Proposed changes to Michigan’s environmental rules will eliminate red tape and redundancy, but environmental groups say air, water, soil and health protections will be weakened.
In January Michigan officials tasked with creating a business-friendly environment proposed 77 recommendations to Gov. Rick Snyder to overhaul environmental regulations. Snyder denied three of them. The Legislature will have to approve the rest before they go into effect.
Photo: UpNorth Memories - Donald (Don) Harrison (Flickr)
A 13-member advisory committee of state officials, industry and utility representatives, lawyers and one environmental group worked with the state’s Office of Regulatory Reinvention on the report.
Some changes, like recycling manufacturing waste and eliminating duplicative efforts, pose no environmental harm. Others will deregulate some air pollutants and toxic emissions.
“I dissented on changes that I thought reduced the state’s role of protecting public health,” said James Clift, policy director at the Michigan Environmental Council and lone representative of the environmental community on the advisory committee.
He disagreed with 20 of the changes. No one else dissented.
Some changes are a step backwards, Clift said. Chemicals not on the federal list of hazardous pollutants will no longer be subject to testing.
“Michigan has for years been a leader in protecting people from toxic air pollution — so much so that other states have adopted our standards,” Clift said. “And now we’re pulling back.”
Another change will exempt electric generators that don’t sell to the grid from air quality rules.
These tend to be smaller, industrial boilers that can be coal-fired just like utilities, Clift said.
“They have the same impact on public health and air pollution,” Clift said. “All facilities should be on the table.”
Industry and utility representatives lauded the changes.
“The real meaningful changes are more process related than actual requirements,” said Skiles Boyd, vice president of environmental management and resources at DTE Energy and participant in the advisory committee. “Some of the processes we go through are too burdensome to get the result that we already know we’re going to get.”
Environmental cleanup and air toxics emissions needed the overhaul, Boyd said.
Cleanups were actually slowed by rules.
“If we can cut red tape, you reduce risk tremendously,” Boyd said. “You can move through the actual cleanup much faster instead of waiting around for years to start.”
Changes include shifting some duties to other state departments and eliminating rules that are no longer relevant.
The state’s air toxic emissions requirements were written before federal rules, Boyd said. Since there are now nationwide rules, there is duplication.
Snyder rejected proposed elimination of local regulations of wetlands, the cutting of mandatory submission of pollutant spill plans and the exclusion of wetland impacts when considering pollution permits.
The state is already moving forward with the remaining recommendations, said Rob Nederhood, deputy director of the Office of Regulatory Reinvention. The changes are subject to public comment and will have to be approved by the Legislature, he said.
The department anticipates some pushback from environmental organizations, Nederhood said. “No one was there to gut environmental regulations.”
Boyd said the committee members challenged each other when it seemed a proposed change could hurt the environment.
Nederhood said there are changes that will benefit everyone, like increased transparency spurred by a recommendation that forces the Department of Environmental Quality to put online any information the agency might use to make decisions.
Another change will force the state to develop a beneficial reuse act, which will be a template for recycling manufacturing waste that is now trashed.
Clift said the environmental community would continue to object to changes with which it disagreed.
“We’re done with the actual committee process, but as each of these regulatory changes moves through, we will continue to engage with both officials and industry leaders,” Clift said.
Snyder created the Office of Regulatory Reinvention within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to create an environment “conducive to business growth and job creation,” according to an April 2011 executive order.
Since April 25, 2011, the agency has removed 47 state environmental quality rules, not counting the 74 pending changes. For all state departments it has removed 415 rules and added 56.
Mike– I and a bunch of environmentalists will absolutely agree with you. The MI DEQ has become politicized and is now a flunky of corporate AmeriKa.
As a lifelong resident of the Great State of Michigan and a 25 year veteran of the environmental consulting industry, I have been dealing with the DEQ (formerly DNR) and it’s various sections for a long time. No one here has a greater commitment to the environment than I do.
