LANSING, Mich. (Oct. 25, 2023) — Today, State Senator Sue Shink (D-Northfield Twp) introduced Senate Bill 610 as part of the seven-bill ‘Polluter Pay’ legislative package. These bills would set more stringent cleanup standards, increase transparency, prevent sites from becoming “orphaned” and make it easier for those harmed by pollution to seek justice.
Environmental advocates, business owners and representatives of people and communities impacted by pollution joined legislators at the press conference, after which Sen. Shink issued the following statement:
“If a corporate polluter exposes you to a toxic chemical, you should have the right to bring a claim against them to pay for testing to find out how they may have harmed your health. Senate Bill 610 will enable people to hold polluters responsible for medically necessary screening to identify health problems caused by toxic exposures early, when they are most treatable.”
More from other bill sponsors:
“Michigan’s current laws make it very hard for the public and even for EGLE to know what is going on at polluted sites,” said State Senator Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor). “A corporation can spill something, clean it up on their own recognizance, and never tell anyone. These bills would end these ‘honor-system’ cleanups and make a wide range of information public — including baseline environmental assessments and cleanup plans.”
“It’s not right to allow polluters to just leave contamination in place, making ever-growing portions of our land and water unusable,” said State Representative Jason Morgan (D-Ann Arbor). “If you are responsible for causing pollution, you should have to pay to clean it up. This legislation makes it clear that fencing off the land or closing drinking water wells is not a substitute for removing as much pollution as possible.”
The seven bills will soon be referred to committees in their respective chambers.
Bill descriptions:
- Sen. Irwin’s bill, SB 605, will give EGLE and the public more information about cleanups and polluted sites.
- Sen. Moss’s and Rep Morgan’s bill, SB 606/HB, will require polluters to pay for land and water to be restored to usable condition as much as technically feasible, so that restricting access to polluted areas does not substitute for cleanup.
- Sen. Chang’s bill, SB 607, will enable EGLE to set cleanup criteria without easily derailed APA rulemaking.
- Sen. Geiss’s, SB 608, will require businesses with large amounts of potentially polluting materials to post up-front financial assurance to cover any cleanup.
- Sen. McCann’s bill, SB 609 will empower the state to bring claims on behalf of the public to cover cleanup costs and damage to natural resources due to contaminants like PFAS not known to be harmful at the time the limitation period expired for other contaminants.
- Sen. Shink’s bill, SB 610, will enable people exposed to hazardous substances to bring a claim against the polluter to cover the costs of medical monitoring needed to detect a condition linked to the exposure.
- Sen. McMorrow’s bill, SB 611, will set a fairer clock for people harmed by pollution to access justice through the courts, starting the limitation period when the person discovers the claim.
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