Michigan Gov. Whitmer’s Budget Prioritizes Drinking Water and Helps Wildlife
The recent challenges facing Michigan’s natural resources have been well known, but rhetoric alone cannot solve them; it takes substantial funding to address Michigan’s drinking water crisis, protect its water from pollution, and protect its fish wildlife from disease and invasive species. The National Wildlife Federation supports Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed budget, which contains much-needed funding to address issues like lead in drinking water, toxic PFAS contamination in water supplies, pipeline water crossings, chronic wasting disease in deer, and invasive species.
“Here in Michigan, we are lucky to live in a state with vast amounts of fresh water, thousands of acres of public land, and world class hunting and fishing opportunities. Yet, we are at a critical juncture. Michigan continues to face many challenges to provide clean and safe drinking water to its citizens, protect and conserve our natural resources from threats of habitat loss, and wildlife disease,” said Marc Smith, director of conservation partnerships for the National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional Center, in testimony today before the Michigan House Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Environmental Quality. “Given these challenges, we must be bold in our efforts to sustain these attributes and think strategically in how we invest in the protection of our natural resources. We believe Gov. Whitmer’s budget helps provide a road map to that goal.”
Budget Boosts Water Protection
Gov. Whitmer proposes significant funding to improve and protect Michigan’s drinking water in a one-time $180 million investment contained in the FY19 supplemental budget, which includes:
· $61.5 million for the School Aid Fund for hydration stations for students in schools whose drinking water is unsafe to drink due to high levels of lead or copper.
· $37.5 million for Lead and Copper Rule implementation to replace lead pipes that can put children and families at risk.
· $30 million for PFAS remediation to protect water supplies from the toxic substance.
· $40 million drinking water revolving fund to provide loans to local governments to upgrade water infrastructure.
For the 2020 fiscal year, Gov. Whitmer maintains $69 million in funding for Renew Michigan in the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), formerly the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). This includes $45 million for environmental cleanup, $15 million for recycling and $9 million for waste management. The EGLE also would receive $1.9 million for a new drinking water compliance unit and $9.8 million for system upgrades.
Fish and Wildlife Priorities Funded
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) receives most of its funding from user fees like hunting and fishing licenses and camping permits, as well as federal funds distributed from excise taxes on hunting, fishing and firearms equipment. Gov. Whitmer’s budget would add an additional $5.1 million to fight aquatic and terrestrial invasive species — like Asian carp and feral swine — and $2.3 million to fight chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal deer disease. Michigan’s first case of CWD in its free-ranging wild deer herd was detected in 2015, and it has now been detected in 119 deer. This funding would include $2 million to research the disease for more effective ways to fight it and $300,000 for laboratory testing of deer carcasses to detect the disease. The DNR would also get $1.4 million to inventory hazardous liquid pipelines which cross water and prioritize additional protection measures.
Governor Boosts Funding for Flint
Efforts to confront the Flint water crisis would receive an additional $8.1 million through the Department of Health and Human Services, which would also get $13.1 million for environmental and public health hazard response to help it better coordinate with EGLE on follow-up investigations.
The old political saying is “don’t tell me your priorities, show me your budget and I’ll tell you your priorities.” Gov. Whitmer’s budget prioritizes Michigan’s environment and natural resources where it’s most needed: fixing our drinking water crisis, cleaning up our environment, protecting our water resources, and protecting fish and wildlife from disease and invasive species.