I hate to rain on the party here, but I am not kidding or being facetious when I tell you that more often than not, the greatest single impediment to a cleaner environment in this state is the DEQ.
If I were Governator, I would abolish the DEQ and start over. It has been incapable, for some time now, of doing it’s job in many cases. The reasons are many, including but not limited to widespread incompetence, politicization, groupthink, favoritism, and subtle forms of corruption – not necessarily always financial.
I would start over with a brand new agency, a brand new mission statement, and new staff from top to bottom.
Thanks for the article (and subsequent note, above), Brian. I wonder, at the risk of beating a dead horse, were notices of the 37 committee meetings published, along with invitations to the public, in compliance with the Open Meetings Act?
Yes Kathy, a Monty Python skit with unfunny, dire consequences. Harold, the race downhill is very easy and very fast, but, how many years or decades will it take before the resulting damage is corrected, and how much will it ultimately cost us.
Snyder is a CEO’s dream and a citizen’s nightmare come true. The previous loosely organized and minimally funded recall attempt garnered 500,000 signatures, half of the goal. This time the organizers have been feverishly working to improve the previous deficiencies. Hopefully, one million signatures will be achieved just like in WI, and we will get rid of this corporate and public raider.
Hurray Republicans!! Michigan is now taking a lead in the race to the bottom!!
Why is it that when I see the words “Office of Regulatory Reinvention” I picture a Monty Python skit?
Remember Snyder said he would reinvent MI. He is reinventing education to corporate education by defunding public education. He is reinventing services to the elderly and working poor by taxing pensions and reducing work incentive tax credits. So it stands to reason he would reinvent regulatory frameworks by creating a committee of corporate cronies to throw the regulations out. I suggest that we reinvent Snyder by supporting the new upcoming attempt to Recall Snyder.
The peninsula state? Where is the damn peninsula… The UP should of just became its own state… Self sufficiency would be no problem for us.
Here’s ORR’s tagline: “Customer driven. Business minded.” Does this means that if you don’t have money or power you’re out of luck in terms of ORR’s work? My kids probably wouldn’t qualify as “customers;” we see much evidence of this mentality in the attack on educational resources.
Re ORR’s representativeness, here’s a link to committee membership:
http://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,4601,7-154-35738-257761–,00.html
These committees parallel the skewed composition of the UP moose hunt advisory committee. Exceptionally qualified wildlife biologists were excluded during the selection process.
Becky is right about the need to break down dualistic thinking regarding environment/nature and people/society. Unfortunately,not just politicians are infected with this pervasive mindset. Environmentalists also need to look hard at how we separate nature from society and can hamper our effectiveness with too narrow an approach that can be vulnerable to the “special interest” label.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for the comment. According to Nederhood, shortly after the Office of Regulatory Reinvention got started in April 2011 it started taking applications to be on the advisory committee. The agency then selected members from the applications it received.
The committee started meeting in June and met about 37 times.
-Brian
I don’t remember voting for any of these committee members.
James Clift of MEC was on the committee that drafted these rules, but opposed 20 of the 77 proposed changes. Great Lakes Echo describes mentions his “minority report,” but I wonder if the mainstream media have done so.
Also, check out the Michigan map. Note that the UP is barely shown, and mostly in a different color. In fact, most the UP that’s shown has the same color as WI. Note too that Cockburn Island, the island just west of Manitoulin Island (the big purple island in Lake Huron) is shown as being part of Michigan. Cockburn Island has never been a part of Michigan. Old maps are fun, and fun to critique!
-doug-
When words like “environment” first got commonly used, we assumed everyone knew that included “people.” Now it seems increasingly important to keep pointing that out. The way the GOP talks, you’d think the environment exists separately from us, and we from it. Or that in Michigan, harming the environment doesn’t directly mean harming the economy.
Becky
sierraclubgreatlakes.blogspot.com