« Law - More on flood insurance issues | Main | Law - Grandparents' rights granted in Ohio Supreme Court decision »

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Ind. Gov't. - Still more on "IDEM claim of quickly cleared cases is challenged"

The ILB has belatedly discovered that the Sunday Indianapolis Star carried this Letter to the Editor, titled "Keep light on IDEM and reporting of violations," about the Star's earlier story on IDEM enforcement statistics. It reads:

The Star identified an important problem in its article "New records show IDEM claim wrong" (Oct. 2). The article details how the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's new commissioner and new enforcement chief exaggerated the number of old cases that have been resolved since they took office.

I am an attorney who handles matters regularly with IDEM. In particular, I handle more of the enforcement matters described in the article than any other attorney in the state. I can attest that the transition at IDEM since Gov. Mitch Daniels took office has not been smooth.

One of the main concerns raised in the article is that IDEM may be sweeping many violations under the rug. The legislature shares this concern. State law requires IDEM to provide a detailed annual report regarding all environmental violations during the previous year that it views as minor. These violations are subject to reduced penalties or warnings. The law also requires the agency to issue regulations, through environmental management boards, to identify these violations.

Unfortunately, IDEM seems to regard this law as an unfortunate intrusion by the legislature into the agency's business. The result is that no one really knows what violations IDEM is failing to pursue. I hope that The Star will continue its coverage of the serious management problems at IDEM.

Mark E. Shere

For background, see this ILB entry from 10/1/2005, quoting the original Fort Wayne Journal Gazette story by Niki Kelly (later syndicated). This entry also includes links to a number of relevant documents. In addition, see this ILB entry from 10/3/05, linking to a copy the ILB obtained from IDEM of the list mentioned in Ms. Kelly's story.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 11, 2005 03:58 PM
Posted to Indiana Government