Indiana Rescinds 26 Environmental Policies
The state's environmental agency has pulled 26 of its 103 non-rule policy documents, removing roughly 176 pages of guidance.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Economic Policy
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The Indiana Department of Environmental Management rescinded 26 of its 103 non-rule policy documents across its Air, Land, and Water Quality offices. The agency also urged the U.S. EPA to review or eliminate more than 500 federal guidance documents.
Why it matters
The rollback supports Governor Braun's Executive Order 25-17, which requires state agencies to cut regulatory requirements by 25 percent by 2029. IDEM says non-rule policies without oversight can evolve into shadow regulations.
IDEM rescinded 26 of 103 non-rule policies, removing about 176 pages of guidance, and asked U.S. EPA to revisit more than 500 federal documents. Whether the federal agency will act on those recommendations has not been disclosed.
The players
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
The state agency that rescinded the policies and transmitted recommendations to the U.S. EPA. It oversees environmental regulation across Indiana's air, land, and water programs.
Dr. John Graham
Chair of the Indiana Environmental Rules Board, who backed IDEM's push for federal regulatory reform.
David Fotouhi
Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who received IDEM's formal letter of recommendations.
The details
Rescinded policies will move to the "No Longer Effective" archive on IDEM's website with a "Rescinded" watermark, and the agency will notify the Indiana Legislative Services Agency. Among those cut was Water-006 (Wetlands Deed Restriction), deemed obsolete and in conflict with state regulations, along with a 1998 landfill reporting policy and a 2011 ethanol permitting policy superseded by rulemaking.
Timeline
Nov. 2, 2026: IDEM announced the rescission of the non-rule policies.
Over the coming weeks: Rescinded policies transfer to the archive and the legislative agency is notified.
2029: Deadline for the 25 percent regulatory reduction under Executive Order 25-17.
Economic Policy Context
The cuts are an application of Executive Order 25-17, which sets a 25 percent state regulatory reduction goal by 2029. Indiana law also requires IDEM to review and re-adopt its non-rule policy documents every five years.
For businesses and residents dealing with Indiana environmental permits and guidance, the rescinded documents no longer apply, so reliance on them should be reviewed. Federal guidance changes could also alter compliance costs if U.S. EPA acts on IDEM's recommendations.
The takeaway
Regulatory guidance can quietly become binding practice, so periodic review of these documents matters for anyone who relies on state environmental rules. Indiana's five-year re-adoption cycle is designed to keep that guidance current.
Further reading
Explore more on Economic Policy and how state regulatory rules shape business costs.
Source note: This article includes information reported by WBIW.
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