Michigan Pushes for Proposal to Repeal Environmental Review Panels

[Nomad]

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is urging the repeal of environmental review panels from the Snyder era, citing delays and lack of value. Senate Bill 393 and Senate Bill 394 have been introduced to eliminate the Environmental Science Advisory Board and the Environmental Permitting Review Commission, respectively. Officials argue that the latter causes unnecessary delays and inefficient resource use, with concerns raised about legal determinations by non-experts. The proposed changes aim to streamline the environmental review process in Michigan, emphasizing efficiency and governance improvements.
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[Winny]

Well if people can still obtain permits for certain needs, I see no problem with it. If it's streamlined, it should be even easier to obtain a permit for what you need. But, it does seem like some were against this, but they didn't show up to push back on it.

 

[aquafire]

From what I've read, the Environmental Science Advisory Board and the Environmental Permitting Review Commission were basically used to circumvent the permitting process by EGLE. Both the advisory board and review commission contained members who weren't considered experts in their field, too.

 

[Overtime]

I thought the governor had already terminated it. I guess it's going through the system now. I don't live in that state, but from what I've heard, the review panel was put in place to maneuver around regulations. It seems unnecessary to me and a waste of taxpayers' money.

 

[Jake]

Sounds like they went the right direction with this. If the panels didn't actually do much but try and get past regulations, then it's certainly not needed. And hey, if it's a wasted program that taxpayers are still paying on, than yes, please get rid of it everywhere. Seemed unprofessional and useless.

There should already be systems in place to review things at the start, especially when it comes to anything to do with the environment. But this system wasn't it.