
- John Eklund — cosponsor (person)
- John Patterson — cosponsor (person)
- John Rogers — cosponsor (person)
- Kenny Yuko — cosponsor (person)
- Kirk Schuring — cosponsor (person)
- Kristina Roegner — cosponsor (person)
- Larry Obhof — cosponsor (person)
- Louis Blessing — cosponsor (person)
- Mark Romanchuk — cosponsor (person)
- Matt Dolan — cosponsor (person)
- Matt Huffman, M. — cosponsor (person)
- Michael Rulli — cosponsor (person)
- Nathan Manning — cosponsor (person)
- Nickie Antonio — cosponsor (person)
- Peggy Lehner — cosponsor (person)
- Phil Plummer — cosponsor (person)
- Rick Perales — cosponsor (person)
- Riordan McClain — cosponsor (person)
- Robert McColley — cosponsor (person)
- Ryan Smith, R. — cosponsor (person)
- Sandra Williams — cosponsor (person)
- Sara Carruthers — cosponsor (person)
- Scott Ryan — cosponsor (person)
- Sean O'Brien — cosponsor (person)
- Stephanie Kunze — cosponsor (person)
- Stephen Hambley — cosponsor (person)
- Stephen Huffman, S. — cosponsor (person)
- Steve Wilson — cosponsor (person)
- Terrence Upchurch — cosponsor (person)
- Terry Johnson — cosponsor (person)
- Theresa Gavarone — cosponsor (person)
- Thomas Patton — cosponsor (person)
- Thomas West — cosponsor (person)
- Tim Ginter — cosponsor (person)
- Tim Schaffer — cosponsor (person)
- Tina Maharath — cosponsor (person)
- Vernon Sykes — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-03-26** Introduced `introduction`
- **2019-04-02** Refer to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-08** Reported
- **2019-05-30** Passed `passage`
- **2019-06-04** Introduced `reading-1`
- **2019-06-19** Refer to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-12-04** Reported
- **2020-03-04** Recommitted
- **2020-05-06** Passed `passage`
- **2020-05-06** Reported
- **2020-05-13** Concurred in Senate amendments `amendment-passage`
- **2020-09-15T04:00:00+00:00** Effective 9/15/20 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ca6f9b00-17f0-4f07-92a6-2b72ed770651`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Ohio legislature records).