Capitol Watch
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May/June 1999
Features
Bike Friendly Cities
by Lucinda Means
Undermining the Dunes
Auto Industry Greed is Destroying Our Most Scenic Treasures
Motor City Challenge
Ecology Center Demands Cleaner Cars from Auto Industry
by Jeff Gearhart and Charles Griffith
Columns
Great Lawns
A Great Lawn with No Toxic Chemicals, by Nancy Franklin
Great Lawns without Grass, by Bret Rappaport
Welfare for Waste
National Coalition Calls for End to Anti-Recycling Subsidies
Healthy Home and Garden
Growing Herbs in Your Backyard, by Mimi Mather
The Cranky Consumer
Toxic Waste "Recycling?" by Mary Beth Doyle
Capitol Watch
New from Lansing: PR for Toothless DEQ
At the Ecology Center
Reuben Chapman, Hospitals Pledge Mercury-Free, Help Wanted, Wish List
New From Lansing: PR for the Toothless DEQ
A DEQ spokesperson recently responded to criticism by a Democratic legislator about the department's lax enforcement policies by saying, "I'm really tired of them throwing out these generalities. Clearly the numbers don't show it." He said DEQ has opened 267 cases since October 1, 1995.
If opening cases is a measure of anything, here are the correct statistics:
In fiscal year 1998, DEQ's Office of Criminal Investigations
opened 76 new cases. In comparison, the old DNR environmental
investigations section opened an average of 124 cases
per year between 1990 and 1993. DEQ's February 1, 1999
report on the previous fiscal year says that courts ordered
fines and penalties of "almost a quarter million
dollars" in fiscal year 1998. Between 1990 and 1993,
average fines and penalties totalled $725,569 per year.
Instead of actual enforcement, the agency is turning to
reports. In an internal memo distributed in early May
to DEQ managers, the agency says it wants to issue a quarterly
report on enforcement.
State Ignores Lead Problem
A report recently submitted to Michigan legislators on screening of children for lead poisoning fails to fulfill a legislative mandate to recommend ways to further protect kids from both immediate and lifelong health effects.
Last year, the Legislature ordered the Department of Community Health to report annually on the number of children age 6 or under screened for lead poisoning in the state.
While the report says that only 31% of the Michigan children who should have been tested actually received a blood lead test in 1997-98, it only counted the number from Medicaid-eligible families. The actual percentage of all Michigan children age 6 and under tested for lead is an estimated 8%, well below the national average.
Engler Diverts Tax Funds
The Engler Administration recently announced its proposals for spending the first batch of money from the $675 million Clean Michigan Initiative. Unfortunately, the Governor's proposals would waste much of the money that environmentalists successfully added to the bond. The Administration is refusing to earmark money for the water quality woes that drove the Legislature to add $90 million to the package, particularly Lake St. Clair's problems. In addition, the Administration is proposing to spend half of the water quality funds on water quality monitoring, which should be funded from regular operating funds.
Tax Breaks for Recycling!
The House Tax Policy Committee this week approved two bills that would provide a single business tax credit for companies who purchase and install equipment used to process wastes into recycled products. However, the DEQ is silent on the bill and the Department of Treasury, speaking for the Administration, opposes it. The bill is projected to only cost an estimated $1-2 million per year. In exchange, Fort James Company of Kalamazoo has said it will capitalize on an estimated $240,000 per year tax credit to install an innovative technology that will enable it to take unsorted, unbundled postconsumer wastes and create cereal boxes. A witness from the company told the House Tax Committee that the project will have the capacity to consume 1 of every 2 newspapers recycled in Michigan.
The Capitol Watch is adapted from reports by the Michigan Environmental Council, a coalition of 50 state environmental organizations, including the Ecology Center.