Tag: stormwater utilities

FLOW’s “lame duck” session priorities for water

Published on November 20th, 2024 by - Blog Posts

What is the “lame duck” session in Lansing?

Lame duck is a legislative session that begins after a November election but before new members take the oath of office in January. ‘Lame duck’ refers to the fact that many legislators voting in November and December are retiring or were defeated and are considered lame ducks. Both Congress and the Michigan Legislature often hold lame-duck sessions to resolve thorny issues where lame ducks are free to vote without consequences to their re-election.

This year’s lame-duck dates are tentatively planned for November 6 – December 19 for the Senate and November 7 – December 19 for the House. During this unique time, we have the power to urge the Michigan legislature to make the right decision and protect our precious environment. We encourage you to reach out to your legislators to represent our collective voice on the following Great Lakes priorities:

Statewide Septic Code

Michigan has spent over two decades attempting to implement a statewide septic code. We can finally accomplish this with HB 4479–4480 and SB 299–300. More than 1.3 million homes and businesses in Michigan use septic systems to treat household sewage and wastewater. If not maintained, failing septic systems can contaminate drinking and groundwater and release bacteria, viruses, and household chemicals into lakes and rivers. Proper septic system maintenance protects public health and the environment. Only 11 of Michigan’s 83 counties require inspections. And Michigan is the only state in the nation without a statewide code. FLOW has been working with a diverse coalition of stakeholders for almost 2 years to ensure environmental considerations are included in each draft of the bills, an incredibly vital part of establishing a sustainable statewide septic code. Tell your legislators that you SUPPORT a statewide septic code for Michigan!

Polluter Accountability

EGLE estimates there are 26,000 contamination sites in Michigan, about 13,000 where no potentially responsible party (PRP) can be identified. Michigan’s current contamination cleanup laws fail to hold many potentially responsible parties accountable, forcing the public taxpayers to pay for cleanup or leaving sites contaminated, with an estimated price tag of up to 13 billion dollars. This is not an abstract concern. Sites where contamination is left in place have resulted in evacuations of nearby residences, offices, and a daycare center to protect public health. Many sites with institutional controls may become hazards in the future.

Polluter Pay legislation, SB 605-611 and HB 5241-5247 restores the common-sense principle that polluters should pay to clean up their contamination by ensuring that both past and present owners and operators are defined as legally responsible parties. Equally important, it will deter future pollution by clarifying that the state will have the legal tools necessary to enforce the law and strengthen the cleanup criteria based on the best available scientific data. In sum, the legislation places the responsibility and allocates the risk of future releases on those who control the use of hazardous materials. SUPPORT for this legislation is critical to the health and well-being of our communities.

Part 31 – Environmental Agency Rulemaking Authority

Two decades ago, the legislature made amendments to Part 31 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) that have created ongoing and increasingly severe legal jeopardy for the state, with a growing likelihood of litigation and administrative actions as Michigan falls out of compliance with a variety of legal obligations due to regulatory neglect. If unremedied, this situation will continue to cause unlawful pollution of water and natural resources and become more costly, with consequences including the potential loss of authority to implement federal environmental regulatory programs. Failure to update water quality regulations in line with federal standards could result in Michigan losing its delegated authority to manage its Clean Water Act discharge permitting program, similar to the situation that occurred in Wisconsin. We urge you to ask your legislators to SUPPORT HB 5205 to safeguard Michigan’s waters and avoid legal complications.

Data Centers

Data centers have significant impacts on our environment and public health – including water use, energy use, land use, and noise – especially if backup diesel generators are employed. Data centers, without necessary environmental safeguards, are an imminent threat to climate progress and freshwater resources. Our commitment to renewable energy and abundant water resources makes our state attractive to these companies, but we must prioritize protecting our water, air, and ratepayers while encouraging economic development. We can do both with well-crafted legislation.

However, HB 4906 and SB 237, data center use and tax bills, fail to incorporate any meaningful environmental protections. Michigan has the leverage now to maximize the benefit statement for local governments and residents, and that leverage is lost after tax incentives become law. The impact of these policies will resonate for decades, so we must get the policy correct now to ensure that we are meeting our clean energy and clean water goals. Ask your legislator to OPPOSE HB 4906 and SB 237 as written.

Stormwater Utilities

Over the past few decades, Michigan has faced an increase in unpredictable storm events. Unfortunately, our existing stormwater infrastructure is not built to handle the frequency and intensity of these storms, creating problems with water runoff and flooding.

