Sec. 74.5. (a) “Exempt isolated wetland”, for purposes of IC 13-18 and environmental management laws, means an isolated wetland that:

(1) is a voluntarily created wetland unless:

(A) the wetland is approved by the department for compensatory mitigation purposes in accordance with a permit issued under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act or IC 13-18-22;

(B) the wetland is reclassified as a state regulated wetland under IC 13-18-22-6(e); or

(C) the owner of the wetland declares, by a written instrument:

(i) recorded in the office of the recorder of the county or counties in which the wetland is located; and

(ii) filed with the department;

that the wetland is to be considered in all respects to be a state regulated wetland;

(2) exists as an incidental feature in or on:

(A) a residential lawn;

(B) a lawn or landscaped area of a commercial or governmental complex;

(C) agricultural land;

(D) a roadside ditch;

(E) an irrigation ditch; or

(F) a manmade drainage control structure;

(3) is a fringe wetland associated with a private pond;

(4) is, or is associated with, a manmade body of surface water of any size created by:

(A) excavating;

(B) diking; or

(C) excavating and diking;

dry land to collect and retain water for or incidental to agricultural, commercial, industrial, or aesthetic purposes;

(5) is a Class I wetland;

(6) subject to subsection (c), is a Class II wetland with an area, as delineated, of not more than three-eighths (3/8) acre;

(7) is located on land:

(A) subject to regulation under United States Department of Agriculture wetland conservation programs, including Swampbuster and the Wetlands Reserve Program, because of voluntary enrollment in a federal farm program; and

(B) used for agricultural or other purposes allowed under the programs referred to in clause (A); or

(8) is constructed for reduction or control of pollution.

     (b) For purposes of subsection (a)(2), an isolated wetland exists as an incidental feature:

(1) if:

(A) the owner or operator of the property or facility described in subsection (a)(2) does not intend the isolated wetland to be a wetland;

(B) the isolated wetland is not essential to the function or use of the property or facility; and

(C) the isolated wetland arises spontaneously as a result of damp soil conditions incidental to the function or use of the property or facility; and

(2) if the isolated wetland satisfies any other factors or criteria established in rules that are:

(A) adopted by the board; and

(B) not inconsistent with the factors and criteria described in subdivision (1).

     (c) The total acreage of Class II wetlands on a tract to which the exemption described in subsection (a)(6) may apply is limited to the larger of:

(1) the acreage of the largest individual isolated wetland on the tract that qualifies for the exemption described in subsection (a)(6); and

(2) sixty percent (60%) of the cumulative acreage of all individual isolated wetlands on the tract that would qualify for the exemption described in subsection (a)(6) but for the limitation of this subsection.

     (d) An isolated wetland described in subsection (a)(5) or (a)(6) does not include an isolated wetland on a tract that contains more than one (1) of the same class of wetland until the owner of the tract notifies the department that the owner has selected the isolated wetland to be an exempt isolated wetland under subsection (a)(5) or (a)(6).

As added by P.L.282-2003, SEC.24. Amended by P.L.52-2004, SEC.3; P.L.241-2005, SEC.3; P.L.113-2014, SEC.47; P.L.160-2021, SEC.4.