Advocacy News – May 18, 2021
Last week, Michigan Chamber of Commerce’s President and CEO, Rich Studley, testified in support of SB 429, SB 430 and SB 431, legislation that will promote aggregate mining and reinforce private property rights in Michigan.
In response to activist local governments continuing to deny mining permits for baseless reasons, the Michigan Chamber and other business groups have worked with labor unions on a package of bills to remove aggregate mining permit authority from local governments and place it in the hands of the state’s environmental protection agency, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).
In his testimony, Mr. Studley explains that Michigan faces a dramatic shortage of aggregate material which has driven up the cost of construction and road repair. As permits continue to be denied near Michigan’s major markets, and existing mines strain under demand and diminishing reserves, aggregates must be hauled from long distances to job sites. Each time the distance aggregates must be hauled doubles, the cost of transporting the materials doubles—or more. Containing costs for taxpayer-funded projects like road repair is important to consider and must be done to the greatest extent possible to ensure government is a good steward of taxpayer dollars.
By moving the permitting authority for new aggregate mining locations out of the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act and into the hands of EGLE, the legislation will help break the statewide stalemate on new sand and gravel mine permits, just as Michigan prepares to spend more public money on roads than at any time in the history of the state. This change follows the precedent of other major extractive industries, which follow a similar process. This includes sectors such as copper, nickel and iron ore mining, and the oil and gas industry.
In addition for the reasons already outlined, the Michigan Chamber has always been a major proponent of private property rights and frivolous denials to maximize the beneficial use of your property is a blatant violation of this fundamental principle. If a property owner wants to harvest crops, drill for oil, or mine for material on their land, they should not be denied this right if within the laws and boundaries reasonably placed on the use of one’s property.
To learn more about the Chamber’s support for reforming the permitting process for aggregate mining, visit the Build it Strong Michigan Coalition website at: https://www.builditmichiganstrong.com/.
For questions on this issue please contact Dan Papineau at dpapineau@michamber.com.