MEC Capitol
Update
March 7, 2003
Senate
SB
195 - Sen. Toy - Fee authority for the Detroit Water
and Sewer System - On a vote of 23-14 the Senate approved
this legislation to establish a separate authority to approve
rate changes for the Detroit Water and Sewer System.
Coming
up:
Natural
Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee
Tuesday, March 11, at 3:00 p.m. in room 110 of the Farnum
Building.
On the agenda:
SB
150 - Sen. Allen - Allows colleges and universities
to apply for funding for harbor and waterway development projects.
Pending
Referral: SB 289 - Sen. Birkholz - This bill would regulate
water withdrawals from certain aquifers within the State of
Michigan. It is a pared down version of legislation introduced
last year (SB 1197-1200) to regulate groundwater use in Michigan.
MEC is concerned that the bill is too limited in scope and
may make preventing future diversions of water from the Great
Lakes more difficult.
SB
289 will likely be worked on by the committee for
a number of weeks.
Committee
Clerk Phone Number 517-373-1854
House
HB
4087 - Rep. Moolenaar - Conflict of use between groundwater
users - This bill set up a process for settling disputes between
high-capacity wells and neighboring smaller wells. An attempt
to resolve disputes involving agricultural wells will be made
by the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) using the
Right to Farm procedures. Disputes that cannot be resolved
by MDA and non-agricultural wells will be addressed by the
MDEQ. Concerns have been raised that funding is not included
for this newly created program, which would result in other
cuts in the MDEQ.
Appropriations
- Natural Resources and Environmental Quality Subcommittee
Tuesday March 11, 2003 at 9:00 am in room 327 of the House
Office Building
On the agenda is a MDEQ Overview - Regulatory Programs
Governor
Budgets
Information
regarding the executive budget can be found at:
http://www.michigan.gov/gov
Land
Use Leadership Council
Governor
Granholm issued Executive Order 2003-4, charging the Michigan
Land Use Council with it’s six-month task to:
1. Identify
the trends, causes, and consequences of unmanaged growth and
development.
2. Provide recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature
designed to minimize the negative economic, environmental,
and social impacts of current land use trends; promote urban
revitalization and reinvestment; foster intergovernmental
and public-private land use partnerships; identify new growth
and development opportunities; and protect Michigan’s
natural resources, including farmland and open space, and
better manage the cost of public investments in infrastructure
to support growth.
