INDIANAPOLIS | Gov. Mitch Daniels on Thursday appointed three Northwest Indiana residents to serve on the state's new 16-member Environmental Rules Board.
The General Assembly voted earlier this year to consolidate Indiana's separate Air Pollution Control Board, Water Pollution Control Board and Solid Waste Management Board into a single Indiana Environmental Rules Board with oversight and regulatory authority for all types of pollution.
The law requires the governor appoint board members with specific backgrounds relating to the environment or pollution control.
Region residents chosen by Daniels to serve a four-year term on the new board are Kelly Carmichael, of Merrillville, director of environmental policy and permitting at NiSource Inc., representing public utilities; Tom Anderson, of Michigan City, owner of Conservation Connections LLC, representing environmental interests; and Ted Niemiec, of East Chicago, medical director at ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor, representing health professionals.
The Environmental Rules Board will be led by former state Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Greenfield, the chairman of the Senate Environmental Affairs Committee until her retirement this year.
State Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, is now chairman of that Senate committee.
The Republican governor also recently appointed or reappointed Northwest Indiana residents to other state boards and commissions, including Crown Point Mayor Dave Uran to the Integrated Public Safety Commission, promoting cooperation between public safety agencies; and James Olszewski, of Lowell, to the Indiana State Police Board, the administrative body overseeing state troopers.
Daniels reappointed John Fekete, of Munster, and Raymond Lopez, of East Chicago, to the East Chicago Waterway Management District, which is responsible for maintaining the city's canals.
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