Latest news with #SenateEnergyandEnvironmentCommittee
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a day ago
- Politics
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Senate panel takes testimony on renewed policies seeking accountability from Michigan polluters
Sen Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) testifies on a slate of bills aimed at improving polluter accountability during a June 11, 2025 meeting of the Senate Energy and Environment Committee. | Kyle Davidson Lawmakers from the state House and Senate called for an update to Michigan's laws on environmental contamination on Wednesday, arguing the current system does not offer enough protections for individuals impacted by pollution. Testifying before the Senate Energy and Environment Committee, Sens. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor), Sue Shink (D-Northfield Township), and Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), as well as Rep. Jason Morgan (D-Ann Arbor), underscored how the state's current regulations have impacted Michigan residents, arguing that they focus too heavily on limiting exposure rather than cleaning up pollution, leaving Michiganders to bear the costs. Last week, members of the House and Senate announced they would be reintroducing 'polluter pay' legislation in each chamber, with House Democrats introducing H.B. 4636–4640 and Senate Democrats introducing S.B. 385–387 and S.B. 391–393. 'Some people are calling for a restoration of a model that requires strict liability and full residential cleanups on every site. In fact, I proposed legislation like that in the past. But that's not what is being proposed today,' Irwin said. 'What is being proposed today is a modest change that preserves the current risk-based system, but that makes modest changes to improve protections for our water, improve protections for our land and improve protections for our health.' As a whole, the package aims to implement stricter pollution reporting and cleanup requirements, extend the statute of limitations for citizens bringing claims against polluters and allow residents impacted by pollution to sue companies for the cost of medical monitoring, Irwin explained. With more than 25,000 polluted sites across the state and 4,603 sites with land or resource controls, Irwin questioned how many aquifers the state is willing to give up to pollution. He also warned the panel that industry lobbyists would testify against these additional measures, arguing they would harm investment in Michigan business. 'Not only do I think that's not true, but we developed these bills in consultation with industry stakeholders,' Irwin said, noting that the sponsors had held workgroup meetings on the policies introduced during the previous Legislative session. The end result was more modest, but would still provide real benefits to the public, Irwin said. Andrea Pierce, policy director for the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition and founder of the Anishinaabek Caucus said these laws are the beginning step in addressing environmental contamination in Michigan, not the end. Should these bills become law, Michigan would return to the pollution accountability standard it had before the state's polluter pay law was restructured in 1995, Pierce said. 'We need to go back to stronger laws that protect the people and communities of Michigan. Michigan needs a comprehensive legal framework for strengthening accountability and real recourse from those who pollute in our communities,' Pierce said, emphasizing that Michigan's most marginalized communities were also the ones most affected by pollution. Mike Witkowksi, director of environmental and regulatory policy for the Michigan Manufacturers Association argued shifting the system to require more from businesses would hinder the state's brownfield redevelopment efforts. 'These are not technical fixes or minor clarifications. These are fundamental changes that would undermine one of Michigan's most effective tools for addressing environmental contamination and supporting economic growth,' Witkowksi said, criticizing the additional requirements and arguing the package would increase clean up costs and liabilities for businesses. During his testimony earlier in the hearing, Irwin predicted industry stakeholders would argue that the legislation would hamper redevelopment by requiring polluted sites to be restored to pristine condition. 'That's not what this bill does,' Irwin said, arguing that pollution already hampers redevelopment efforts. With the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy lacking both the funding and the personnel to address the thousands of contaminated sites throughout the state, Witkowski said private-sector investors and developers are essential to cleaning up contamination throughout the state. Should these bills take effect, those sites would sit idle and remain polluted, he argued. Shink countered, noting that she'd served on Washtenaw County's brownfield redevelopment board during her time as a county commissioner. 'I can assure you that it isn't just private funds that's cleaning up these brownfield sites. There's a lot of public funds. That means the taxpayers, after the company has made its profit and maybe taken that profit out of state, the community is paying to clean that up,' Shink said, noting that the state is paying to clean up the former Federal Screw Works site in Washtenaw County. Alongside testimony from several environmental advocacy groups, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy also offered its support for the package with Aaron Keatley, the department's chief deputy director, noting that the bills aligned with their priorities for environmental legislation. Those priorities include transparency, ensuring predictable processes, securing assurances that companies will manage any releases of contaminants until the contamination is cleaned up, ensuring sites are redeveloped and streamlining the department's cleanup criteria so that the standards match the science, Keatley said. 'It is unfortunate that I look at you and I say I cannot tell you how many sites right now are managed by responsible parties, because they're not obligated to inform me of their day to day activities to keep that property safe,' Keatley said. The committee did not take votes on the legislation. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
