State pollution standards ruled tougher than federal guidelines

INDIANAPOLIS -- A committee removed from a bill a provision that would have barred state agencies from enacting pollution rules tougher than federal standards after a top senator who handles environmental issues insisted on the change.\nSen. Beverly Gard, who had decried the measure as "horrible public policy," said Monday that late last week she refused to sign any conference committee compromise related to environmental issues until the provision was removed from the bill.\n"I essentially said, 'We're not doing anything until this is gone,'" said Gard, a Greenfield Republican who chairs the Senate Energy and Environmental Affairs Committee. "I think it was more important than anything else that was out there on the table."\nRepublican Sen. Michael Young of Indianapolis, the sponsor of a bill that included the provision, agreed Thursday to remove it from the legislation that regulates small \nbusinesses.\nConference committee members reviewing the bill approved the change, Young said.\nSuch revisions are common late in legislative sessions, when lawmakers try to negotiate compromises on bills.\nBut the dispute over the environmental provision sparked a rare war of words between two Republicans: Gard and Rep. David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake.\nThe contentious provision, authored by Wolkins, would have barred the state's air pollution and water pollution control boards from adopting rules or standards more stringent than U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.\nIt originally was included in a House bill but was inserted into Young's Senate bill after about 130 House bills died in March when House Democrats staged a walkout.\nGard said the revived provisions posed a threat to public health because situations sometimes arise where the state's pollution control boards need to impose rules tougher than federal standards.\nWolkins said Monday that he agreed to ask Young to remove the provisions partly because a legislative study group has been created to examine the issue over the summer. He, Gard and others will be part of the group.