Controversial language that would have further weakened Indiana’s wetlands law will be removed from a Senate bill, state lawmakers said Thursday.
Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, said the wetlands issue was found not germane — meaning the language was not relevant to the underlying bill, per legislative rules.
“That’s why that issue came out of this bill,” he said in a short conference committee meeting. The bill will still be subject to a final vote in each chamber before going to the governor for consideration.
“This is good news for residents of Indiana who overwhelmingly oppose any further rollbacks of our wetland protections,” said a joint statement from Rep. Sue Errington, D-Muncie, and Rep. Maureen Bauer, D-South Bend. “The Indiana General Assembly has an obligation to protect the best interests of Hoosiers, including the environment where we live. We’ll be watching diligently to make sure this language is not added to any other legislation during these final days of session.”
A House environmental committee last month opted to add controversial wetlands language to a Senate bill on sewage systems.
The original Senate Bill 414 detailed the storage of residential sewage and had bipartisan support. The last-minute amendment — which blindsided Democrats and environmental groups — tightened restrictions on which wetlands could receive state protections.
The provision sought to make it harder for a wetland to be considered anything but Class 1 and would eliminate the possibility of any Class 1 or Class 2 wetlands being elevated to the most-protected Class 3 status.
Republican lawmakers claimed the provision would “clarify” definitions in the state’s wetlands statute.
It was a welcome change for builders, who in recent years have pressed elected officials to decrease wetlands regulations, which they say limit their construction abilities. Democrats, however, have remained vehemently opposed.
The amendment language closely mirrored a law adopted in 2021 that removed protections for Class 1 wetlands. Although considered to be less pristine, those wetlands still help reduce flooding and improve water quality.
At the time, supporters said that move would help developers and farmers to work on their land.
But developers returned to the Statehouse this session to lobby for additional wetlands rollbacks. They said the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has been upgrading Class 1 wetlands to Class 2 and Class 3 statuses, which are still regulated by the state.