Bill Watch 2020

SB 46 started out as an exemption for churches and schools from stormwater fees, even though their roofs and parking lots contribute to stormwater problems. The bill has been changed to a summer study bill. To learn about the scale of the stormwater problem in our state, read the IndyStar's article Stormwater is no friend to the White River.

Learn more about HEC's Drinking Water, River & Lake Protection work.

HEC supports giving local governments additional options for funding their public transit systems. In 2014, the Indiana General Assembly provided new funding options for central Indiana. In response, Indianapolis-Marion County voters approved a modest new transit tax that is funding a substantial expansion of the IndyGo transit system, including three new bus rapid transit routes, one of which — the Red Line — is already in service. New legislation to give this same funding flexibility to other communities in Indiana  --  SB 369 -- was introduced this session but was defeated on the Senate floor in a 22 to 27 vote.  See how your senator voted.

Critics of IndyGo's Red Line BRT service, who helped defeat SB 369, have also added an anti-transit amendment to HB 1279, a bill concerning transit development districts in Northwest Indiana.  This amendment would reduce Marion County's allocation of transit tax revenue, effectively preventing completion of the two additional planned BRT lines -- the Blue Line and the Purple Line.  Learn more about IndyGo, its BRT routes, and how the system improvements are driving ridership growth.   HEC opposes this anti-transit amendment in HB 1279.

Find more information about your local public transit system.

Learn more about HEC's vision for Sustainable Transportation in Indiana.

Counties, cities and towns have authority to regulate land use in their jurisdiction, including mining and logging activities that occur on private lands. In the last two legislative sessions, a bill has been filed to eliminate this local government authority, and similar legislation is expected again in 2020. Poor logging practices and mining can increase sediment runoff into nearby streams and lakes. State government does not regulate timber harvesting on private lands, nor does it regulate mining in floodplains (other than coal mining) such as sand and gravel extraction. Thus local government provides the only protection against environmental harm from these activities. Read our 2019 fact sheet.

Despite an outpouring of calls to veto SB 229, Governor Holcomb signed the bill into law on March 25, 2020. 

Final Roll Call Votes: Senate, House - please contact your lawmakers and express your disappointment for those who voted in favor - and gratitude for those who voted against.

Background:  24% of Indiana’s land used to be wetlands. Most of our wetlands were drained in the 1800’s to make way for farms and towns, so they are now closer to 3%. Wetlands provide water purification, flood reduction, and wildlife habitat. In 2003 the legislature recognized the value of preserving the remaining wetlands and wrote Indiana’s Isolated Wetlands Law.

SEA 229 creates a new exemption in that law for drain reconstruction.  The legal definition of ‘drain reconstruction’ is “extensive repairs or changes” including widening, deepening, or “making any major change” -  in other words, large-scale work that could destroy wetlands.  Current law doesn’t prohibit reconstruction, it just requires projects to go through the permitting process to preserve as much wetland as possible, and replace what can’t be preserved.

According to Purdue scientists, Indiana now receives 6.5 inches more precipitation per year than it did when data were first recorded in the 1890’s, so we need the water storage function of our wetlands more than ever.

Read our fact sheet. Read Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette and KPC News editorials calling for a veto.

HEC's Statement:

Despite having his administration’s environmental agency (IDEM) openly oppose SEA 229 during the legislative session, today Governor Holcomb signed into law a bill that needlessly deregulates protection of the state’s wetlands.  SEA 229 will exempt reconstruction of drains from the Indiana Isolated Wetlands Law.  According to the Drainage Code, reconstruction of drains includes extensive work like enlarging, widening, and “making any major change”; such land-altering changes will damage or destroy any wetlands that are involved.   SEA 229 has undefined terms that could lead to litigation.  It exempts drain reconstruction as long as the reconstruction “does not substantially change the characteristics of the drain”.  The phrase ‘substantially change’ is vague and subjective.  The term ‘characteristics’ is not defined in the law.  It is not certain whether ‘characteristics’ refers to the length, width, depth of the drain, the materials used to construct it, or to some other feature.  If the state agency challenges a drain reconstruction project for making what it considers a substantial change, the case could well wind up in court where a judge would have to decide on the definition of the terms ‘substantially change’ and ‘characteristics’.  The law also leads to increased federal involvement.  SEA 229 creates an exemption that applies to state protected wetlands, but not to federally regulated wetlands.  To use the exemption in SEA 229, surveyors will need determinations from the US Army Corps of Engineers as to whether wetlands are state or federal. The Governor’s action on SEA 229 was opposed by many. Dozens of organizations and hundreds of individuals around the state urged the Governor to veto SEA 229, and though not in the majority, a total 46 of the state’s legislators, including members of both parties, voted against it.  “Indiana has less than 15% of its original wetlands left.  In 2003, the Indiana legislature recognized the value of preserving the remaining wetlands and wrote the Isolated Wetlands Law.  We are sorry to see this new exemption in that law because it will inevitably injure more wetlands that provide absolutely vital water purification, flood protection, and wildlife habitat.  With our bipartisan legislative allies and many partners, we will work to find different means of protecting our precious remaining wetlands.” -  Indra Frank, Director of Environmental Health and Water Policy, Hoosier Environmental Council.

Learn more about HEC's Drinking Water, River & Lake Protection work.

SB 293 enables citizens to have access to the data and map-making software that lawmakers have via a dedicated website; this allows citizens to propose maps to their lawmakers (i.e., citizens-drawn maps). The bill also sets up public meetings both before the mapmaking process begins (to discuss topics such as “communities of interest”) and after initial maps have been drawn. Gerrymandering of legislative districts depresses voting, discourages civic activity, and favors the election of ideologues over problem solvers. Learn about why redistricting reform matters for environmental protection, and how you can get involved to enact redistricting reform.

Learn more about the importance of Democracy Reform.