DOT 4-06
Contact: Bill Mosley
January 18, 2006
Tel.: (202) 366-4570

DOT Announces Final Decision on Indiana Time Zone Proposals

After five months, 22 hours of public hearing testimony and more than 6,000 public comments, the U.S. Department of Transportation today announced a final rule that will change the clock for eight of 17 Indiana counties seeking to move to the Central time zone.

The Indiana counties of Daviess, Dubois, Knox, Martin, Perry, Pike, Pulaski and Starke will move from the Eastern to Central time zone beginning April 2, when the nation switches to daylight saving time, according to the final rule to be published in the Federal Register on Friday, Jan. 20. Nine other counties that asked the Department to make the change, including Carroll, Cass, Fulton, Lawrence, Marshall, Sullivan, St. Joseph, Vermillion and White, will remain in the Eastern time zone, the Department decided.

“This rule reflects careful consideration of every public comment we received,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta.

The Department’s final decision follows public hearings held last November in Jasper, Logansport, South Bend and Terre Haute, as well as a review of written and video-taped comments collected from residents.

Under the Uniform Time Act of 1966, the Secretary of Transportation has the authority to set time-zone boundaries and must base decisions on the “convenience of commerce.”

Seventeen Indiana counties asked the Department last September to change from Eastern to Central time. On Oct. 25, the Department issued a notice proposing Knox, Perry, Pike, St. Joseph and Starke counties move from Eastern to Central time, and made no change to time zones in the remaining 12 counties.

In its final rule, the Department decided against changing St. Joseph County’s time zone based on comments received at the public hearings and in writing. The Department said a critical factor was additional comment from local leaders who initially sought a change in the time zone but also wanted to be on the same time as Elkhart, Kosciusko and Marshall counties and communities in Michigan which observe Eastern time.

While the Department’s proposed rule did not approve requests for changing the time zones for Daviess, Dubois, Martin and Pulaski counties, subsequent information provided by the counties and residents supported the case for moving the counties to the Central time zone.

The final rule, proposed rule, county petitions, comments and other documents in this case are available on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov, docket OST-2005-22114.