Whitmer signs bill giving EGLE authority to declare emergencies

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a new round of bills into law this week, including one that will allow the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to issue emergency orders.

Senate Bill 398 was introduced in June of 2023 by Sen. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo. It gives emergency authority to the state agency to protect natural resources when there is a threat to public health, safety or property.

Whitmer says she believes the bill will ultimately make communities safer and give the state the ability to respond faster during emergencies. McCann said a 2019 incident on the Kalamazoo River was just one example of why the authority is needed.

“The most recent disaster with the Kalamazoo River made it abundantly clear that EGLE needed a mechanism to better protect our natural resources and their ecosystems,” McCann said in a statement .

In 2019, STS Hydropower and Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, which operate the Morrow Dam , lowered the water level to work on the dam’s spillway gates. That, however, allowed sediment to wash downriver and hurt the ecosystem, killing off critical mussel and fish habitat.

An estimated 400,000 cubic yards of silt was released, and as February 2022, only 0.5% of the silt had been removed by the responsible party. The Michigan Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against STS Hydropower a month later for the mismanagement of Morrow Dam. The lawsuit is still pending.

The Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Agriculture worked on the bill for approximately eight months before it was brought back. It eventually passed along party lines 20 to 17, with one Republican absent for the day.

After more discussion in the House Committee on Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation, the House passed the bill — again strictly along party lines ­— 56-54.

Rep. Jamie Thompson, R-Brownstown, spoke against the bill prior to the final vote, pointing to several instances where EGLE has clashed with members of her community.

“EGLE is already one of the most powerful agencies in our state, and this legislation will only increase its ability to make unilateral decisions that affect Michigan residents and business owners without any input from the people that these decisions actually impact,” Thompson said.

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