'Last line of defense': New bill would strip protections for many of Indiana's wetlands

[douglas9]

Indiana has already lost 85% of the wetlands it once had a century ago, many drained for farming and development. Now, environmentalists, engineers and residents are concerned that the few wetlands that remain are under threat.

A new bill proposed this legislative session would repeal the state’s wetlands law, stripping protections for many of the wetlands that still exist across Indiana. Those who support Senate Bill 389 say it’s needed to remove red tape for builders and developers.

Wetlands are critical to the landscape, according to experts. They help absorb water and prevent flooding, they recharge groundwater resources — which provide a majority of Indiana’s drinking water — and they filter water as it soaks into the ground.

The Clean Water Act protected many of Indiana’s wetlands until last year, when changes by the Trump administration left as much as half of them without federal cover.



https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/politics/last-line-of-defense-new-bill-would-strip-protections-for-many-of-indianas-wetlands/article_a00bddee-6251-11eb-bfcc-2fa3346775df.html

[Captain Zero]

1. Is this where Victoria Spartz's family benefits?

Didn't she get this rolling when she was in the Legislature, and now she is in Congress.

We need to track where Indiana Legislators' personal interests profit from these decimations of the public trust.

[douglas9]

2. Lawmaker wants to deregulate wetlands. Her family once was cited for bulldozing them. (Feb 2020)

Environmental advocates are worried a bill that would prevent the state from protecting certain wetlands will lead to more flooding, less clean water and the loss of wildlife.

But it’s not just what the bill would do that has drawn criticism. Good government experts are also expressing concern over the appropriateness of who is authoring the legislation.

Sen. Victoria Spartz, R-Noblesville, wrote Senate Bill 229, which removes state oversight of certain wetlands near what are called regulated drains, which are thousands of miles of man-made ditches, streams, sewers and drainage pipes constructed throughout Indiana in the past century to alleviate flooding.

Hamilton County Surveyor Kent Ward says he brought the idea to Spartz, who is his local senator. He thinks the state overreached when it made the county pay more than $140,000 in taxpayer money to restore a wetlands the county cut down while repairing such a drainage system.

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/17/indiana-sen-victoria-spartz-bill-deregulate-wetlands-raises-eyebrows/4564178002/