Michigan Environmental Council member groups scored a series of victories early this spring, demonstrating that good ideas and hard work can carry the day in Lansing. The results in these cases are laws that, while imperfect, help protect our environment and encourage pollution prevention efforts.

New laws reduce trash in Michigan landfills

More than a decade of hard work paid off at the end of March when Governor Jennifer Granholm signed legislation designed to make Michigan landfills safer and divert reusable materials back into the marketplace. The legislation requires that any jurisdiction sending trash to Michigan landfills must have restrictions on the books that ban the same items Michigan does to protect the environment, such as used oil and batteries. In addition, the new laws will ban beverage containers from landfills, diverting billions of containers back into the market for recycled materials.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992 struck down Michigan's law allowing communities to ban out-of-state trash, Michigan legislators have been working to craft legally permissible restrictions that apply equally to Michigan residents. The bipartisan package is the first successful effort to enact legislation over the objections of the waste industry.

"The steps we take in these new laws will help us reduce the amount of trash our state is currently being forced to take," Granholm said at the bill signing. "These new laws also help us protect the health and safety of Michigan citizens who live in the communities where this trash is deposited."

Michigan Environmental Council member groups, including the Ecology Center and the Sierra Club, and other anti-trash activists deserve a round of applause for their efforts.

Michigan eliminates free permits to pollute water

Michigan became the last Great Lakes state to eliminate free permits to pollute. But as the saying goes, "better late than never." New laws enacted in late March will annually raise $3 million from those that discharge pollutants into Michigan's waterways and $1.2 million from stormwater polluters. The fees were included in the budget for the fiscal year that began last October, but businesses, municipalities and legislative leaders held up the bill for over six months.

The law shifts costs that were paid by taxpayers to those parties asking to discharge waste into the Great Lakes. Just as importantly, the bill will increase funding for the division of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) that guards water quality. Though the funding is less than what is needed for a fully-functional and efficient program, environmental groups praised the compromise legislation as a good first step.

Clean Water Action, PIRGIM and thousands of Michigan residents who contacted their legislators calling for the passage of this law deserve the credit for this important breakthrough.

Groundwater protection program saved at 11th hour

Michigan's groundwater protection program unfortunately has a history of inadequate funding, spotty compliance and unsatisfactory enforcement. For a resource that provides almost half the state with drinking water and feeds our lakes, river and streams with fresh, clean water, this cavalier treatment is undeserved.

After Michigan DEQ Director Steve Chester threatened to close down the program for lack of funding on April 23, the Legislature finally responded. The result is a new law that will raise $1.7 million from parties that discharge pollutants into our groundwater-reinvigorating this program.

"The Michigan Environmental Council and its member groups have much to be proud of this spring," said Lana Pollack, MEC President. "It's seeing tangible results like these-protecting our natural resources-that makes the good fight worth fighting."