Legislation that would restrict Indiana environmental officials’ ability to regulate nuclear power plants advanced at the Indiana Statehouse Thursday.
If signed into law, Senate Bill 258 would no longer allow a person to obtain a permit from the state's Department of Environmental Management in order to build, operate or increase the capacity of a nuclear power facility or a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. The IDEM commissioner would also lose the ability to convene a public hearing on the environmental effects of a facility.
IDEM leaders proposed the bill. During the Senate Utilities Committee meeting, staff explained that the language in Indiana law is redundant because those responsibilities are the federal government’s under law.
“The federal government maintains exclusive authority over radiological safety and the construction and operation of nuclear facilities,” said Alex Goodnight, an IDEM deputy legislative director. “The state can’t regulate radiological safety. We can keep an eye on things, of course, but it’s up to the federal government.”
He said that the federal government’s authority derives from the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources Conservation & Development Commission.
Indiana residents face rising utility costs amid an increasing demand for electricity, said committee chair Sen. Eric Koch (R-Bedford) when introducing a separate utilities bill earlier in the hearing.
“Electricity demand is rising rapidly. For the first time in decades, it’s estimated that the U.S. demand for electricity will increase 25% by 2030 and 78% by 2050 — from 2023 levels. Utilities expect to add between seven to twelve gigawatts of new load by 2030,” he said. “This is something we’re all working towards solving.”
An analysis from the Citizens Action Coalition in 2025 found that Indiana residents’ electric bills spiked 17.5% in a year.
Opponents are concerned over safety and say that the bill restricts public feedback.
“When we think about nuclear, I think the very first thing that comes to people’s minds is the critical importance of heightened safety regulations, and so on its face, it looks like we are taking some of those away,” Sen. Andrea Hunley (D-Indianapolis) said.
“When I hear it’s up to the federal government, that doesn’t make me feel safer for many reasons, and so I just want to have a little more assurance,” she added.
Kerwin Olson, the executive director of Citizens Action Coalition, said his organization doesn’t interpret the 1983 Supreme Court decision the same as IDEM does.
"We’re really troubled by repealing the authority for the IDEM commissioner to call a public hearing on the potential implications of the siting of a nuclear facility in someone’s community,” Olson said.
Indiana has no commercial nuclear power plants, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, although a portion of Northern Indiana receives some power from the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman, Michigan, operated by Indiana Michigan Power.
“Utility rates are too high. I hear it all the time,” said Indiana Gov. Mike Braun in his State of the State address Wednesday.
Braun previously said he supports utility companies exploring the development of small modular reactors (SMRs). These are advanced nuclear reactors that can produce up to a third of the power produced by a traditional nuclear power reactor, according to the International Atomic Energy Commission.
Other provisions of the bill address the state Environmental Rules Board and correct outdated language. The committee advanced it 7-3.
Contact WFYI data journalist Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org