INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A state senator has killed legislation that would bar
Indiana environmental regulators from creating standards harsher than
federal rules.
Senate
Environmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Charbonneau held the bill
during the committee's last meeting of this year's legislative session
Monday. The House earlier passed the bill 68-28.
Bill sponsor
state Rep. David Wolkins of Winona Lake says the bill would have kept the
state from imposing unnecessary and expensive regulations on industries.
Opponents say it would have tied regulators' hands and blocked them from
creating Indiana-specific requirements.
Wolkins says he's
been trying to pass the legislation for about two decades. The previous
Senate committee chairwoman refused to review the bill and later called it
"bad public policy."