Amendment to SB 389 better than worse alternatives

By Linda Gibson

The House Environmental Affairs Committee has amended SB 389 to make some moderate changes to the law protecting Indiana’s wetlands, rather than deleting it altogether as the original bill proposed.

Tucked among the moderate changes, however, are a couple of more drastic ones. Protection for any wetland dependent on an ephemeral stream would be dropped. Also dropped is a statement from the 2003 law that the goal of mitigation is “a net gain in high quality wetlands.” 

The Hoosier Environmental Council, in a detailed statement, urges members and the public to oppose any further amendments, to support the creation of a task force to study Indiana’s wetlands and to oppose the Senate version of SB 389, which would eliminate all regulation and protection of state wetlands.

The House is expected to vote a second time on the bill on Monday, April 12. The chart below, by the Hoosier Environmental Council, compares various versions of the bill.

	Senate version 389	Amendment 19
Indiana Wetlands Law	Repeals	Modifies	Amendment 24 Modifies
Class I wetlands	Removes protection	Removes protection	No change*
Class II wetlands	Removes protection	Reduces protection	No change
Class III wetlands	Removes protection	No change	No change
Cumulative impact	Removes requirements	Reduces requirements	No change
Ephemeral streams	No change	Removes protection	No change
Compensatory mitigation	Removes requirements	Significantly reduces requirements	Moderately reduces requirements
Wetlands that exist “only because of an ephemeral stream”	Removes protection	Removes protection	Removes protection
Development of cropland with wetland	all wetlands in cropland can be developed	If used for agriculture in the last 10 years	If used for agriculture in the last 10 years
Maintain a field tile within a wetland	all tiles in wetlands can be repaired	With a permit if it does not drain the wetland	With a permit if it does not drain the wetland
IDEM’s time to issue a wetland permit	Not applicable	Reduces from 120 to 90 days	Reduces from 120 to 90 days
Statement that the goal is “a net gain in high quality wetlands”	Eliminates	Eliminates	Eliminates