Upon receipt of a request and a review of the evidence submitted with the request, the director shall conduct an investigation to determine if hazardous waste was actually treated, stored, or disposed of at the locations or facilities and, if so, to determine the nature and approximate quantity and types of the waste treated, stored, or disposed of at the particular locations or facilities. In addition, the director shall determine whether the locations or facilities, because of their present condition and the nature and quantities of waste treated, stored, or disposed of therein, result or are likely to result in air pollution, pollution of the waters of the state, or soil contamination or constitute a present or imminent and substantial threat to public health or safety. The director shall report the findings of the investigation to the municipal corporation, county, or township requesting the survey.
For the purpose of conducting investigations under this section, the director or the director's authorized representative may enter upon any public or private property. The director or the director's authorized representative may apply for, and any judge of a court of common pleas shall issue, an appropriate search warrant necessary to achieve the purposes of this section within the court's territorial jurisdiction. When conducting investigations under this section, the director shall cause no unnecessary damage to any property. The director may expend moneys from the hazardous waste facility management fund created in section 3734.18 of the Revised Code, the hazardous waste clean-up fund created in section 3734.28 of the Revised Code, or the environmental protection remediation fund created in section 3734.281 of the Revised Code for conducting investigations.
R.C. § 3734.19