INDIANAPOLIS — The clock is ticking for a controversial bill that creates statewide standards for placement of solar and wind farms.
The deadline for the Senate Utilities Committee to vote on HB 1381 is 12:30 p.m. April 8, said Ryan Kommes, a representative for committee chair Sen. Eric Koch.
“If it doesn’t pass out of the committee by then, it’s dead for the session,” Kommes said. The committee’s schedule does not show a hearing on HB 1381 this week.
The bill is opposed by a large number of county governments in Indiana because “it essentially eliminates local jurisdiction over zoning control of siting wind turbines and solar panel fields,” Bartholomew County attorney Grant Tucker said.
Both the Association of Indiana Counties and the Indiana Association of County Commissioners are opposed to the proposed legislation. Government officials from more than 60 Indiana counties, including Bartholomew, have passed resolutions or written letters to state lawmakers to voice their objections.
The Bartholomew County commissioner’s letter is dated March 4. However, the three members waited two-and-a-half weeks to approve a resolution that formally places their objections into the public record.
For more on this story, see Sunday’s Republic.