This, in turn, has led to problems such as water pollution, algal blooms, beach closures, threats to public health, and increased infrastructure costs to taxpayers. Polluted runoff also contaminates the environment and endangers aquatic life. Stormwater utilities can be a part of the solution, by enabling communities to fund modern, green stormwater infrastructure and protect the environment and public health.

FLOW is working to develop a legislative solution to enable small and mid-sized communities in Michigan to legally establish stormwater utilities and secure a reliable source of funding for this crucial infrastructure. Stormwater utilities are an essential tool for managing and mitigating the negative impacts of stormwater runoff, including flood damage, erosion, and pollution.

State Expands Clean Water Funding; More Funding Needed

Published on May 2nd, 2024 by - Blog Posts

On Earth Day, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) announced a $290 million expansion of the MI Clean Water Plan with proceeds from the bipartisan, voter-approved 2002 Great Lakes Water Quality Protection Bond. The funds will expand state low-interest loans to local governments for drinking water and water management resources for their residents through an expansion of the state’s low-interest loan offerings.

Governor Whitmer said that during her tenure in office the state has invested over $4 billion to upgrade drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater facilities, supporting 57,000 jobs, but “we know we still have more work to do. “

This financing supports critical water infrastructure projects like lead service line removals, rehabilitation and upgrades to drinking water and wastewater plants, improvements to sewer systems, and much more. The $290 million will be split between the state’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and will be available through loans and low interest financing this year.

Even with the $290 million, the need from communities across the state for drinking water and sewage treatment far exceeds available resources.

  • In Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 EGLE provided historic financing and funding opportunities to communities but was still only able to fund $1.7 billion of the over $5 billion in community requests.
  • This funding shortfall will continue in FY 2025, where the department received over $3.5 billion in project requests from communities, but expects to have less than $720 million available after exhausting significant one-time federal resources.
  • Most of the state’s water systems are over 50 years old, and a significant portion are approaching 100 years of service life. Recent reports have highlighted that Michigan has an annual gap of between $860 million to $1.1 billion in water infrastructure needs due to decades of deferred maintenance.

Green Infrastructure: Smart solutions for stormwater runoff

Published on April 16th, 2024 by - Blog Posts, Reports & Media Releases

Download the brief: Stormwater Utilities (pdf)

Over the past few decades, Michigan has faced an increase in unpredictable storm events. Unfortunately, our existing stormwater infrastructure is not built to handle the frequency and intensity of these storms, creating problems with water runoff and flooding. 

This, in turn, has led to problems such as water pollution, algal blooms, beach closures, threats to public health, and increased infrastructure costs to taxpayers. Polluted runoff also contaminates the environment and endangers aquatic life. Stormwater utilities can be a part of the solution, by enabling communities to fund modern, green stormwater infrastructure and protect the environment and public health.

In the brief above, dive in deeper as FLOW explores the issue and possible solutions to solve it. FLOW is working to develop a legislative solution to enable small and mid-sized communities in Michigan to legally establish stormwater utilities and secure a reliable source of funding for this crucial infrastructure. Stormwater utilities are an essential tool for managing and mitigating the negative impacts of stormwater runoff, including flood damage, erosion, and pollution.

 

FLOW’s Legislative Recommendations for Michigan’s 102nd Legislature

Published on March 7th, 2024 by - Blog Posts, Reports & Media Releases

PDF DOWNLOAD: FLOW Legislative Recommendations for 102nd Legislature

As a non-partisan, nonprofit law and policy center, a key component of our mission is to help Michigan’s elected leaders uphold their duties under Article IV, Section 52 of the state constitution, the Michigan Environmental Protection Act, and the public trust doctrine to protect the waters of the state from pollution, impairment, and destruction. Our policy recommendations are responsive to these legal duties, the best available science, and pragmatism.

To fulfill its legal duties in 2024, the 102nd Legislature should prioritize the enactment of four bills

1. Statewide Septic Code

PROBLEM

Michigan is the only U.S. state without a uniform septic code governing the construction, maintenance, and inspection of septic systems. As a result, roughly 338,000 failing septic systems are polluting ground and surface waters with human fecal microbial waste. Extensive research by Michigan State University sampled 83% of the river systems in the Lower Peninsula and found human fecal contamination in 100% of river system samples. The study also found that the primary source of microbial contamination was substandard, failing, or nonexistent septic systems. In addition to harming our natural resources, this septic contamination poses a serious public health problem to the drinking water of nearly 4 million Michiganders who rely on private wells.

