Wolkins' 'No More Stringent' Bill Nears Vote
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Staff Report-
The Republican-controlled Indiana House passed HB 1143 Jan. 28 on a 68-28 partisan vote. The measure, which Senate Environmental Committee Chair Senator Ed Charbonneau has indicated he plans to hear Monday, would bar Indiana’s environmental regulators “from adopting a rule or standard that is more stringent than” corresponding federal rules or standards, the Associated Press reports.
State Rep. David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake, said the measure he’s offered for several years is aimed at curtailing future actions by state regulators he fears could someday pursue environmental regulations that would be costly to Indiana’s industries.
“Political appointees come and go. And if we get somebody who is a very rabid environmentalist, the fact is, they just don’t pay any attention to the cost of things,” he told the AP.
Wolkins also defended the bill in a letter to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Sunday, saying it would give stability to businesses that must comply with environmental regulations by allowing them to make long-term decisions. He also noted the bill has nothing to do with lobbyists, industries or the American Legislative Exchange Council, for which he is a state chair.
“We as a state are already mandated to follow standards from the Environmental Protection Agency. I see no need to go beyond those standards,” Wolkins wrote. “We have a no more stringent role in dealing with our labor laws that have been in effect for many years, and it has not created any problems.”
Beverly Gard, a former Republican state senator who repeatedly blocked Wolkins’ introduction of the bill before retiring in 2012, said the measure is “bad public policy” and would bind the hands of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Gard, who now heads Indiana's Environmental Rules Board that handles rule-making for air, water and solid waste regulations, said existing state law already details what steps must be taken if rules are proposed that are more stringent than existing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.
If the bill passes the Legislature, she said it could have numerous ramifications, including limiting what rules IDEM could propose to address the large amounts of manure produced by the state’s big livestock farms.
“The current statue seems to me to be working, and Indiana hasn’t had a history of really going overboard on environmental rule-making as far as rules more stringent than federal standards,” Gard told the AP. “I think it’s bad public policy. It just wouldn’t allow Indiana the flexibility to meet its needs.”
Sixteen state and regional organizations have gone on record opposing the bill, including the State Medical Association, American Lung Association of Indiana, Indiana Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club-Hoosier Chapter and the Hoosier Environmental Council.
Jesse Kharbanda, HEC executive director, said the group strongly opposes Wolkins’ bill. He said that if the measure becomes law it would hamstring the state’s response to environmental concerns such as coal ash sludge and large factory-style livestock farms.
“Especially in the wake of the so recent, massive chemical spill in West Virginia, which denied 300,000 people drinking water for days, it’s remarkably unwise to effectively disable Indiana’s executive branch to deal with a wide array of environmental challenges,” Kharbanda told the AP.
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The Republican-controlled Indiana House passed HB 1143 Jan. 28 on a 68-28 partisan vote. The measure, which Senate Environmental Committee Chair Senator Ed Charbonneau has indicated he plans to hear Monday, would bar Indiana’s environmental regulators “from adopting a rule or standard that is more stringent than” corresponding federal rules or standards, the Associated Press reports.
State Rep. David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake, said the measure he’s offered for several years is aimed at curtailing future actions by state regulators he fears could someday pursue environmental regulations that would be costly to Indiana’s industries.
“Political appointees come and go. And if we get somebody who is a very rabid environmentalist, the fact is, they just don’t pay any attention to the cost of things,” he told the AP.
Wolkins also defended the bill in a letter to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Sunday, saying it would give stability to businesses that must comply with environmental regulations by allowing them to make long-term decisions. He also noted the bill has nothing to do with lobbyists, industries or the American Legislative Exchange Council, for which he is a state chair.
“We as a state are already mandated to follow standards from the Environmental Protection Agency. I see no need to go beyond those standards,” Wolkins wrote. “We have a no more stringent role in dealing with our labor laws that have been in effect for many years, and it has not created any problems.”
Beverly Gard, a former Republican state senator who repeatedly blocked Wolkins’ introduction of the bill before retiring in 2012, said the measure is “bad public policy” and would bind the hands of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Gard, who now heads Indiana's Environmental Rules Board that handles rule-making for air, water and solid waste regulations, said existing state law already details what steps must be taken if rules are proposed that are more stringent than existing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.
If the bill passes the Legislature, she said it could have numerous ramifications, including limiting what rules IDEM could propose to address the large amounts of manure produced by the state’s big livestock farms.
“The current statue seems to me to be working, and Indiana hasn’t had a history of really going overboard on environmental rule-making as far as rules more stringent than federal standards,” Gard told the AP. “I think it’s bad public policy. It just wouldn’t allow Indiana the flexibility to meet its needs.”
Sixteen state and regional organizations have gone on record opposing the bill, including the State Medical Association, American Lung Association of Indiana, Indiana Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club-Hoosier Chapter and the Hoosier Environmental Council.
Jesse Kharbanda, HEC executive director, said the group strongly opposes Wolkins’ bill. He said that if the measure becomes law it would hamstring the state’s response to environmental concerns such as coal ash sludge and large factory-style livestock farms.
“Especially in the wake of the so recent, massive chemical spill in West Virginia, which denied 300,000 people drinking water for days, it’s remarkably unwise to effectively disable Indiana’s executive branch to deal with a wide array of environmental challenges,” Kharbanda told the AP.
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