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Environmental and Energy Issues Heat Up in Legislature – A Round Up

Advocacy News – May 19, 2023

A host of environmental and energy issues are now moving into the spotlight on 2023 legislative agendas.

Here’s a quick roundup of two such issues from this week that the Michigan Chamber is actively engaged on:

Air Quality Enforcement and Mitigation (AQEM) Fund

What is it?
Senate Bill 26—sponsored by Democratic Senator Stephanie Chang—would re-direct current funds derived from air quality violations into a new AQEM fund rather than the state’s general fund. Those dollars would then go to ‘environmental justice communities’ for projects focused on air pollution mitigation, among other things.

Why does it matter?
While the Chamber supports the spirit of the bill, there are several concerns with the legislation as written that need to be clarified to avoid unintended consequences.

  • To ensure that funds derived from fines and penalties for air quality violations from industry go back to the community where violations occurred, it is important more specific language is added to clearly state what monies will go into the fund, and what they can be used for.
  • The term ‘environmental justice community’ has not been developed through a rulemaking process, making it unclear how that term applies to this and future legislation.
  • While it is the Chamber’s hope that this bill is an effort to increase programmatic support for communities, as well as regulated businesses that work to comply with all state and federal laws and regulations, it also allows for funds to be used for expanded enforcement practices. Resources to support the enforcement of existing programs and regulations go through the annual budget process, so language surrounding expansion of enforcement should be removed from the bill.

What’s the status?
The bill was voted out of committee this Thursday along partisan lines. The Chamber will continue to push for amendments to clarify intent and help ensure effective, fair policy.

 

Solar Tax and Regulatory Climate

What is it?

House Bills 4317 and 4318 – introduced by Republican State Rep. Curt VanderWall and Democratic State Rep. Cynthia Neeley – would allow governments to opt into payments in lieu of taxes (PILT) for commercial solar energy developments as an alternative to developers paying local property taxes.

The proposed legislation would set a PILOT price per megawatt (MW) of capacity for solar projects greater than 2 MW in size. The recently introduced package is set at $7,000 per MW for 20 years in most cases, compared to $4,000 in the previous bills. The PILOT rate would be lowered to incentivize developments in certain areas, such as brownfields.

Why does it matter?

The legislation would help create a more level playing field and create more financial certainty for both local communities and developers of solar energy projects.

Studies have shown that the state is poised to benefit from nearly $11 billion of solar investment over the coming years during a time when heavy industrial and manufacturing sectors pursue additional access to clean energy.

What’s the status?

Testimony, including from the Michigan Chamber, was heard this week. It is expected that the bills will be taken up for a vote in the coming weeks before the legislative summer recess. The Chamber will continue to monitor closely and work to make the bills reality.

 

For questions or more information on either of these issues, please contact Mike Alaimo, the Michigan Chamber’s director of environmental and energy affairs, at malaimo@michamber.com.

 

 

 

Advocacy News – May 19, 2023

A host of environmental and energy issues are now moving into the spotlight on 2023 legislative agendas.

Here’s a quick roundup of two such issues from this week that the Michigan Chamber is actively engaged on:

Air Quality Enforcement and Mitigation (AQEM) Fund

What is it?
Senate Bill 26—sponsored by Democratic Senator Stephanie Chang—would re-direct current funds derived from air quality violations into a new AQEM fund rather than the state’s general fund. Those dollars would then go to ‘environmental justice communities’ for projects focused on air pollution mitigation, among other things.

Why does it matter?
While the Chamber supports the spirit of the bill, there are several concerns with the legislation as written that need to be clarified to avoid unintended consequences.

  • To ensure that funds derived from fines and penalties for air quality violations from industry go back to the community where violations occurred, it is important more specific language is added to clearly state what monies will go into the fund, and what they can be used for.
  • The term ‘environmental justice community’ has not been developed through a rulemaking process, making it unclear how that term applies to this and future legislation.
  • While it is the Chamber’s hope that this bill is an effort to increase programmatic support for communities, as well as regulated businesses that work to comply with all state and federal laws and regulations, it also allows for funds to be used for expanded enforcement practices. Resources to support the enforcement of existing programs and regulations go through the annual budget process, so language surrounding expansion of enforcement should be removed from the bill.

What’s the status?
The bill was voted out of committee this Thursday along partisan lines. The Chamber will continue to push for amendments to clarify intent and help ensure effective, fair policy.

 

Solar Tax and Regulatory Climate

What is it?

House Bills 4317 and 4318 – introduced by Republican State Rep. Curt VanderWall and Democratic State Rep. Cynthia Neeley – would allow governments to opt into payments in lieu of taxes (PILT) for commercial solar energy developments as an alternative to developers paying local property taxes.

The proposed legislation would set a PILOT price per megawatt (MW) of capacity for solar projects greater than 2 MW in size. The recently introduced package is set at $7,000 per MW for 20 years in most cases, compared to $4,000 in the previous bills. The PILOT rate would be lowered to incentivize developments in certain areas, such as brownfields.

Why does it matter?

The legislation would help create a more level playing field and create more financial certainty for both local communities and developers of solar energy projects.

Studies have shown that the state is poised to benefit from nearly $11 billion of solar investment over the coming years during a time when heavy industrial and manufacturing sectors pursue additional access to clean energy.

What’s the status?

Testimony, including from the Michigan Chamber, was heard this week. It is expected that the bills will be taken up for a vote in the coming weeks before the legislative summer recess. The Chamber will continue to monitor closely and work to make the bills reality.

 

For questions or more information on either of these issues, please contact Mike Alaimo, the Michigan Chamber’s director of environmental and energy affairs, at malaimo@michamber.com.