(Terre Haute) Tribune-Star
A legislative maneuver reminiscent of Chicago-style machine politics threatens to further degrade Indiana’s crucial, dwindling wetlands.
It was an arrogant tactic, enabled by the Republican Party’s supermajority status in the Indiana General Assembly.
Republicans in the Indiana House of Representatives used a bill to regulate septic systems — approved with bipartisan support in the Indiana Senate — as the tool to slide in an amendment that will make it more difficult to classify a wetland for protection. More specifically, it also will make it easier for developers to build on wetlands.
A Republican member of the environmental affairs committee introduced the amendment to the septic systems bill just two hours before that committee was to meet on March 22, The Indianapolis Star reported. The amendment appears to be a follow-up to the controversial law enacted by the legislature in 2021 that removed state oversight of most remaining wetlands — natural areas of saturated grounds. Those wetlands serve an important ecological function by naturally filtering water and mitigating flooding from heavy rainfall.
Originally, the 2021 legislation was intended to strip nearly all wetlands protections. Immense opposition to the plan led to a degree of compromise. Protections were kept by lawmakers for wetlands rated more highly as Class 2 or Class 3, The Star reported. It still opened the door for development on thousands of acres of wetlands, but at least the law — Senate Enrolled Act 389 — retained some crucial protections.
Apparently, that was not enough for the House GOP leadership.
The amendment introduced in the environmental affairs committee makes it harder to classify wetlands at a level 2 or 3. Under the existing 2021 law, wetlands could be protected by meeting one of three criteria — supporting minimal wildlife, serving as an aquatic habitat or possessing a hydrologic function (or being a rare wetland type). The new amendment would require a wetland to meet all three criteria.
Committee member Rep. Doug Miller, an Elkhart Republican and construction company owner, according to The Star, introduced the amendment. With its late introduction, just one person testified regarding the amendment — not surprisingly, the CEO of the Indiana Builders Association, a powerful lobbying group. Democrats failed to persuade committee chairman Rep. Alan Morrison, a Brazil Republican, to hold the bill to allow time for more consideration and public input.
During a recent second reading of the septic systems bill — Senate Bill 414 — the House Democrats’ attempt to remove the wetlands portion was defeated 64-32, according to the Indiana Environmental Reporter. Three Republicans, including Rep. Bruce Borders of Jasonville, voted with the Democrats.
A vote before the full House lies ahead, and the Senate must OK any changes to its bill. It appears unlikely the House will strip out the language that further endangers Indiana wetlands. If it does not, the Senate should.
As The Nature Conservancy put it, “Here we go again, another assault on wetlands in Indiana at a time when Hoosiers need this precious resource more than ever.”
Anyone wondering what the protection of wetlands can become should visit the Wabashiki Fish and Wildlife Area, set aside through former Gov. Mitch Daniels’ Healthy Rivers Initiative in 2010. Wetlands also can be far smaller, yet just as environmentally vital.
About 800,000 acres of wetlands remain in Indiana, according to the conservancy. As of the passage of the 2021 law, more than 85% of historic Hoosier wetlands had been lost to farming and development, The Star reported. A committee of experts — assembled by Gov. Eric Holcomb after the legislature gutted many wetlands protections with the 2021 law — concluded the state needs to safeguard more of those vital remaining acres, not fewer.
The House’s sneaky tactic to dodge public and opposition scrutiny and thus dismantle wetlands protections circumvents the democratic process. A majority of Hoosiers support wetlands protections.
The ruling party’s power play should not stand.