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Tipping the Balance

An Overview of the Past Eight Years
By Keith Schneider

The Administration's commitment to sound science
erodes quickly when business seeks financial advantage.

(continued from previous page)
The Administration outlines the following achievements:
• The Michigan Environmental Science Board was established to advise state agencies and strengthen
scientific understanding of environmental problems.
• Efforts to redevelop contaminated industrial sites, known as "brownfields," accelerated.
• In 1994 Gov. Engler chaired a national commission on preventing water pollution caused by runoff from
farmland and cities. Michigan now spends nearly $9 million annually to stabilize stream banks, rebuild road
culverts, and protect watersheds.
• In 1996 the Administration published a study that convinced auto manufacturers to build electrical switches
without using mercury, a dangerous toxin that has accumulated in the state's lakes. The action reduced mercury use
by about 11 tons annually.
"The usual reaction to environmental problems was always more regulation," said G. Tracy Mehan III,
director of the Department of Environmental Quality's Office of the Great Lakes."We've tried to find creative
approaches to difficult problems that involve collaboration, education, and incentives. The Governor deserves
credit for what he's done."
"The Public Sees the Losses"
Seasoned observers assert, however, that the Administration has principally spent its time removing
barriers to developing natural resources, which is resulting in their degradation.
Among them is Howard A. Tanner, a fisheries biologist and director of the Department of Natural Resources
under Gov. William G. Milliken. When it came to formulation and enforcing public policy to protect
natural resources, said Dr. Tanner, "Michigan used to be considered among the leaders. We were at the top.
We're now at the bottom." Dr. Tanner and others cite a number of disputed decisions that indicate the Admin-
istration's commitment to sound science erodes quickly when business seeks short-term financial advantage.
• In 1992 a panel of scientists, state officials, and citizens convened by the Governor found that the
deteriorating rural and urban landscape is one of the most important environmental problems in Michigan. But
in 1997, under pressure from realtors and home builders, the Governor signed amendments to the state land
division act that will perpetuate sprawl.
• In 1996 the Governor signed the Michigan Self-Audit Privilege and Immunity Act. The law provided
incentives for companies to conduct their own inspections by giving executives the legal authority to keep the
results secret. The law also provided executives with immunity from many civil penalties and some criminal
offenses.
Environmental groups criticized the law for making it much easier for state agencies to avoid their
oversight responsibilities, and for companies to hide pollution violations behind a veil of secrecy. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency agreed, and warned the Administration that it was considering stepping in to
enforce state environmental laws. In December 1997 the Legislature amended the law to limit the amount of
information businesses may keep secret, and ended much of the legal immunity granted under the 1996
version.
• In 1997 the directors of the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of
Environmental Quality overruled state biologists and issued Shanty Creek Resort a permit to withdraw
millions of gallons of water from the wild Cedar River in Antrim County. The state biologists had said the
withdrawals, for irrigating a new golf course and to make snow for ski runs, would damage the trout fishery in
the blue-ribbon river. It took a lawsuit by Friends of the Cedar River to reduce the draw to less threatening
levels.
Said Lana Pollack, president of the Michigan Environmental Council and a former three-term state senator
who served with the Governor when he was Senate Majority Leader, "John Engler very seldom overreaches.
He has a keen sense of the possible. But in environmental policy, he overreached. The public sees the losses
-- they're looking for leadership to the protect natural resources that they cherish." G



Tipping the Balance An Overview of the Past Eight Years By Keith Schneider
		The Administration's commitment to sound science erodes quickly when business seeks financial advantage.
	(continued from previous page) The Administration outlines the following achievements: • The Michigan Environmental Science Board was established to advise state agencies and strengthen scientific understanding of environmental problems. • Efforts to redevelop contaminated industrial sites, known as "brownfields," accelerated. • In 1994 Gov. Engler chaired a national commission on preventing water pollution caused by runoff from farmland and cities. Michigan now spends nearly $9 million annually to stabilize stream banks, rebuild road culverts, and protect watersheds. • In 1996 the Administration published a study that convinced auto manufacturers to build electrical switches without using mercury, a dangerous toxin that has accumulated in the state's lakes. The action reduced mercury use by about 11 tons annually. "The usual reaction to environmental problems was always more regulation," said G. Tracy Mehan III, director of the Department of Environmental Quality's Office of the Great Lakes."We've tried to find creative approaches to difficult problems that involve collaboration, education, and incentives. The Governor deserves credit for what he's done." "The Public Sees the Losses" Seasoned observers assert, however, that the Administration has principally spent its time removing barriers to developing natural resources, which is resulting in their degradation. Among them is Howard A. Tanner, a fisheries biologist and director of the Department of Natural Resources under Gov. William G. Milliken. When it came to formulation and enforcing public policy to protect natural resources, said Dr. Tanner, "Michigan used to be considered among the leaders. We were at the top. We're now at the bottom." Dr. Tanner and others cite a number of disputed decisions that indicate the Admin- istration's commitment to sound science erodes quickly when business seeks short-term financial advantage. • In 1992 a panel of scientists, state officials, and citizens convened by the Governor found that the deteriorating rural and urban landscape is one of the most important environmental problems in Michigan. But in 1997, under pressure from realtors and home builders, the Governor signed amendments to the state land division act that will perpetuate sprawl. • In 1996 the Governor signed the Michigan Self-Audit Privilege and Immunity Act. The law provided incentives for companies to conduct their own inspections by giving executives the legal authority to keep the results secret. The law also provided executives with immunity from many civil penalties and some criminal offenses. Environmental groups criticized the law for making it much easier for state agencies to avoid their oversight responsibilities, and for companies to hide pollution violations behind a veil of secrecy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed, and warned the Administration that it was considering stepping in to enforce state environmental laws. In December 1997 the Legislature amended the law to limit the amount of information businesses may keep secret, and ended much of the legal immunity granted under the 1996 version. • In 1997 the directors of the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Quality overruled state biologists and issued Shanty Creek Resort a permit to withdraw millions of gallons of water from the wild Cedar River in Antrim County. The state biologists had said the withdrawals, for irrigating a new golf course and to make snow for ski runs, would damage the trout fishery in the blue-ribbon river. It took a lawsuit by Friends of the Cedar River to reduce the draw to less threatening levels. Said Lana Pollack, president of the Michigan Environmental Council and a former three-term state senator who served with the Governor when he was Senate Majority Leader, "John Engler very seldom overreaches. He has a keen sense of the possible. But in environmental policy, he overreached. The public sees the losses -- they're looking for leadership to the protect natural resources that they cherish." G