Environmental policy in Michigan

Environmental policy in Michigan
Environmental policy in other states Endangered species in Michigan

Environmental policy aims to conserve natural resources by balancing environmental protection with economic growth, property rights, public health, and energy production. Federal, state, and local government entities develop and implement environmental policies through laws and regulations. This page features information about environmental policy in Michigan.

Environmental governance in Michigan

• The Michigan State Senate has a standing committee for natural resources, environment and the Great Lakes. The Michigan House of Representatives has a standing committee for natural resources. These committees manage bills relating to natural resources and environmental matters.
• The mission statement of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (formerly the Department of Environmental Quality) is to promote "wise management of Michigan's air, land, and water resources to support a sustainable environment, healthy communities, and vibrant economy." The department was established by executive order in 1995. The department was merged with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in 2009. This consolidation was rescinded by executive order in 2011. The department is composed of divisions for air quality, water resources, drinking water and waste management, among others.
• The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is "committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural resources for current and future generations." The department administers the state's park system and oversees hunting and fishing activities, among other responsibilities.

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Environmental budget

See also: Environmental spending in the 50 states

The table below features annual budget information for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (formerly the Department of Environmental Quality) from 2011 to 2023:

Environmental and natural resources budget in Michigan, 2011-2023
Fiscal year	Total spending
2023	$728,654,300
2022	$689,770,700
2021	$511,359,200
2020	$614,665,800
2019	$501,302,600
2018	$508,767,700
2017	$513,549,400
2016	$494,209,300
2015	$502,591,800
2014	$517,168,800
2013	$425,979,000
2012	$422,987,100
2011	$395,655,700
Source: Michigan State Budget Office

Air

Clean Air Act

See also: Implementation of the Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act is a federal law aimed at maintaining air quality and reducing air pollution. The law requires states and private industries to meet national air pollution standards. Each state must implement an EPA-approved plan to reduce air pollutants from industrial facilities such as chemical plants and utilities. Over 47,000 facilities nationwide were regulated under the Clean Air Act as of February 2023.

The table below features information about the number of regulated facilities under the Clean Air Act in Michigan from 2014 to 2023:

Regulated facilities under the Clean Air Act in Michigan, 2014-2023
Year	Number of EPA-regulated facilities	Number of state-regulated facilities	Number of local-regulated facilities	Total regulated facilities
2023	5	1,450	N/A	1,455
2022	28	1,457	N/A	1,485
2021	13	1,434	N/A	1,447
2020	32	1,439	N/A	1,471
2019	17	1,429	N/A	1,446
2018	40	1,416	N/A	1,456
2017	15	1,396	N/A	1,411
2016	11	750	N/A	761
2015	10	743	N/A	753
2014	20	1,300	N/A	1,320
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "EPA/State Air Dashboard"

Mercury and air toxics standards

See also: Mercury and air toxics standards

Citing its authority under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2011 issued a rule (commonly known as the MATS rule) limiting the amount of mercury and other toxic air pollutants emitted by power plants. Mercury and air toxics standards (MATS) target mercury and other hazardous pollutants from over 580 coal and oil-fired power plants nationwide. The MATS rule was issued by the Obama administration as part of its larger policy limiting emissions from coal-fired power plants.

The EPA later reconsidered the MATS rule and, in 2020, determined "that it is not 'appropriate and necessary' to regulate electric utility steam generating units under section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA)."

A 2021 proposed rulemaking from the EPA seeks to revoke the 2020 action and reinstate the MATS rule.

During the period that the MATS rule was in effect, Michigan had 23 power plants subject to the mercury standards.

Ozone standards

See also: Ground-level ozone standards

Federal ozone standards establish the acceptable amount of ground level ozone, commonly known as smog, which is formed when nitrogen oxide combines with other organic chemicals in the atmosphere. Automobiles, power plants, factories and manufacturing centers emit the nitrogen oxide necessary for ozone formation. In high concentrations, ozone is harmful to human health.

EPA in 2015 lowered the acceptable amount of ground-level ozone (smog) in the air. The standards will go into effect in 2025. States would have between the years 2020 and 2037 to create and establish a plan to meet the standards, depending how much ozone forms in certain areas of a state.

