---
type: "Bill"
title: "Aviation safety."
description: "Provides that INDOT shall not issue a permit for construction or alteration of an energy facility that will result in a structure that is more than 200 feet above ground level at its site unless the applicant for the permit submits to INDOT documentation of a formal review by the Clearinghouse of the proposed construction or alteration indicating: (1) that the formal review resulted in a determination that the construction or alteration will not have an adverse impact on military operations and readiness; or (2) that: (A) the formal review resulted in a determination that the proposed project will have an adverse impact on military operations and readiness; and (B) the applicant has either resolved the adverse impact to the satisfaction of the United States Department of Defense or entered into a mitigation agreement with the United States Department of Defense to mitigate the adverse impact. Provides that a person that is a public use airport owner or operator has standing to obtain judicial review or to intervene in a proceeding for judicial review of a zoning decision that may have a negative impact on the safety of civilian or military flight operations to or from the airport."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 257"
citation: "Indiana SB 257 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["AIRCRAFT AND AIRPORTS", "MILITARY FORCES", "TRANSPORTATION", "Department of"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Blake Doriot", "Chris Garten", "Edmond Soliday", "Eric Koch"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 25
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-09"
last_action: "2020-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f74060a9-ed5e-4bdf-b16f-860e12a4a4b9"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/senate/257"
source_hash: "ee68e3fc627e1d88f9b7f822328686ffe9d1dd17b940c7a73d069e65cbf30ed1"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana SB 257 (2020) — Aviation safety.

Provides that INDOT shall not issue a permit for construction or alteration of an energy facility that will result in a structure that is more than 200 feet above ground level at its site unless the applicant for the permit submits to INDOT documentation of a formal review by the Clearinghouse of the proposed construction or alteration indicating: (1) that the formal review resulted in a determination that the construction or alteration will not have an adverse impact on military operations and readiness; or (2) that: (A) the formal review resulted in a determination that the proposed project will have an adverse impact on military operations and readiness; and (B) the applicant has either resolved the adverse impact to the satisfaction of the United States Department of Defense or entered into a mitigation agreement with the United States Department of Defense to mitigate the adverse impact. Provides that a person that is a public use airport owner or operator has standing to obtain judicial review or to intervene in a proceeding for judicial review of a zoning decision that may have a negative impact on the safety of civilian or military flight operations to or from the airport.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0257/versions/SB0257.04.ENRH)
2. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0257/versions/SB0257.01.INTR)
3. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0257/versions/SB0257.02.COMS)
4. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0257/versions/SB0257.03.COMH)

## Votes

- SB 257 - Koch - 3rd Reading — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 257 - Soliday - 3rd Reading — **80–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Blake Doriot — primary (person)
- Chris Garten — primary (person)
- Edmond Soliday — primary (person)
- Eric Koch — primary (person)
- Dennis Kruse — coauthor (person)
- Jim Pressel — cosponsor (person)
- Mara Candelaria Reardon — cosponsor (person)
- Matt Lehman — cosponsor (person)
- Randall Frye — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-09** Authored by Senator Koch
- **2020-01-09** First reading: referred to Committee on Homeland Security and Transportation `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-01-21** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-21** Senator Garten added as second author
- **2020-01-21** Senator Doriot added as third author
- **2020-01-23** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-27** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 62: yeas 50, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-01-27** House sponsor: Representative Soliday
- **2020-01-27** Senator Kruse added as coauthor
- **2020-01-28** Referred to the House
- **2020-02-10** First reading: referred to Committee on Roads and Transportation `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-18** Representative Lehman added as cosponsor
- **2020-02-27** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-02** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-03-03** Rule 105.1 suspended
- **2020-03-03** Representatives Pressel, Frye, Candelaria Reardon added as cosponsors
- **2020-03-03** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 280: yeas 80, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-03-04** Motion to concur filed
- **2020-03-04** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-05** Senate concurred in House amendments; Roll Call 339: yeas 41, nays 0 `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-09** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2020-03-16** Signed by the Speaker
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2020-03-18** Public Law 71

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f74060a9-ed5e-4bdf-b16f-860e12a4a4b9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).