2015 Indiana Legislative Bills Relevant to Environmental Health
2015 Indiana Legislative Bills Relevant to Environmental Health
Submitted by the General Environmental Health Services Committee
SB 14: Local Air Pollution Control Agency Contracts
Authored by: Sen. Lonnie Randolph
Digest:Local air pollution control agency contracts. Authorizes a county, city, or town to establish or designate an agency to act for the county, city, or town as a local air pollution control agency. Requires the commissioner of the department of environmental management to enter into a contract with a county, city, or town air pollution control agency that is willing to enter into the contract. Provides that a contract between the department and a county, city, or town air pollution control agency must: (1) require the department to advise, cooperate with, and provide technical assistance to the air pollution controlagency; (2) authorize the air pollution control agency to undertake air pollution control activities on behalf of the department or in enforcement of ordinances of the county, city, or town; and (3) provide for the payment of fair monetary compensation for the air pollution control activities performed by the air pollution control agency. Requires that the compensation paid to the air pollution control agency be at least sufficient to cover the agency's staffing and operating costs and that the rate of compensation be adjusted each year according to changes in the Consumer Price Index.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/06/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Environmental Affairs
SB 52: State Response to Federal Environmental Policies
Authored by: Sen. James Buck
Digest:Establishes the federal natural resource policy account for influencing, litigating, or mitigating federal natural resource policy decisions. Specifies the permitted uses of the account. Requires annual reporting on the use of the account. Appropriates $1,000,000 to the account.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/06/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Environmental Affairs
SB 60: Genetically Modified Food
Authored by: Sen. Dennis Kruse
Digest:Provides that, beginning July 1, 2016, any food that is offered for retail sale is misbranded if it is not disclosed that the food is or may have been entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering. Provides that, beginning July 1, 2016, a food that is genetically engineered or a processed food may not state or imply that the food is natural. Establishes exceptions to the disclosure requirements and prohibition on stating a food is natural. Requires the state department of health (state department) to administer and enforce the disclosure and labeling requirements. Allows the state department to adopt rules.Establishes a Class A infraction for violations. Allows the state department or a person to seek an injunction for a violation.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/06/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources
SB 128: Dissolution of Certain Regional Sewage Districts
Authored by: Sen. Travis Holdman
Digest:Authorizes the dissolution of a regional sewage district that: (1) includes territory in only one county; (2) has the purpose of providing for the collection, treatment, and disposal of sewage within the district; (3) was established in response to an agreed order entered into after August 31, 2005, by the department of environmental management and the executive and fiscal bodies of the county; and (4) has not issued revenue bonds. Provides that the district may be dissolved by decision of a majority of the members of the district board of trustees. Requires the board, in dissolving the district, to payoff the debts and liabilities of the district and to remit any remaining assets of the district to the county treasurer for deposit in the county general fund.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/06/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Environmental Affairs
SB 178: Nuclear Energy Projects
Authored by: Sen. James Merritt
Digest:Provides that projects involving the construction of nuclear energy production or generating facilities qualify for the financial incentives available for clean energy projects. (Current law provides that only projects involving the life cycle management of such facilities qualify for the incentives.) For purposes of the statute governing the incentives, amends the definition of: (1) "nuclear energy production or generating facility" to include a facility constructed in Indiana after June 30, 2015; and (2) "qualified utility system expenses" to specify that the term includes preconstruction costs and applies to a new energy production or generating facility or a new nuclear energyproduction or generating facility.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/06/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Utilities
SB 244: Lead-Based Paint Hazard Program
Authored by: Sen. Jean Breaux
Digest:Requires the state department of health to seek authorization from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to administer and enforce, in Indiana, the EPA's program to address lead-based paint hazards created by renovation, repair, and painting activities that disturb lead-based paint in certain housing structures and facilities.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/06/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Environmental Affairs
SB 264: Genetically Engineered Food
Authored by: Sen. Dennis Kruse
Digest:Provides that, beginning July 1, 2016, any food that is offered for retail sale is misbranded if it is not disclosed that the food is or may have been entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering. Provides that, beginning July 1, 2016, a food that is genetically engineered or a processed food may not state or imply that the food is natural. Establishes exceptions to the disclosure requirements and prohibition on stating a food is natural. Requires the state department of health (department) to administer and enforce the disclosure and labeling requirements. Allows the department to adopt rules. Establishes aClass A infraction for violations. Allows the department or a person to seek an injunction for a violation.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/07/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Commerce & Technology
SB 312: Tank Registration and Water Threat Minimization
Authored by: Sen. Ed Charbonneau