SOLUTION

FLOW is working with a diverse coalition that includes public health agencies, EGLE, septage haulers, SEMCOG, MEC, MML, MAC, and other important organizations to address technical issues that are critical for the successful implementation of a statewide septic code. Strategies to overcoming more than 30 years of legislative gridlock are: (1) establishing a reasonable inspection schedule; (2) ensuring county health departments have sufficient resources to administer inspections; and (3) providing financial assistance to septic system owners who may not be able to afford the cost of repairs or replacements. Michigan’s legislature has the opportunity to accomplish what prior legislatures have been unable or unwilling to do—set legal standards for the reasonable oversight of onsite wastewater treatment systems, as every other state has done. Enacting legislation will help identify failing systems, protect groundwater and drinking water wells, support property values, and reduce contaminated wastewater migrating to our lakes, rivers, and streams.

2. Polluter Accountability

PROBLEM

The Michigan Legislature has enacted a number of polluter entitlement laws that prevent state agencies from adequately protecting water resources. These legislative actions include:

  • Elimination of the “polluter pay” law (1995), which effectively shifts the cost of cleaning up contaminated sites (including state waters) from the entities that caused the pollution to the taxpayers that are harmed by it.
  • Reliance on “institutional controls” (2018), which has allowed polluters to leave more than 3,000 legacy sites and new releases of contamination in state waters subject to use restrictions, rather than clean them up.

As a result of these and other polluter entitlements, Michigan now has 24,000 known contaminated sites, including thousands of known and unknown sources of groundwater and surface water contamination. Almost half of these sites are “orphaned” sites with no known responsible party, resulting in the state being responsible for assessing and remediating these sites without adequate funding.

SOLUTION

Proposed bills would hold polluters accountable for the pollution they create and the ensuing harm that it causes. The Polluter Pay Accountability Act will serve to transform Michigan from the Rust Belt to the Blue Belt, with overwhelming public support and a robust coalition backing it.

3. Stormwater Utilities

PROBLEM

Michigan has already suffered immense financial losses due to flooding, and it’s predicted that damages will only rise with the expected increased frequency and severity of storm events. The consequences of flooding are harsh and include harmful algal blooms and chemical pollution, which in turn can pose serious public health risks and trigger beach closures. According to the Western Kentucky University Stormwater Utility Survey, Michigan has a mere twelve stormwater utilities (SWUs), while Wisconsin boasts over 200; and Minnesota, Ohio, and Indiana each have over 100. It’s crucial that we take action to increase the number of SWUs in Michigan to prevent further damage, ensure the safety of our communities, and build climate resilience.

SOLUTION

Adopting stormwater utilities has emerged as a widely accepted policy approach to tackle this issue. The Clean Water Act mandates municipalities to minimize water pollution from surface runoff. Michigan has so few SWUs in large part because of the 1998 Michigan Supreme Court case, Bolt v. City of Lansing, which held that Lansing’s stormwater service charge was structured as an illegal tax and not a “user fee.” FLOW is collaborating with key stakeholders to develop a Bolt-compliant stormwater management utility act that will protect our environment, economy, and water resources. By passing this type of legislation, we can effectively manage stormwater runoff, mitigate flooding risks and beach closures, build climate-resilient infrastructure, and ensure that we have clean water for our families and future generations.

4. Michigan Public Water Trust Act

PROBLEM

Private corporations presently extract and sell public water for hundreds of millions of dollars in profit each year while paying virtually nothing to the state. Michigan has, in effect, allowed a publicly owned natural resource to be commodified. Consistent with Michigan’s long established jurisprudence, the law should recognize that Michigan waters are a public trust resource. Moreover, with a large and increasing number of Michiganders in both urban and rural communities unable to afford to pay their water bills and facing the prospect of water shutoffs, our laws should provide assistance to these communities.

SOLUTION

In the wake of the Flint lead crisis, the Detroit water shutoffs, and the Nestle 2016 water grab, FLOW authored model legislation to protect water quality, advance water equity, ensure that the waters of the State remain a public resource, and annually provide communities and water utilities with over $250 million in annual funding to address water affordability and infrastructure needs. Modeled after the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, the Michigan Public Water Trust Act holds the waters of Michigan as a public trust, designates our citizens as the beneficiaries, and requires the government to act as the fiduciary and to ensure that public trust is protected from harm, impairment, and appropriation.