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Clean Power Plan

See also: Clean Power Plan and climate change

The EPA in 2015 finalized a regulatory action known as the Clean Power Plan aimed at mitigating what the agency views as potentially human-caused climate change. The plan aims to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants (fossil fuel-fired) and natural gas-fired power plants by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. Each state would have to meet goals based on the number of fossil fuel- and natural gas-fired plants in the state.

After several states challenged the plan in court, arguing in part that the plan exceeded the EPA's statutory authority, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit delayed the rule's implementation in June 2016. The Trump administration later moved to replace the Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy rule. The D.C. Circuit vacated the Trump-era rule in January 2021, "giving the incoming Biden administration a clean slate for" drafting a new rule, according to Bloomberg.

Carbon dioxide emissions

The following table provides information about annual carbon dioxide emissions in Michigan from 2010 to 2020:

Carbon dioxide emissions in Michigan, 2010-2020 (in million metric tons of energy-related carbon dioxide)
Year	Total carbon dioxide emissions
2020	136.8
2019	159.2
2018	163.7
2017	155.7
2016	154.5
2015	164.5
2014	164.0
2013	164.0
2012	155.4
2011	162.5
2010	167.5
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Land

Federal land policy

See also: Federal land policy

Federal land policy involves the conservation and management of natural resources on land owned by the federal government. Most federal land policies focus on conservation, recreation, oil and natural gas extraction, wildlife and forest management, and grazing.

The federal government as of 2018 owned around 640 million total acres of land (about 28 percent) of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States. Four federal agencies (the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the National Park Service (NPS), the Forest Service (FS) oversee public lands for conservation, recreation, wildlife protection, grazing, energy production, and other purposes. The Department of Defense also oversees federal lands used for military, training, and related purposes. The majority of federal land is located in Alaska and 11 coterminous Western states

Federal land ownership

See also: Federal land ownership by state

The table below features information about changes in federal land ownership in Michigan from 1990 to 2018:

Change in federal land ownership in Michigan, 1990-2018
Year	Total federal land (in acres)	Percentage of state land owned by the federal government
2018	3,637,599	10.0%
2010	3,637,965	10.0%
2000	3,692,271	10.1%
1990	3,649,258	10.0%
Source: Congressional Research Service

Federal land management by agency

The following table features information about federal land management in Michigan by federal agency in 2018:

Federal agency land management in Michigan, 2018
Agency	Total federal land in state managed by agency (in acres)	Percentage of total federal land in state
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)	610	0.02%
Forest Service (FS)	2,874,631	79.0%
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)	117,816	3.2%
National Park Service (NPS)	632,280	17.4%
Department of Defense (DoD)	12,262	0.3%
Source: Congressional Research Service

National parks

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) as of February 2023 oversaw what the agency describes as 424 units (often referred to as parks) and more than 150 related areas within the National Park System. The agency assists in managing national historic areas, wild and scenic rivers, historic landmarks, and national trails. The National Park System contained more than 85 million acres as of February 2023, including national parks, historical parks and sites, national monuments, battlefields and military parks, recreation areas, seashores, and parkways. More than 297 million visitors attended sites in the National Park System in 2021. NPS employed around 20,000 permanent, temporary, and seasonal employees as of February 2023.

NPS operated five national parks in Michigan as of February 2023.

The following table features visitation statistics for national parks in Michigan from 2017 to 2021.

National Park Service visitation in Michigan, 2017-2021
Year	Total recreation visits
2021	3,337,907
2020	3,249,547
2019	2,702,015
2018	2,745,670
2017	2,742,804
Source: U.S. National Park Service

Payments in lieu of taxes

See also: Payments in lieu of taxes

The U.S. Department of the Interior pays local governments each year to offset what they lose in property taxes due to non-taxable federal land within their borders, commonly known as payments in lieu of taxes (PILT). PILT payments go toward fire and police departments, public schools, road construction, and other local services. PILT amounts are based on population and the amount of federal land in a county. From 1977 (when PILT payments began) to 2022, the Interior Department paid out around $10.8 billion to states, territories, and Washington, D.C. PILT payments can be used for any governmental purpose.

The following table features information about payments in lieu of taxes received by local governments in Michigan from 2017 to 2021.

