Michigan Senate passes bill to restore EGLE’s authority to set water quality standards

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Updating standards for water testing and the discharge of pollutants from farms and factories would seem to be a key function of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). Yet a 2004 law has prevented the agency from doing that for nearly 20 years.

Th e Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act requires EGLE to “protect and conserve Michigan’s water resources and control the pollution of the State’s surface or underground water, as well as the Great Lakes.” However, Part 31 of the Act prohibits EGLE from “promulgating any additional rules … after December 31, 2006.”

Legislation that passed the Michigan Senate on Wednesday aims to change that.

Senate Bill 663 , sponsored by state Sen. Sue Shink (D-Northfield Twp.), would delete that provision and give the agency the ability to update standards to align with those at the federal level.

“Michigan is the heart of the most extraordinary and valuable fresh water system in the world. No matter a person’s politics, Michiganders value the Great Lakes, inland lakes, waterways, groundwaters and tributaries that shape the great state we love and see every day,” said Shink. “By passing this bill, EGLE will regain authority to make rules that protect us from harmful chemicals released into our waterways and that find their way into our drinking water, our wildlife, and into our own bodies where they can cause serious consequences for our health.”

The law, which was signed by then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm , a Democrat, was hailed at the time as a “ bipartisan agreement to protect Michigan’s water resources [that] also streamlines the administrative rule-making and hearings processes…”

It was supported by business interests, and put forward by Republicans, who argued that the agency, then called the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), had usurped the Legislature’s powers in its efforts to control pollution.

That same argument was blasted back on Wednesday in a series of rhetorical questions by Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan).

“Who here seriously believes that somehow the department is lacking power?” said McBroom. “That any of our administrative departments are lacking power? Who here went door to door and to your districts ‘I can’t wait to get to Lansing and get the departments and bureaucracy of the state more power over your daily life? ‘ What farmer has come up to the lobby or stopped into your office and said, ‘Could you please ask DEQ to do more regulations?’ What person has seen a business in our state say ‘Please. I need more administrative state?’”

Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) responded to McBroom’s broadside.

“I’m sure all of you have seen in your time in Lansing that sometimes the Legislature isn’t quick to act. Sometimes there are powerful forces that prevent the Legislature from acting, and sometimes even when action is obviously needed. Sometimes because the influence that money has over decisions in Lansing,” said Irwin. “I know that everyone feels as though the water beneath them and the air above them is theirs, because they’re standing on their property, but we have to recognize that this water flows between us, that this air floats between us. It’s a resource that we share. It’s a resource that we have to share.”

Irwin then recalled the PFAS contamination of thousands of residents in his district when a Wixom-based plating company was discharging waste into the Huron River in 2018 that then flowed downstream and resulted in the state issuing a “Do Not Eat” advisory for fish in the river in Livingston, Oakland, and Washtenaw counties.

“I would have loved if the DEQ had the authority to address emerging contaminants when we found out that that the NPDES ( National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit the city of Wixom had was causing pollution to go downstream, and into the bodies of over 100,000 people — men, women and children.”

McBroom ended the exchange on a more conciliatory note.

“I want to thank my colleague from the 15th District for his remarks and his passion too for his district and people. I certainly appreciate and respect that,” said McBroom. “I would just simply rise to suggest and offer that the department is not without resources or opportunity. They still have emergency rulemaking authority and all the power that comes along with that, which is not something that is unsubstantial.”

Regardless, the bill passed along party lines 20-18. It was then sent to the House, where it was referred to the Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee.

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