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Saturday, April 16, 2005
Environment - Another story on the "no more stringent" language in SB 298
"Pollution bill would keep state from having tougher rules than EPA" is the title to a story by Tammy Webber in Saturday's Indianapolis Star. Some quotes:
Indiana environmental boards would be forbidden to adopt pollution rules stricter than those set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under a bill that has outraged environmental groups and a top Republican senator.Check this April 12 ILB entry for more information and links.Proponents of the measure -- pushed by industrial trade groups -- say federal rules to control air, land and water pollution generally are good enough for Indiana, and making them stricter discourages businesses from expanding or locating in the state.
But Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Greenfield, chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Environmental Affairs Committee, called the bill "absolutely the worst piece of environmental legislation that I've seen for a long, long time." She charged that it would impede efforts to protect people's health and the environment from threats that EPA standards don't address or couldn't foresee.
What's more, it basically would cede the state's authority -- and responsibilities -- to the federal government, Gard and environmentalists said.
"I don't know when we've had an environmental issue I've been more disturbed over," Gard said. "Maybe (to legislators), on the surface without thinking it through, it might sound good. But if you think about it, it's terribly onerous."
"The federal standards are meant to be minimum," she said.
State standards can be stricter, but not weaker, than the EPA's. Most Indiana environmental rules mirror federal rules, although the Indiana Department of Environmental Management sometimes has sought stricter standards. * * *
Rep. David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake, introduced the provisions in a bill that died last month when House Democrats walked out in a dispute with Republicans. But the provisions later were inserted into Senate Bill 298, sponsored by Sen. R. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, which also addresses cost-benefit analyses of environmental rules, without passing through Gard's committee.
That bill now is in a conference committee, where leaders of the House and Senate caucuses will attempt to work out differences in the next few weeks. Gard will be an adviser to the committee but will not have a vote. Young said he planned to hold a public hearing on the bill next week.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 16, 2005 02:34 PM
Posted to Environment | Indiana Law