Lawmakers on a legislative study committee examining outdoor stage equipment regulation said they support extending current temporary rules for a few more years.
Under direction from legislation passed last session, the state Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission developed temporary regulations for outdoor stage equipment. Those regulations will expire next year.
State Fire Marshal Jim Greeson, who helped develop the rules and enforces them, said he wants the legislature to extend the regulations for another two years, giving the commission more time to refine them. Greeson also wants legislators to approve additional rules requiring events develop emergency action plans.
Indianapolis Democratic Representative Ed DeLaney said that’s a gap in the current regulations that needs to be fixed.
"We want to have emergency action plans and response plans, stage or no stage," said DeLaney. "We’ve got a large crowd, they have to be able to get out of there. Somebody has to tell them when they need to get out of there and where to go."
Extending the temporary regulations would allow the commission to develop emergency rules at its discretion.
Portland Republican Representative Bill Davis said he’s a little concerned about giving bodies outside the legislature that kind of rule-making authority.
"With a part time legislature like we have in Indiana, sometimes they need that flexibility to be able to react to situations, so I want to see where we go with that," said Davis.
A legislative study committee will make its recommendation next month on whether to extend the temporary regulations.