Indiana is at the forefront of a federal push to give states more oversight of environmental protections.
Officials from Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency visited the state Tuesday to announce efforts to put Indiana in charge of issuing coal permits, managing the disposal of coal ash and other waste.
EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi said giving Indiana regulatory authority will safeguard human health and the environment while saving money.
“Let me be very clear: this step reinforces, not weakens, safeguards for human health and the environment,” he said. “It allows Hoosiers to decide what is best for Indiana instead of folks sitting behind desks in Washington, D.C.”
Indiana has more coal ash dumpsites than any other state. Nine other states could also join Indiana in issuing their own coal combustion residuals (CCR) permits.
Fotouhi said that the broad intent is to reduce regulation and help bring down the cost of energy.
“It will support Indiana energy. It will lead to lower energy costs, and it will help support grid reliability, and it will mean more regulatory certainty for industries across the state that rely on affordable and reliable power,” Fotouhi said.
Governor Mike Braun told reporters the state will still hold companies to high environmental standards.
“I think to just assume that there would be anything being laxed or done at a lower level of concern or quality would be a bad assumption,” he said. “When it comes to protecting our own resources, our environment, I'm going to make sure that we do everything that makes sure that we keep cleaning up our waterways.”
Braun has not shied away from discussions of climate change in the past, and said that moves should not be taken as a signal that pollution isn’t an issue.
“For me, as a governor who is a conservationist, loves the land and is clear that keeping our environment safe and enhancing it over time is going to be a priority,” he said.
Indiana environmental experts had a more mixed reaction to Tuesday’s announcement.
Indra Frank is with the Hoosier Environmental Council, which she said did extensive work on the rule the EPA is moving to approve, putting Indiana in charge of CCR permits.
“The rule as written is in good shape,” Frank said. “I do have to put a caveat on that, however. Unfortunately, Indiana's good coal ash rule is at risk going forward.”
Frank points to a 2023 law keeping the state’s environmental protection agency from instituting coal ash rules more stringent than the federal government. That matters because the Trump administration is currently trying to loosen federal CCR regulations.
“My chief concern is that the federal rule could get weakened,” Frank said. “Since Indiana has tied itself to that federal rule, we could ultimately wind up with the same deregulation.”
Kim Ferraro, managing attorney with the Conservation Law Center, said she’s concerned about the broader impact.
“I just think it's part of a much larger effort, you know, to roll back longstanding environmental protections, and it should be very concerning for everybody that likes to breathe air and drink water,” she said.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management said the state would have to assess federal rule changes as they come.
“If there are changes to federal regulation, Indiana will likely need to adopt a rule change to align with proposed federal updates and obtain EPA approval to administer those updates,” the spokesperson said.
The program will require a public hearing and public comment period before receiving final approval.
The coal announcement comes as the Trump Administration announced a repeal of rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions from gas and coal power plants.
Fotouhi said the move could save $300 billion in regulatory costs.
National environmental groups have said the repeals will continue to exacerbate climate change and harm human health. Indiana recently experienced major floods and extreme weather, which state experts say are linked to climate change.
Following the press conference, Rep. Earl Harris (D-East Chicago) put out a statement opposing the rollback of greenhouse gas emission regulations.
“Gov. Braun alleges these deregulations will save billions of dollars in energy production,” he said. “Even if that is the case, what we save on energy production we will have to spend in healthcare mitigating the harms of this disastrous decision.”
Contact Government Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org
