Michigan Legislature Update from Sierra Club - June 18, 2015

Michigan Legislature Update from Sierra Club

June 18, 2015

Submitted by Mike Berkowitz

The Michigan House has concluded session for their summer recess while the Senate is still debating whether or not to take a summer break.

Energy Legislation

-House: Energy Committee Chair Nesbitt held hearings on his bills (HB 4298-4304) but has not taken any further action on them yet. This legislation would repeal Michigan’s Energy Optimization Standard, classify waste incineration as a renewable energy form, and allow for the expansion of natural gas pipelines and infrastructure using ratepayer money.

We submitted written testimony opposing this legislation and have been actively lobbying against it.

-Senate: We are still waiting on Senate Energy Committee Chairman Sen. Nofs to introduce his legislation.

Here is our action alert on this issue: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=11335.

Pipeline/Energy FOIA Legislation

HB 4540 (Heise) blocks public access to information about “critical energy infrastructure” and “cybersecurity” through the Freedom of Information Act. The bill had two committee hearings but has not yet been voted on. Legislators on the House Oversight and Ethics committee are negotiating amendments to the bill. We are encouraging lawmakers to either oppose the bill or remove the “critical energy infrastructure” portion of the legislation and only make it apply to cybersecurity.

We submitted written testimony opposing this legislation and have been actively lobbying against it.

Here is our action alert on this issue: http://sierraclubmichiganaction.blogspot.com/2015/05/take-action-tell-legislators-to-vote-no.html

Fracking Waste Legislation

HB 4469 (Pagan) and SB 277 (Hopgood) would regulate low-level radioactive fracking waste in Michigan landfills. We are neutral on this legislation because it does not ban the waste or increase environmental protection substantively. It mainly focuses on increasing documentation and reporting from landfills that accept fracking waste. The bill sponsors are still negotiating the bill language with the DEQ and hope to get a committee hearing on it later this year.

We are encouraging other legislators to introduce a bill that would completely ban radioactive fracking waste and/or substantively increase environmental standards.

No Stricter Than Federal Legislation

HB 4246 (Farrington) would prohibit the Governor and his/her agencies from issuing any regulation that is more stringent than federal law unless specifically authorized by the legislature. This bill had two Regulatory Reform committee hearings but has not been voted on. Gov. Snyder vetoed similar legislation two sessions ago.

We submitted written testimony opposing this legislation and have been actively lobbying against it.

Here is our action alert on this issue: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=15391.

Modifying the Natural Resources Trust Fund

SB 206 (Booher/Casperson) would tie the hands of the Department of Natural Resources when it comes to managing land, while also changing the Natural Resources Trust Fund to focus more heavily on developing land. This legislation had one committee hearing with major pushback from us, the MI Environmental Council, and the DNR. The legislation has temporarily stalled since that hearing but we are prepared in case it comes back up.

If you have questions about any of these items, legislation not included in this update, or want to find out how you can get involved with our legislative work, please email Mike.Berkowitz@sierraclub.org.