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Michigan Senators try again for legislation to keep out hazardous waste
Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) during a meeting of the Senate Energy and Environment Committee on June 5, 2025. | Kyle Davidson Members of the Michigan Senate are once again weighing efforts to deter out-of-state companies from dumping hazardous waste in the state while updating standards for managing landfills and potentially harmful materials. Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) on Thursday laid out a renewed proposal for revamping the state's approach to hazardous waste management before his colleagues on the Senate Energy and Environment Committee. During his testimony, Camilleri noted the bills are a response to recent attempts to ship hazardous waste from the East Palestine train derailment, as well as radioactive material from the Manhattan Project, into disposal sites within his district. 'I've had countless conversations with residents and local municipal leaders who are horrified about that potentially harmful material being transported to their communities on their roads and disposed of in their backyard,' Camilleri said. 'Frankly, it is ridiculous that these facilities are located in these dense population centers in the first place.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX If passed, Camilleri's Senate Bill 246 would require the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to create a hazardous and radioactive waste management plan and issue a moratorium on licensing new hazardous waste storage and disposal facilities or expansions of existing facilities. It would also place stricter siting requirements on hazardous waste facilities to keep them away from large population centers and cap the amount of hazardous waste disposed of within Michigan by tying it to the amount of waste the state produces. While federal law prevents Michigan from banning trash from other states, Camilleri said his policy is a creative effort to try and skirt federal regulations on commerce between states by preferencing Michigan's waste, and allowing other states to send their waste on top of that. 'It's not a perfect solution to that out of state problem, but it's our version of trying our best to take care of home first,' Camilleri said. Additionally, Senate Bill 246 increases the fees for disposing of hazardous waste from $10 a ton to $25 a ton, radioactive waste from $5 per ton to $12.50 per ton, with a portion of the increased fees going towards redevelopment. Another percentage would go toward a new community surcharge reimbursement fund, and another piece would go toward a grant fund to support communities that host hazardous waste disposal facilities. Camilleri's proposal would also increase the waste tipping fee, or the charge to dump in Michigan landfills, from 36 cents a ton, to $1.20. In her budget proposals for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 fiscal years, Whitmer asked lawmakers to increase the state's tipping fee to $5 in order to combat out-of-state dumping and increase revenue for environmental remediation, brownfield redevelopment, local waste management assistance and grants and recycling initiatives. Alongside Senate Bill 246, Camilleri's Senate Bill 247 targets a liquid waste injection well in Romulus, creating a $100 per ton tipping fee for the waste that goes into those wells. 'The city of Romulus is, right now, on the hook for all types of public safety,' Camilleri said. 'In the event of a disaster with this type of well, they will be the ones forced to pay for additional equipment, additional public safety, including fire and EMS. … This type of fee would help offset some of those costs.' During the meeting, local officials from Romulus and nearby Van Buren Township and Canton Township shared their support for the bills. They cited concerns about out-of-state dumping, and the public health and environmental threats that could come from storing more waste at facilities like the Wayne Disposal Inc. Hazardous Waste Landfill in Van Buren Township. Canton Township Supervisor Anne Marie Graham-Hudak noted that the landfill is three miles south of Canton and sits next to two schools in a residential neighborhood. It's also surrounded by environmental justice communities, she said, neighborhoods where people of color and low-income individuals are disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards. Kevin Krause, the director of community safety and development for the city of Romulus, said the city is inadequately prepared to respond to an emergency at the Romulus injection well, not only from the perspective of the local fire department, but from the regional and county level, as well. 'We are under-resourced, under-trained and underprepared at this particular location,' Krause said. Should there be an issue with the injection well, the response will fall solely on the shoulders of local firefighters to mitigate any threat to the environment and population, while agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Michigan EGLE would only be able to provide administrative support. Supporting Senate Bill 247 would give the city the ability to develop proper pre-response plans, raise awareness, and incorporate surrounding departments and regional hazardous materials teams into their planning, Krause said.
