skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Michigan Wetlands Program Still Stuck in the Mud

play audio
Play

Monday, September 28, 2009   

DETROIT - Bad for the environment and bad for business: That's what some people are saying about bills currently aimed at management of Michigan's wetlands program. Despite agreeing to maintain state control and fund the program for another two years, the State Legislature is still arguing over how Michigan should manage its wetlands program. Until last week, the state had planned to turn the program over to the federal government to save more than a million dollars, but legislators on both sides of the aisle agreed that wasn't the best course.

Michigan Environmental Council spokesman Hugh McDiarmid says the challenge now is to put teeth into a weak Senate bill being considered.

"It weakens the wetlands protections in Michigan to such a point that they would be pretty much rendered ineffective."

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce has lobbied to have the federal government take over the program to save money, but McDiarmid says the business community benefits from state management, in part because the state is able to issue permits for developments near wetlands in a matter of months, while federal approval can take years.

McDiarmid says only two states, Michigan and New Jersey, have federal authority to manage wetlands through state-imposed regulations, and giving up that power would be a mistake on a number of different fronts.

"In addition to being bad news for Michigan's environment and water quality, it may also be bad news for Michigan's economic development opportunities."

The state Department of Environmental Quality is working with the Legislature to find a compromise between the Republican-sponsored less-restrictive guidelines and the Democrat-sponsored bill which would largely keep the existing guidelines in place.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021