Digest:Requires the owner of an above ground storage tank that has a capacity of at least 200 gallons and that is used to contain any liquid other than drinking water or residential heating fuel to register the tank with the department of environmental management (department). Requires the person responsible for the operation of a public water system that uses surface water as a source of drinking water to develop and maintain a surface water threat minimization and response plan. Specifies certain contents that a surface water threat minimization and response plan must include and requires that the plan be submittedto and approved by the commissioner of the department. Provides for the adoption of rules by the environmental rules board.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/08/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Environmental Affairs
S 01/13/2015 Senator Stoops added as coauthor
SB 322: Fresh Food Initiative
Authored by: Sen. Randall Head
Digest:Establishes the food desert grant program within the division of nutrition and physical activity to assist new businesses and existing businesses to offer fresh and unprocessed foods within a food desert. Makes an appropriation.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/08/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Commerce & Technology
SB 404: Manure Structure Approval Disclosure Requirements
Authored by: Sen. Jeff Raatz
Digest:Provides that an application to the department of environmental management for approval of the construction or expansion of a satellite manure storage structure must include a disclosure statement providing certain information about each "responsible party" (each individual who is an applicant or an officer, director, or senior management official of an entity that is an applicant) about whom there has been an allegation of an act or omission constituting a material violation of state, federal, or foreign environmental law that presented a substantial endangerment to human health or the environment.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/12/2015 Coauthored by Senator Crider
S 01/12/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Environmental Affairs
SB 431: DNR Director Authority Over Dewatering Wells
Authored by: Sen. Rick Niemeyer
Digest:Amends the law concerning the emergency regulation of ground water rights to: (1) include within the definition of "dewatering well" a water well or pump system that is used as part of a mining project to remove water from an area being mined; (2) authorize the director of the department of natural resources (director) to declare a ground water emergency when an investigation discloses that a dewatering well has caused a significant ground water withdrawal facility to fail to produce water in a quantity sufficient for the beneficial use for which the facility owner uses the water; and (3) providethat, in the case of a ground water emergency arising from the failure of a significant ground water withdrawal facility caused by a dewatering well, the timely and reasonable compensation that the director may order for the benefit of the facility owner is limited to: (A) restoring the affected significant ground water withdrawal facility to the facility's former water production capability; or (B) providing to the facility owner an alternative supply of water to replace the water lost through the facility's failure.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/12/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Environmental Affairs
SB 461: State Department of Health Matters
Authored by: Sen. Patricia Miller, Sen. Vaneta Becker
Digest:Specifies that hospital discharge information filed with the state department of health (state department) is confidential except under specified circumstances. Further specifies the circumstances for the review of the death of a child by a local child fatality review team. Allows a local child fatality review team to review the near fatality or serious injury of a child. Adds hepatitis A to the list of school children immunizations. Requires the state department, before November 30 of each year, to publish a two year immunization calendar. Provides information to parents of grade 6 students concerning the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. (Currentlanguage provides this information only to parents of female grade 6 students.) Requires the state department to provide the department of education with immunization materials and requires the materials to be distributed to students' parents and guardians. Requires a health care provider who administers an immunization to enter the information into the state immunization registry. Requires a school corporation to ensure that immunization information is complete in the state immunization registry not later than the first Friday in February. Specifies that onsite sewage systems of private homes built by the individual are required to comply with state laws and rules.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/14/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Health and Provider Services
S 01/22/2015 Committee report: do pass, adopted
S 01/22/2015 Senator Stoops added as coauthor
S 01/26/2015 Second reading: ordered engrossed
S 01/26/2015 Senator Becker added as second author
SB 473: Voluntary Monitoring of Water Resources
Authored by: Sen. Ed Charbonneau, Sen. Rick Niemeyer
Digest:Requires the department of natural resources (department) to establish a program under which volunteers may monitor the water resource (which, as defined in IC 14-25-7, includes both ground water and surface water) and provide monitoring data to the natural resources commission and the department. Provides that the department shall: (1) train the volunteers participating in the program in the proper collection and transmission of data; (2) determine the location and ensure the adequacy of the monitoring wells used in the program; and (3) conduct water resource monitoring independent of the program to verify the quality of the data derived fromthe program. Requires the department, in selecting the areas in which volunteers will monitor the water resource through the program, to give priority to areas in which temporary failures of nonsignificant ground water withdrawal facilities have been confirmed and areas in which the potential exists for ground water withdrawals to exceed the natural replenishment of the aquifer.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/14/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Environmental Affairs
S 01/22/2015 Senator Niemeyer added as second author
SB 479: Evaluation of Solid Waste Management Districts
Authored by: Sen. Liz Brown, Sen. Rick Niemeyer
Digest:Requires the environmental rules board (board) to adopt rules establishing objective criteria for the evaluation of solid waste management districts and to set quantitative standards by which the numerical score of a district for each criterion may be determined to be "acceptable" or "unacceptable". Allows the board, by placing districts into separate categories for purposes of evaluation, to adjust for factors favoring or inhibiting success in promoting recycling, such as the population and population density of a district, the relative cost of disposing of solid waste in a district, and the distance from a district to establishments that purchase recycledmaterials. Requires the board to set an overall quantitative standard and to give each district an overall assessment of "acceptable" or "unacceptable" based on the district's numerical scores for all objective criteria. Provides that: (1) if a single county solid waste management district receives one overall assessment of "unacceptable", the board of the district may propose to the county council that the district be dissolved; (2) if a single county solid waste management district receives two consecutive overall assessments of "unacceptable", the county council may dissolve the district; and (3) if a joint solid waste management district receives one overall assessment of "unacceptable", the county council of any county that is a member of the joint district may elect to withdraw from the district. Allows a county, after dissolving its single county solid waste management district or withdrawing from a joint solid waste management district, to no longer be designated as a single county solid waste management district or be a member of a joint solid waste management district.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/14/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Environmental Affairs
S 01/22/2015 Senator Niemeyer added as second author
SB 529: Septic Tank Inspection and Fees
Authored by: Sen. Douglas Eckerty
Digest:Provides that a regional sewage district (district) may not: (1) inspect a septic tank soil absorption system (system); or (2) impose a fee for an inspection of a system. Provides that a property owner may bring a civil action against a district that inspects a system or charges a fee for an inspection. Provides that a prevailing property owner may recover reasonable attorney's fees and court costs.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/14/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Environmental Affairs
SB 569: The Reliable, Affordable, and Safe Power Act
Authored by: Sen. Scott Schneider
Digest:Provides that, in response to the federal Environmental Protection Agency Clean Power Plan regulatory activity: (1) the governor and attorney general shall take appropriate steps to protect the state's sovereignty and police power authority in light of the designed federalism under the federal Clean Air Act; (2) the department of environmental management may examine the implications of preparing and implementing proposed regulations, but may not prepare or implement a state implementation plan until completion of judicial review concerning the legality of regulations under the federal Clean Air Act for existing power plants has been fully resolved at law; (3) theutility regulatory commission may not allow electric generating units to be retired prior to their engineering lifetime if the unit is necessary to maintain the grid reliability specified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in its reliability standards. Requires electric generating units in existence on July 1, 2015, be operated in accordance with their design parameters and in a manner that ensures operation consonant with the initial design life of the unit at the time of its utility regulatory commission approval, and may not allow electric generating units to be retired prior to their engineering lifetime unless the owners of the units have fully recouped the cost of construction and financing, the replacement generation results in lower costs to consumers, and there is sufficient replacement capacity to meet dispatchable capacity of the unit to be retired.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
S 01/20/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Utilities
HB 1020: Removal of Obstructions from Streams
Authored by: Rep. Ronald Bacon
Digest:Amends the law providing for the removal of obstructions from mutual drains and natural surface watercourses to make the law apply also to the removal of obstructions from streams. Provides that the owner of a tract of land that is adversely affected by an obstruction in a stream may petition the drainage board of the county in which the obstruction is located for the removal of the obstruction, even if the owner's tract of land is not located in the county in which the obstruction is located. Provides for an investigation by the county surveyor in response to the petition.Requires the drainage board to order the removal of the obstruction if it finds that removal of the obstruction: (1) will promote better drainage of the petitioner's tract of land or alleviate an adverse effect of the obstruction upon the petitioner's tract of land; and (2) will not cause unreasonable damage to the owners of the tract of land on which the obstruction is located. Provides for the cost of removing the obstruction to be paid by the owners of all tracts of land that are located in the county over which the drainage board has jurisdiction and are benefited by the stream. Provides for judicial review of the drainage board's order.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
H 01/06/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Local Government
H 01/12/2015 Representative Cherry added as coauthor
H 01/12/2015 Representative Smaltz added as coauthor
H 01/14/2015 Representative Niezgodski added as coauthor
HB 1097: Large Scale Discharges into State Waters
Authored by: Rep. Mike Aylesworth
Digest:Makes it a Class C infraction for a person to discharge more than 20 million gallons of water per day into any waters of the state without the approval of the director of the department of natural resources.
Bill Actions as of 1/27/2015
H 01/06/2015 First Reading: Referred to Committee on Natural Resources
HB 1111: Wabash, White, and Ohio River Aquifer Study
Authored by: Rep. Steven Stemler
Digest:Requires the department of natural resources (department) to: (1) identify, gather, and study information about the aquifers directly connected with the Wabash River, the White River, and the Ohio River; (2) establish and maintain a common data base containing the information gathered about those aquifers; (3) submit a status report concerning the information gathered and the study conducted to the interim study committee on environmental affairs (committee); and (4) identify and develop water conservation measures for the river basins of the Wabash River, the White River, and the Ohio River that are consistent with water conservation measures developed by thedepartment for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin. Requires the committee to study issues concerning water distribution systems relevant to the river basins of the Wabash River, the White River, and the Ohio River and to identify and examine measures necessary to the development of a plan to create a stable grid linking those water distribution systems.