INDIANA — The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) announced a major regulatory rollback Monday, rescinding more than a quarter of its active non-rule policy documents and urging federal officials to eliminate hundreds of outdated quasi-regulatory guidance documents.
The state actions are designed to increase agency transparency, strengthen regulatory accountability, and eliminate bureaucratic burdens across Indiana’s environmental sector.
State-Level Policy Rescissions
Under legislation recently enacted by the Indiana General Assembly, IDEM is required to review and re-adopt its Non-Rule Policy Documents (NPDs) every five years. NPDs serve as agency-drafted interpretations of environmental statutes and rules. While they lack the formal force of law, they heavily influence agency decision-making and compliance expectations for businesses and communities.
IDEM is rescinding 26 of its 103 non-rule policies across its offices of Air, Land, and Water Quality, removing roughly 176 pages of outdated guidance.
Key rescinded policies include:
- Water-006 (Wetlands Deed Restriction): Identified as obsolete, duplicative, and in conflict with current state regulations.
- Air-017 (Annual Non-Methane Organic Compound Reports for Landfills): Originally issued in 1998; rendered obsolete by subsequent rulemaking.
- Air-035 (Permitting Ethanol Production Facilities): Originally issued in 2011; superseded by rulemaking.
- Waste-0058 (Use of Chipped Tires in Sewage Systems): Originally issued in 2005; suspended by subsequent rules.
“Business and communities benefit when standards are clear and free from bureaucratic burdens,” said Gov. Mike Braun. “By cutting unnecessary red tape, Indiana can better focus on achieving meaningful environmental outcomes.”
The policy rollback supports Governor Braun’s Executive Order 25-17, which mandates that state agencies reduce regulatory requirements by 25 percent by 2029.
“While non-rule policies can serve useful purposes, without oversight they can evolve into shadow regulations,” said IDEM Commissioner Clint Woods. “Routine review is essential to keeping our regulatory framework clear, consistent, and aligned with statutory authority. This is one of the most significant single-day reductions in unnecessary red-tape in Indiana’s history.”
Push for Federal Regulatory Reform
In addition to state-level cuts, IDEM transmitted a formal letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi, submitting recommendations for the federal agency to review, update, or eliminate more than 500 federal guidance documents.
Commissioner Woods highlighted that federal “shadow regulations” often bypass public notice-and-comment procedures, interagency review, and formal economic impact analyses while placing heavy compliance burdens on state agencies and local industries.
Dr. John Graham, Chair of the Indiana Environmental Rules Board and former Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, backed IDEM’s push for federal reform.
“Federal quasi-regulatory activities can cost states like Indiana thousands of jobs and impose millions in extra compliance costs for manufacturers and everyday consumers without going through a rigorous process subject to judicial, economic, or interagency review,” Dr. Graham said.
Next Steps
Over the coming weeks, IDEM will transfer the 26 rescinded policies to the “No Longer Effective” archive on its official website with a “Rescinded” watermark and formally notify the Indiana Legislative Services Agency of the updates.
