Environmental

As a result of Gov. Whitmer’s Executive Order (EO) 2019-06, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) is being reorganized and renamed as the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) effective April 22, 2019. This EO does more than merely changing the name of MDEQ: The Interagency Environmental Justice Response Team is ... Read More

On March 16, 2018, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) announced that the $36 million in funding earmarked for the Legacy Release Program (LRP) barely 6 months ago (via the passage of Public Act 130 of 2017) has been completely allocated to approved or pending claim submittals. As a result, the MDEQ is not ... Read More

House Bill 4583 was recently signed into law by Governor Snyder.  This Bill creates the “Legacy Release Program”, establishes new options to demonstrate financial responsibility for cleanup fund deductibles, and provides for reimbursement of local units of government (LUG) for certain corrective action costs. The highlights of HB 4583 (now referred to as Public Act ... Read More

2016 closed out with some good news for underground storage tank (UST) owners in Michigan. On December 21, 2016, Governor Snyder signed House Bill 5599 into law (PA 380 of 2016), amending UST corrective action funding provisions of Part 215 of Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), 1994 PA 451, as amended. The ... Read More

On May 27, 2016, Region 5 of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved Michigan’s Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund (the Fund) as an acceptable partial coverage financial responsibility mechanism for owners and operators (O/O) of USTs within the State of Michigan. After payment of a deductible ($50,000, unless the O/O owns fewer than 8 USTs ... Read More

House Bill 4604, recently passed by the Michigan Legislature and signed into law by Governor Snyder on January 26, 2016, provides permit exemptions under Part 91 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) for certain earth changes that are associated with specific agricultural practices and residential property owner activities. These changes, which become ... Read More

The Michigan Underground Storage Tank Authority (MUSTA) just released statistics on the operation of the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund (Fund) to date, as well as data regarding the number of UST facilities submitting information to MUSTA to utilize the Fund (see below). While the number of facilities submitting deductible buy-down requests and requests for ... Read More

The Michigan Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership (BIP) Program was developed as a result of a $3 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). The Corn Marketing Program of Michigan (CMPM) was tasked as the grant administrator for the BIP funds. The grant funding is ... Read More

In December of 2015, the Michigan legislature passed Senate Bill 400, amending Part 121 (Liquid Industrial Wastes) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), making the following significant changes: The title of Part 121 was changed to “Liquid Industrial By-Products” and all internal references throughout Part 121 were changed from “liquid industrial waste” ... Read More

At MUSTA’s January 19, 2016 meeting in Lansing, a decision was made to extend the Underground Storage Tank (UST) Cleanup Fund deductible buy-down deadline from January 31, 2016 to March 31, 2016. Part 215 of Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), Section 21510a(b) allows an eligible UST owner or operator with fewer than ... Read More