Total payments in lieu of taxes, Michigan, 2017-2021
Year	Total payments in lieu of taxes
2022	$5,656,735
2021	$5,434,439
2020	$5,290,103
2019	$5,146,197
2018	$5,389,933
Source: U.S. National Park Service

Oil and natural gas activity

See also: Oil and natural gas extraction on federal land and BLM oil and gas leases by state

The federal government leases its land to private individuals and companies for energy development, including drilling for crude oil and natural gas, solar energy, and geothermal energy. Oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands in the United States is primarily overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Private oil and natural gas companies apply for leases from the BLM to produce energy on federal land. About 26 million acres of federal land—12.8 million of which produced oil and gas in economic quantities—were leased to about 24,000 oil and gas developers operating 96,000 wells at the end of fiscal year 2018.

The following table features information about oil and natural gas activity on federal land in Michigan from 2017 to 2021:

Oil and natural gas activity on federal land in Michigan, 2017-2021
Year	Oil production (in thousands of barrels)	Natural gas production (in million cubic feet)	Total leases in state	Total leased acres in state
2021	9,199	932,991	139	56,164
2020	10,107	1,049,821	146	63,380
2019	12,388	1,220,647	163	81,591
2018	14,708	1,219,817	208	111,254
2017	17,754	1,291,816	217	114,982
Source: U.S. National Park Service

Water

Clean Water Act

See also: Implementation of the Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act is a federal law regulating pollutants discharged into all waters of the United States, including lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands. The federal government approves water quality and technology standards for major sources of water pollution, such as chemical plants, steel manufacturers, municipal facilities, and others. Each state must establish water quality standards for all bodies of water within its boundaries.

Under the Clean Water Act, it is unlawful to discharge any pollutant from any source into navigable waters without a federal permit. The permit specifies what limitations or conditions apply to a facility before the facility may discharge any pollutants. Federal permits may contain facility-specific requirements and limitations depending on the water source.

The following table provides information about the number of Michigan facilities subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act from 2014 to 2023:

Clean Water Act permits, Michigan, 2014-2023
Year	Number of facilities
2023	4,613
2022	4,603
2021	3,902
2020	3,587
2019	3,108
2018	2,698
2017	2,667
2016	2,520
2015	2,421
2014	2,287
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "National Water Activity Dashboard"

Waste

Superfund sites and hazardous waste facilities

See also: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

Superfund is a federal program that addresses contaminated waste sites and their return to practical use. Superfund sites include oil refineries, smelting facilities, mines and other industrial areas. The federal government can compel the private entities responsible for a waste site to clean the site or face penalties. If the federal government cleans a waste site, it can compel the responsible company to reimburse the government for cleanup costs. Because Superfund sites are added and removed from a prioritized list on a regular basis, the total number of Superfund sites since the program's inception in 1980 is unknown.

The federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act covers hazardous wastes, including their generation, treatment, storage and disposal. States may regulate hazardous wastes rather than the federal government. The EPA is responsible for all hazardous waste requirements if no state program exists. Hazardous waste regulations cover waste generators, transporters, treatment centers, storage and disposal facilities.

Michigan had 65 Superfund sites and 24,453 regulated hazardous waste facilities as of February 2023.

Endangered species

Endangered Species Act

See also: Endangered species in Michigan

The Endangered Species Act is a federal law that mandates the listing and conservation of endangered and threatened species. The legislation aims to prevent the extinction of vulnerable species throughout the United States and to recover a species' population to the point where listing the species as endangered or threatened is no longer necessary. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for the law's implementation.

Michigan had 26 federally listed endangered or threatened plant or animal species as of February 2023. To view the full list, click here.

Environmental ballot measures in Michigan

The following list features historical information about ballot measures relating to environmental issues in Michigan.

Natural resources

Ballotpedia staff have tracked no ballot measures relating to natural resources in Michigan

Environment

Ballotpedia staff have tracked no ballot measures relating to the environment in Michigan

Water

Ballotpedia staff have tracked no ballot measures relating to water in Michigan

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Recent environmental legislation in Michigan

The following list features information about environmental bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Michigan State Legislature in the last five years. To learn more about these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

See also

• Endangered species in Michigan
• Energy policy in Michigan
• Federal land policy
• Federal land ownership by state
• U.S. Bureau of Land Management
• U.S. Department of the Interior
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• U.S. National Park Service

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency