As a controversial bill seeking to remove state protection from Indianaâs wetlands passed the Senate this week, Gov. Eric Holcomb voiced his concerns regarding the impact of the bill, which is opposed by the two agencies charged primarily with caring for the stateâs environmental health.Â
Senate Bill 389Â passed the Senate by a vote of 29 to 19. The bill would repeal all state protections for Indianaâs diminished wetlands, despite bipartisan opposition in the Senate and from the state departments of natural resources and environmental management. The bill now goes to the Indiana House of Representatives for consideration.
Senate Bill 389 passed the Senate by a vote of 29 to 19.
Indiana Senate approves bill to deregulate wetlands
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The Indiana Senate has passed controversial legislation that would repeal state oversight of wetlands.
The Senate approved Senate Bill 389 by a vote of 29-19 on Monday afternoon. Nine Republicans joined 10 Democrats in opposing the measure. The bill moves to the Indiana House for consideration.
The bill, authored by Republican Sen. Chris Garten of Charlestown, would eliminate any state regulation of wetlands.
Wetlands would still be regulated by the federal government under the Clean Water Act, but that oversight would apply to only about 20% of the remaining wetlands because of how former President Donald Trump’s administration defined wetlands.
Credit (Derek Jensen/Wikimedia Commons)
A controversial bill that would dissolve protections for the state’s wetlands passed in the Senate on Monday.
The author of the bill, Sen. Chris Garten (R-Charlestown), says the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has unfairly targeted Hoosier farmers, instructing employees to find new wetlands.
“We’re talking about a farmer who has a broken drain tile, who’s farmed a multigenerational farm his entire life, and he’s now being told he can’t do anything there. He can’t even replace the drain tile, he said.
Garten said farmers also fear retaliation from the agency. But senators who oppose the bill question the motives behind dissolving the entire program.
INDIANAPOLIS â A bill that would strip protections for designated Indiana wetlands has passed out of the Senate Monday and on Tuesday was referred to the Indiana House.
On a 29-19 vote, Senate Bill 389, which would repeal Indianaâs wetlands law that protects many of the stateâs remaining wetlands that are crucial to the environment, particularly the lakes areas of northeast Indiana was passed.
Sen. Sue Glick, R-LaGrange, who heads the Natural Resources Committee, voted against the bill. Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, signed on as a late co-author to the bill and voted for it.
âThis is not workable, it is not feasible and itâs certainly an endangerment to all that we protect and are trying to protect in terms of our lakes,â Glick told KPC Media Group last week.