SB 307 expands the Indiana brownfields fund and authorizes a new statewide brownfield inventory. Under the bill, the fund may be used not only for grants, loans, and other assistance to political subdivisions, but also for studies conducted under the brownfields program and for creating and maintaining an inventory of brownfields in Indiana. The Indiana Finance Authority is given express authority to create and maintain that inventory, and it may contract with Indiana state-supported colleges or universities to help build and maintain it.
If the inventory is created, it must include properties known to the authority to meet the statutory definition of a brownfield, and the authority must adopt guidelines for classifying sites when they are added. The bill also makes listing on the inventory a condition for receiving financial assistance through the authority’s brownfield program. It further requires the authority to report the inventory’s contents to the interim study committee on environmental affairs in 2026 and every even-numbered year thereafter, and it allows certain documents and information submitted for the inventory to remain confidential until the information is publicly listed.
Impact
The bill amends Indiana Code provisions governing the Indiana brownfields fund and adds new sections defining “brownfield” and “inventory” for purposes of the brownfields program. It broadens permissible uses of fund money, authorizes the Indiana Finance Authority to create and maintain a brownfield inventory, permits the authority to use appropriated fund dollars for inventory-related costs, and establishes reporting and confidentiality rules. The practical effect is to create a more centralized state system for identifying contaminated or underused properties and to tie future brownfield assistance to inclusion on that inventory.
Sentiment
The available legislative history shows strong support for the bill. The Senate Committee on Environmental Affairs reported it out unanimously, 9-0, with a Do Pass recommendation, and the Senate later passed it on third reading by a 49-0 vote. That voting record suggests broad bipartisan agreement and little visible opposition in the recorded proceedings.
Contention
No major controversy appears in the provided materials. The main policy questions embedded in the bill are administrative rather than ideological: whether the state should maintain a formal brownfield inventory, whether inventory listing should be required before receiving program assistance, and how much confidentiality should be preserved for submitted site information. The bill also gives the authority discretion to work with universities and to use brownfields fund dollars for the inventory, but the recorded votes indicate those issues did not generate significant opposition.