Detroit News

Wednesday, May 5, 2004

State representatives want to limit DEQ's authority

By Amy F. Bailey / Associated Press

LANSING — Some Republican state representatives want to limit Michigan’s environmental regulatory agency, which they describe as overly bureaucratic, power hungry and filled with "rogue" field agents who intimidate property owners.

Their move to restrict the state Department of Environmental Quality comes on top of legislative efforts to severely reduce the department’s budget and limit its rule-making authority.

"Nobody has ever gone after them. That’s the reason why it seems like a big target, because it’s been an issue for so long," said Rep. John Pastor, a Livonia Republican who is the head of the House Appropriations subcommittee in charge of overseeing the DEQ budget.

Pastor, a developer before being elected to the House in 2002, is working on a bill that would eliminate the DEQ’s authority in counties that have a similar environmental agency.

He also is among a group of House Republicans writing legislation that would have the state adopt the federal air quality standards. They say the change would speed up the permitting process and help Michigan better compete with other states for new businesses.

But department Director Steven Chester said such a change would gut the state’s ability to limit toxins released into the air because the federal standards don’t cover a number of pollutants, such as mercury from municipal incinerators and formaldehyde.

Chester said he’s frustrated by recent attempts to restrict the DEQ, which became a separate department when former GOP Gov. John Engler split it off from the Department of Natural Resources in 1995.

The director wants lawmakers to give him and the department some time to get going. Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm hired the former state assistant attorney general and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deputy director shortly before taking office in January 2003, and in the past year there have been several GOP attempts to restrain the DEQ.

"We just seem to have all this animus and resistance from at least one side of the Legislature," Chester said. "My comment to them is: ‘You’ve got to give us a chance.’"

Chester watched last year as Pastor’s subcommittee stripped $71 million out of the DEQ budget for the current fiscal year. About $38 million got restored during budget talks, but the department’s $371 million allocation was far below what Granholm had requested.

The Republican-controlled Legislature also has voted to restrict the rules the DEQ can draw up for its permitting program. In the end, the two sides compromised, and lawmakers got more time to review new administrative rules.

House Republicans working on bringing more accountability to the DEQ say the bills are aimed at resolving problems they and their constituents have had with the department, some predating the Granholm administration.

Republican Rep. Brian Palmer of Romeo said that, as a real estate developer, his dealings with Michigan’s environmental department have been more difficult than those with similar agencies in other states, including California, Florida and New York.

"None of them were as tough to deal with as the DEQ in Michigan," Palmer said. "The intent seems to be control and power rather than what’s good for people and what’s good for the state."

Palmer and his Republican colleagues want to give stronger protections to property and business owners by creating an ombudsman and public advisory commission to guarantee that those dealing with the DEQ get a fair hearing and have a voice in environmental affairs. They said that too often property owners are afraid of the DEQ and feel they have no say in the process.

House Republicans also are working on legislation that would speed up the application process for businesses to receive air quality permits. They applauded Granholm’s efforts to reduce the wait for such permits from 18 months to six, but said it should take even less time.

Pastor wants the permits to be automatically awarded at a set time unless they don’t follow federal and state guidelines. He said that too often, the department finds small problems or errors in an application, which restarts the clock on the process, making it even longer.

He also wants to further streamline the permitting process by allowing automatic annual permit renewals.

Chester said such annual reviews wouldn’t work for environmental permits because the examination process is case-specific. He also pointed out that the DEQ issues few annual permits. Most are one-time permits or are issued once every five or 10 years.

"An annual automatic renewal just doesn’t work in the environmental arena, and for people to think that it does shows they truly don’t understand the complexity of these permit processes," he said. "I think they truly think it’s like a driver’s license renewal."

Democratic Rep. Chris Kolb of Ann Arbor said the House Republicans who want to reform the DEQ are emphasizing property rights over the public’s right to a safe environment.

"They believe private interest overrides the public, but the public is all of us ... and the air and water we all use," Kolb said. "They’re bringing out the heavy artillery when a letter to the director would work."

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