The political landscape changed in Lansing in 2023, with Democrats gaining control of the executive and legislative branches for the first time in decades.
And they were quick to advance their top priorities, enacting reproductive rights and climate legislation plus appropriating billions of dollars in corporate subsidies designed to retain and attract business.
But two lower profile environment and justice issues didn’t make the cut for legislative action – an updated polluter pays law that has long been a priority of environmental advocates since it was weakened by Republicans in 1995, and a statewide drinking water affordability law that has been slowly gaining momentum for a decade.
Polluters haven’t paid
It could have been a scene out of a sci-fi movie.
In December 2019, a green and yellow ooze began seeping out of a wall that borders I-696 in Madison Heights, flowing onto the busy freeway.
A lane was closed and the search began to identify the “green ooze” as it had been dubbed, and to locate the source which was later determined to be a nearby electro-plating company. The “ooze” contained hexavalent chromium which is classified as an “occupational carcinogen” by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Outrage ensued in Lansing as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was completing her first year in office, directed her staff to review the issue for possible criminal charges.
A press release from her office said the “governor calls on the legislature to pass ‘Polluter Pay’ legislation to force polluters to pay for cleaning up contamination.”
In 2019 the legislature was controlled by Republicans, the party that had weakened the state’s polluter pay laws in 1995, and Whitmer’s call faded to the background.
But with Democrats in control in 2023, polluter pay legislation was once again in play.
By late October, Democrats were ready to move and introduced a multi-bill package saying that the “current law has enabled polluters to stick taxpayers with the burden of cleaning up over 10,000 orphan sites.”
The bills have Democratic sponsors in both the House and Senate. A release by Senate Democrats said the bills would “set more stringent standards, increase transparency, prevent sites from becoming orphaned and make it easier for those harmed by pollution to seek justice.”
The legislative session ended with the bills still in committee and they await action when the legislature convenes in January.
Livonia state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky’s legislative aide Thomas Randle told Planet Detroit that “the bills are a priority.”Pohutsky chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation that will have to report out the bill for it to advance.
Pohutsky’s Randle said the bills didn’t advance last year because the committee agenda had already been set when they were introduced. On potential barriers, Randle referenced the need to get 55 votes in an evenly divided House.
Randle declined to comment on any position Gov. Whitmer may take on the legislation. Whitmer’s office did not respond to a request to comment.
The Traverse City non-profit For Love of Water (FLOW) released a 2023 report, Making Polluters Pay, that makes the case for polluter pay by fixing the current law and protecting groundwater and taxpayers. The report says the threat to groundwater from pollution is a particular concern as it could make groundwater unusable for future generations.
“Judging by voter support alone, polluter pay reform should be high on the agenda this year,” FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood session told Planet Detroit.
While Kirkwood said she’s cautiously optimistic, she pointed to election-year issues, including abbreviated legislative sessions, as potential barriers. Plus, “there is powerful opposition against polluter pay reform,” she said.
Among that opposition is the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which posted a blog to its website claiming the legislation would create new barriers to the cleanup of contaminated sites in the state and financially burden certain companies if they handle regulated chemicals.”
The chamber said it would focus on educating the bill’s sponsors on “the importance for cleanup laws that balance public health with the ability to effectively utilize private capital to redevelop blight and put it back to productive use.” The chamber did not respond to a request to comment.
The high cost of drinking water
It’s hard to pinpoint the start of the movement for affordable drinking water in Michigan, but it could have been in October 2014. That’s when the United Nations sent representatives to Deroit to chronicle the harm caused by shut offs for those who couldn’t afford to pay. That led to a U.N. statement that said shut offs were “contrary to human rights.”
Another marker is a 2021 University of Michigan study that made the case that the affordability issue is broader than Detroit, extending into rural areas. The study estimated the annual cost of subsidizing an affordability plan at approximately $100 million.
In Oct. 2023, state Sen. Stephanie Chang and Democratic colleagues introduced what they called “a transformative legislative package to address water affordability in Michigan.”
“Despite being surrounded by over 20 percent of the world’s (surface) fresh water, residential water rates have become unaffordable for too many Michigan families,” Chang said in a statement announcing the legislation.
Like polluter pay, the affordability bills did not advance before the legislature adjourned but they’re still on the agenda, according to Chang.
“Water affordability continues to be one of my top priorities as a lawmaker and we will continue to work hard to make this a reality in Michigan,” Chang told Planet Detroit.
Chang said work has been ongoing to address concerns raised in the original bill brought by water providers and local leaders. Chang said the legislation has the “support of the vast majority of water and environmental advocates.”
Water affordability continues to be a priority for Democrats and has support from “some Republicans,” according to Kristy Meyer, campaign director for the advocacy group, Water Equals Life (WEL) coalition.
Meyer said there is bipartisan support for the creation of a policy “to support our most vulnerable.” But there is not yet alignment on the details of an affordability program.
But Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller opposes the bills, seeing the legislation “as shifting the (cost) burden to the suburbs.”
“This is nothing more than an old-fashioned money grab,” Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller said in a January press release that notes a growing number of local governments in the county opposing the bills.
One criticism of the proposed legislation is that it doesn’t have a long-term funding source. That’s a concern expressed by WEL’s Meyer and acknowledged in a Detroit Free Press opinion column written in support of the legislation by Gary Brown, director of the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department and Sylvia Orduno, director of the People’s Water Board Coalition.
Meyer said current political realities could be a barrier to passing affordability legislation and they are not insignificant, but she is hopeful to see action on the bills in May.