I attended a workgroup meeting last Friday, hosted by Senator Jason Allen, that was focused on working to merge together suggested changes to the state's brownfield (Part 201 & Part 213) regulatory process from the DEQ and the business community.  Business groups (the Michigan Chamber and MI Manufacturers Assocation) have been working with Sen Allen on a substitute version of SB 437 that attempts to shorten some of the DEQ's timelines and bring brownfield clean-up projects to some sort of resolution so that development of those sites can proceed in a timely manner.  At the same time, the DEQ has been working to develop an overhaul of their brownfield program, along many similar lines to the business community's approach, but with a much broader scope.  The workgroup involves legislators and their staff, representatives of the business community, the banking industry, environmental conultants, the MML, the DEQ and a host of other interested groups and industries.  Sen. Allen has expressed a desire to try and work on a coordinated approach with the DEQ that could result in a bill seeing Senate committee action in December.  Please visit the League's Issue Advocacy page covering Brownfields (http://www.mml.org/advocacy/brownfields/index.html) for more information and check back often as new information is being added regularly.
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