The marsh at Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton is pictured. The Republican-controlled General Assembly on Wednesday approved legislation eliminating protections for nearly all state-regulated wetlands located on private property. Senate Enrolled Act 389 now goes to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb to be signed into law or vetoed. Dan Carden, file, The Times
Aplan to preserve Indiana’s wetlands regulations, carefully crafted over several weeks by state Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, was undone by his colleagues in just 48 hours, and nearly all state-regulated wetlands soon may be eligible for elimination by home builders and farmers.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 31-19 Wednesday to advance Senate Enrolled Act 389 to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, after it was significantly revised Monday and approved Tuesday by the Republican-controlled House, 58-40.
The measure would permit property owners to drain or fill most isolated wetlands without a permit or compensatory mitigation. The only type of wetlands still fully protected by state regulations would be the rare Class III wetlands that remain largely undisturbed by human activities.
Under the plan, even Class II wetlands, which support moderate wildlife or aquatic habitat and hydrologic functions, could be eliminated without a permit if the site is less than 3/8th of an acre in size, or less than 3/4 of an acre inside a municipality.
All Class I wetlands, which comprise the 58% of state-regulated wetlands with minimal habitat and hydrologic functions, would eligible to be built or farmed on without a permit.
State Sen. Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, sponsor of the measure, said it is a reasonable “middle ground” from his initial, Senate-approved proposal to entirely eliminate all state wetlands regulations.
Though Garten once again admitted during Senate debate Wednesday his real intent is to rein in what he considers an out-of-control Indiana Department of Environmental Management that he said is recklessly overclassifying land across Indiana as wetlands to subject property owners to IDEM oversight.
Opponents of the measure noted more than 90 Indiana business and environmental organizations preferred Slager’s plan that clarified the definition of different types of wetlands and shrank the size of new wetlands that must be created in exchange for filling or draining an existing wetland — but never below 1 to 1.
“All my life, and all your life, you’ve been hearing from scientists and naturalists that wetlands were good for us. Now are we saying we’ve been lied to for the last 90 to 100 years? That wetlands aren’t important?” asked state Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond.
“This is wrong. It’s going to hurt your kids, and it’s going to hurt the state of Indiana and all its inhabitants.”
Slager said his approach would have ensured property owners, developers, farmers and IDEM all benefited from the "clarity and certainty of future permitting and reduced mitigation cost."
"Unfortunately, a narrow majority of my colleagues chose to amend the bill to reduce agency oversight and eliminate an entire class of minor wetlands. I believe that this action and the potential repercussions was not well considered," Slager said.
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, said if Garten, or his constituents, have issues with IDEM, he should file legislation to fix IDEM — not this.
“To allow widespread deregulation of our state’s wetlands, based on some problems some people had with agency personnel, is just a dangerous precedent and something that we should not be doing,” Tallian said.
Slager is hopeful his creation of an expert-led wetlands task force in the legislation will spur a meaningful evaluation of Indiana's entire wetland management process, including recommendations for changing the law that could be implemented as soon as next year.
The wetlands at issue are known as “isolated wetlands” because they do not directly connect to a waterway. The 20% of wetlands in Indiana that are linked to waterways will continue to be regulated by the federal government.
State data show Hoosiers already have drained 85% of the state’s historical wetlands, including the Grand Kankakee Marsh in Northwest Indiana, and further wetland elimination may leave Indiana ill-prepared to absorb the greater rainfall expected in years ahead due to climate change.
The legislation may have an above-average chance of being vetoed by the governor since it was explicitly opposed by IDEM and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, two state agencies under the governor’s jurisdiction, throughout the legislative process.
However, it takes only a majority vote in each chamber — the same share needed to approve a measure in the first place — to override a gubernatorial veto and enact a law notwithstanding his objections.
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