EGLE Director Phil Roos on House Republican budget

Today, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Director Phil Roos released the following statement in response to the Michigan House Republicans’ $78.5 billion budget proposal.

“The budget passed by House Republicans is simply irresponsible and puts Michigan’s environment and public health at serious risk. By laying off more than 150 filled positions, this proposal guts the very workforce responsible for protecting our air, land, and water. It slashes funding in ways that would dramatically slow the permitting process, effectively stopping economic development and job growth. It would also halt critical work to safeguard drinking water, clean up contaminated sites, and protect the Great Lakes and other natural resources. If enacted, this budget would severely undermine EGLE’s ability to protect our state from pollution and make our communities more vulnerable to environmental emergencies and long-term health threats.”

Potential impacts from the House-passed budget include:

• Loss of access to hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for water infrastructure projects, including lead service line replacement and sewer system upgrades.
• Severe delays in permit reviews for businesses and individuals, stalling progress on improvements in facilitating economic development and essential infrastructure work.
• Elimination of environmental emergency response capacity, leaving communities unprotected during pollution or hazardous waste incidents.
• Shutdown of all Great Lakes and inland water protection efforts, threatening Michigan’s most iconic and economically vital natural resources.
• Termination of critical public health and safety roles, including drinking water inspections, air quality permitting, and contaminated site cleanups.