Environmentalists Blast DEQ Plan

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Some state lawmakers want to shift control of environmental rules from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to state-appointed boards, a move environmentalists say would put the fox in charge of the henhouse. Senate Bill 652 would create an 11 member committee, mostly from industry groups like manufacturing, small business, oil and gas, and agriculture, to oversee all DEQ rule-making. And SB 653 would form another board with the ability to modify or reverse DEQ decisions. Peggy Case with Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation tells us there’s a very good reason those industries are regulated by the state.

“It’s the state’s responsibility to protect us, to protect our air, and our land and our water. To do just the opposite – and turn it over to the people who have been, for years, polluting it – is a constitutional violation, as far as I’m concerned.”

A bill sponsor, state Senator Tom Casperson, says the purpose is to counteract what he describes as “unreasonable views and agency overreach” in denying permits. However, according to a scorecard assembled by the agency, in fiscal year 2017, the DEQ issued almost 7,500 permits and denied just 34.