USDOT on Indiana’s Time Zones

As I’ve mentioned in the past, Indiana’s Daylight Saving Time bill, SEA 127 required Governor Daniels to petition the USDOT for hearings on the appropriate time zone(s) for Indiana and to send a copy of the law, “along with any other necessary documentation prescribed by the United States Department of Transportation.” (emphasis added). The procedure prescribed by the USDOT requires that such a request be be accompanied by “detailed information supporting the requesting party’s contention that the requested change would serve the convenience of commerce.” Governor Daniels’ petition contained no such information.

The USDOT responded essentially by shifting the burden of data collection and submission assigned to the Governor by the legislature onto the shoulders of county officials. USDOT’s letter says

It is our normal practice, in implementing our responsibilities under the Uniform Time Act with respect to the location of time zone boundaries, to take action
on specific requests for change in the time zone boundaries for a particular jurisdiction from the elected officials of that jurisdiction. After receiving a request, we then determine whether it meets the minimum statutory criteria before issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to make a change.

Because of the inadequacies of Governor Daniels’ submission, the USDOT proposes to proceed by requiring “the appropriate local officials” (i.e. county commissioners) to notify USDOT of their intent to request a change in time zones, and provide the specific data and information by a date certain.

The principal standard for the USDOT’s determination is “convenience of commerce” which is defined broadly to include all of the impacts on a community caused by a change of time zone. Some examples are:
1. Where do communities get their supplies and ship their goods.
2. Where communities receive their news and television.
3. Where does the community get its bus and rail services.
4. The nearest airport.
5. What percentage of the community works outside the community and where do those people work.
6. If residents leave the community for school, recreation, healthcare, or religious worship, what standard of time is used in the places where these people go.

If the USDOT General Counsel receives sufficient information and determines that a change might serve the convenience of commerce, the General Counsel will issue a proposal and invite public comment.

While this procedure might make some sense, I do not believe it complies with the requirements of SEA 127. That law requires the Governor to submit the necessary information. If the bill had placed the burden on county commissioners, it very well may not have passed. Any change to the bill could have meant doom, given that the bill wouldn’t have passed at all if Rep. Troy Woodruff hadn’t broken his promise that he would *never* vote for Daylight Saving Time. And, as you may recall, a significant criticism of an earlier version of the bill was that it allowed for a patchwork, county-by-county, approach to Daylight Saving Time whereby county commissioners could unilaterally opt in or out of DST. Now we might well have another patchwork approach. Obviously the United States Dept. of Transportation has the final say in this matter. But a statewide approach is necessary here.

For example, Jasper County is currently on Central time. Let’s say that White County’s commissioners decide they want to remain on eastern time. But then, Cass County decides its in their best interest to petition for Central Time. That’s really nice that Cass County went through the effort, but practically speaking, they’re out of luck. White County has effectively vetoed any chance of Cass County getting to switch because the USDOT is not going to hopscotch White County, leaving it in Eastern Time because it didn’t submit a petition, and allow Cass County (one county further east), to join Central Time.

Governor Daniels’ press release on the issue shows that he may not have read Sec’y Mineta’s actual letter. Daniels says:

“I appreciate very much that Secretary Mineta has found a way to help this process move forward. I am especially grateful that the DOT will reach out to hundreds and hundreds of Hoosiers to solicit views on this important question, and then connect that feedback to the process that will give us hearings where necessary. We wanted an open and bottom up process and that is what we will have.”

Well, no. According to Secretary Mineta, he’s only going to listen to Hoosiers if their county commissioners decide they want to move to central time and then submit all of the “convenience of commerce” data listed above. In effect, Secretary Mineta’s response makes Governor Daniels’ petition a nullity. Under the time zone law, counties were already empowered to request a time zone change in the manner suggested by the USDOT. The process proposed by Secretary Mineta will be exactly the same as if SECTION 3 of SEA 127 had never existed.

If I were someone like Rep. Grubb who was really, really opposed to Daylight Saving Time, I’d be going to court and asking for an injunction until some resolution was had with respect to Gov. Daniels’ failure to submit all of the required data. (I’m not sure Gov. Daniels could have complied with the statute, but that’s the law they passed; so that’s the law they have to live with.)

Update 10:15 p.m. and thereafter

Mary Beth Schneider has an article for the Indy Star on Mineta’s letter here.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has an AP story written by Mike Smith here.

Martin DiAgostino has an article for the South Bend Tribune here and a more recently updated article, here. This article includes a quote from Rep. Bauer stating,

According to House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, the DOT process will insulate Daniels from making tough choices, despite his insistence on daylight-saving time for all.

“The governor clearly was in a pickle and they needed to figure a way out of it, and they did,” Bauer said. “They passed the clock back to the counties.”

The Indy Star has an editorial saying that proponents of Central Time have a right to feel slighted by the lack of hearings and wonder whose fault it is that the hearings won’t be held. They suggest the USDOT, the Governor, and/or the General Assembly. It’s not the USDOT which is following its established procedure. SEA 127 required the Governor to submit all the information required by the USDOT. He didn’t provide information on “convenience of commerce.” Instead he merely wrote a letter. I’d say the blame is on the Governor for not doing what the General Assembly told him to do. I’d also put the blame on the Governor, both before and after the DST legislation passed, for not taking a stand on where the time zone should be.

The Lafayette Journal & Courier has a story here.

Taking Down Words has a blog entry on the subject, arguing while the author favors Eastern Daylight Time, this is another example of Daniels broken campaign promises.

D Derek says EDT is great for late evening sunlight, bad for live TV events.

Lesley Stedman Weidenbener has an article for the Louisville Courier-Journal quoting Rep. Dave Crooks:

Rep. Dave Crooks, D-Washington, and others argued that if Indiana is to observe daylight time, most of it should move into the Central time zone, especially since Daniels said during his campaign that he supported a switch to Central time.

The federal hearings were intended to test whether that argument reflected popular opinion.

Yesterday, Crooks said he’s disappointed that federal officials will force local governments to take on the burden of applying for a change. He blamed Daniels for failing to provide enough leadership on the issue.

“I think the governor called his Washington, D.C., friends and found a way out of the hearings,” Crooks said. “He knows these people and has a lot of connections.”

It also has an interesting quote from Rep. Torr, author of the DST bill, suggesting that the USDOT suggested that this would be the result when the General Assembly was considering the requirement that the Governor request hearings. If the federal government gave a heads up, that makes the paucity of Governor Daniels’ submission even more inexcusable.

Jennifer Whitson has an article for the Evansville Courier Press (free subscription required) saying that the USDOT has indicated that any interested local jurisdiction should apply to by a yet to be set deadline. This is misleading since the counties have always been able to apply for time zone consideration. What SECTION 3 of SEA 127 contemplated was a comprehensive statewide process led by the Governor.