State Rep. Tom Dermody, R-La Porte, authored House Bill 1451 that would require the Environmental Quality Service Council, a summer study committee, to review actual and potential air emissions from a mint distillery and whether mint distilleries should be considered farming operations for permit purposes.

The EQSC would be required to submit a report of their findings to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management by January 1, 2012. HB 1451 would also prohibit IDEM from requiring air permits for mint distilleries until they have received and reviewed the EQSC’s report and recommendations. HB 1451 passed its third and final reading on the House floor and now moves onto the Senate for consideration.

 Under current law, mint distilleries, which make peppermint and spearmint oils, are not considered farming operations and therefore are subject to certain regulations that farming operations are exempt from.
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