Pumping the brakes on permitting reform in Michigan: CEI report
Photo Credit: Getty
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute released a new report on Michigan’s recent history of environmental permitting policies.
“Michigan has undergone several attempts in recent years to improve its environmental permitting system, such as creating independent permit review panels in 2018, creating an online permitting dashboard, and implementing a fee refund system,” said report author and CEI Senior Fellow James Broughel.
“Unfortunately, Michigan Gov. Whitmer decided to roll back independent review of the permitting process,” Broughel added. “That was a significant step backward in ensuring fair and balanced permit decision-making,”
Executive actions by Gov. Whitmer in 2019 and 2024 eliminated independent reviews conducted by the Environmental Permit Review Commission (EPRC), Environmental Rules Review Committee (ERRC), and the Environmental Science Advisory Committee (ESAB), bringing permitting appeals under the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
To get the engine started on real permitting reform, Michigan lawmakers should:
- Reinstate independent review panels such as the EPRC, ERRC, and ESAB, with a different mix of members if need be;
- Codify application deadlines for specific permit types in legislation;
- Introduce automatic approvals for more applications types when deadlines are missed, and;
- Improve the existing online Project Dashboard by including more permit history and agency performance data.
By implementing these free market policy reforms to its permitting system, Michigan can strengthen its commitment to state businesses and improve the overall health of its economy.
Read Pumping the Brakes on Reform: Michigan’s permitting engine stalls out on CEI.org.
Read more in the environmental permitting series: