MEC Capitol
Update
December 7, 2001
MEC Members - Note, that
the House Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Committee will
be taking up the issue of oil and gas drilling below the Great
Lakes on Tuesday (HB 5118), with possible action by the entire
House later in the week. Letters and calls to House Reps would
be especially helpful. The message is simple:
Ban Directional Drilling Below the Lakes!
Senate Action:
The Senate Natural
Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee reported
out the following bills on Tuesday (12/4):
HB 5038 -
Provides for notice to other jurisdictions of the adoption
of township plans
HB 5252 – Provides
for notice to other jurisdictions of the adoption of county
plans
HB 5267 – Provide
for notice to other jurisdictions of the adoption of municipal
plans
MEC is disappointed that after
years of work on trying to get the legislature to adopt the
Coordinated Planning Act the best they could do was legislation
to provide notice, but no coordination of efforts among adjourning
communities.
House Action:
House Conservation and Outdoor
Recreation Committee
HB 5118 – Directional
drilling below the Great Lakes - The Committee took some testimony
on the bill on Thursday (12/6). They have scheduled a meeting
on Tuesday (12/11) at 9:00 a.m. to complete action on the
bills.
HB 5380, SB 27 –
Scrap Tire Regulation - These bills place greater restrictions
on the collection and disposal of scrap tires, and removes
the sunset and increases the fees used for the scrap tire
program. MEC opposed the final version of HB 5380 because
it lowered the bond requirements for the operators of whole
tire collection sites from $100,000/acre to $25,000/acre.
HB 5380 was reported out of committee and passed the entire
House on Thursday (12/6). SB 27 remains
on the House calendar.
HB 5478 - The committee
reported this bill to transfers from the legislature to the
Natural Resources Commission the ability to designate "game"
species.
SJR T and SBs 796-801
– Natural Resources Trust Fund / Parks Endowment Fund
– This Constitutional amendment (must go to the ballot)
and bills do basically four things; raise the overall cap
on the Natural Resources Trust Fund from $400 million to $500
million; raise the trigger for relying on interest only (they
currently can now also spend 1/3 of each year incoming revenue
stream plus interest) from $200 million to $500, increase
the amount of money that can be diverted from the State Parks
Endowment Fund from $5 million a year adjusted for inflation
to $6.5 million a year adjusted for inflation and allow investments
in these and other related funds in all investment types currently
allowed for the state retirement system. Negotiations continue
on this package of bills
Land Use and Environment Committee
The committee reported SB
105, SB 106, and HB 4926 that provide more funding to
address sewer overflow issues.
House Civil Law and Judiciary
Committee
SB 109 – Municipal
liability for sewer backups – The committee reported
this bill to provide a procedure for homeowners to receive
compensation for sewer backups that are the result of a defect
that a local government has notice of and has not addressed.
House Energy and Technology
Committee
Reported out HCR 49 –
a resolution to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to
reevaluate and adjust (increase) Michigan’s cap on nitrogen
oxide emissions. Based on input from the MEC, the resolution
was improved by adding language regarding public health impacts
and the need for greater support for energy efficiency programs.
House Transportation
HB 5467 – The bill
took testimony on this bill to create a Regional Transportation
Authority in Southeast Michigan. The committee plans to continue
to work on the legislation.
Submitted by:
James Clift
Michigan Environmental Council
119 Pere Marquette, Ste 2A
Lansing, MI 48912
(517) 487-9539
jamesmec@voyager.net
