The state of Indiana may stop buying newspaper advertising to announce air pollution permits sought by businesses and industry and rely instead on online notices.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has announced it's considering replacing public notice ads of some permit applications with electronic postings on its website .
IDEM says switching to online notices "will enable permitting authorities to communicate permitting and other affected actions to the public more quickly and efficiently."
The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports it also would save IDEM an estimated $17,000 per year by eliminating advertising costs in local newspapers.
Hoosier State Press Association Executive Director Steve Key says surveys show a strong majority of Indiana residents read public notice ads in their newspapers, and 85 percent favor government continuing to publish them in newspapers.