New regulations for the oil and gas industry in Ohio are heading to Gov. John Kasich’s desk today.

Lawmakers on Thursday approved a compromise bill that environmentalists immediately criticized and the industry praised despite some of the new rules.

An excited governor issued a statement praising lawmakers for bipartisan support of the legislation his administration initiated months ago.

“We’ve accomplished something truly unprecedented. We’ll be better stewards of our environment because of it, and our kids and grandkids will thank us for it,” he said.

The House approved the measure in a 79-to-19 bipartisan vote that followed several hours of partisan battling as Democrats tried to add what they saw as stronger environmental rules and consumer-friendly measures.

When signed, the law will require companies to disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing and during part of the drilling and to identify proprietary, or “trade secret” formulas to doctors treating injured well workers.

The law will require gas producers to take well water samples within 1,500 feet of a proposed horizontal well and include the test results in permit applications, compared to the present 300 feet. The state will retest wells later if there are complaints. In the past, rural wells were not tested.

The Republican majority tabled 9 of 10 proffered amendments, including one requiring drillers to identify the country of origin of the pipe used in wells and pipelines, one requiring that 60 percent of gas workers be Ohio residents, another requiring drillers of proposed injection wells to notify local officials, and requiring companies drilling gas wells to submit to arbitration if they were unable to negotiate a road maintenance agreement with local governments.

One major change to a section about renewable energy approved in the closing minutes of the debate required a second vote the Senate later in the evening.

That amendment allows only two universities — Kent State University and the University of Cincinnati to classify their campus heating and power plants as “renewable energy” even though they burn natural gas.

An earlier Senate version would have encouraged all of the state universities and colleges to build such plants, partially financing them with “renewable energy credits” electric utilities must buy if they don’t use wind and solar on their own. Wind farm developers, who also count on the credits for financing, said the measure would stop development.

Tom Stewart, executive director of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, lawmakers had improved on Kasich’s original proposal.

He dismissed environmental opponents as “anti-development,” saying their allegations “were based on fantasy.”

Kari Matsko, director of the People’s Oil & Gas Collaborative -Ohio and a former review team member for the State Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations, said the law will diminish basic property rights.

“The most troubling part of (the bill) is the continued erosion of a citizen’s basic property and constitutional rights. Neither a community nor it’s leaders will have permission to authorize locations of industrial size drilling units or massive gas compressor and fractionation plants through zoning.,” she said.

Earlier, a rally at the Ohio statehouse disputed the proposed shale drilling regulations.