In today’s MI Environmental Edition, Phil Luce, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), talks about the department’s accomplishments in 2023.
EGLE Director Phil Ruth
Protecting Michigan’s land, air, water, and public health is central to the work of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). The weight and importance of that mission is a daily focus for EGLE’s dedicated professionals and is primarily what inspired me to join the team.
Throughout 2023, we will be at the forefront of efforts that directly impact the lives of Michiganders, driving sustainable development that grows a cleaner economy while protecting Michigan’s world-class natural resources. We supported.
Our diverse team of scientists, engineers, geologists, environmental analysts and more works out of 10 offices across the state. When they’re not working, they attend Little League games, school board meetings, and enjoy the same parks, lakes, streams, and hiking trails as you. Their work is essential to making Michigan a great place to live, work and play by strengthening and protecting everything that makes Michigan great.
We wanted to sum up 2023 with a sample of the EGLE team’s accomplishments and efforts in 2023, as much of their work often goes without praise or celebration.
- I support the removal of all potable water lines in Benton Harbor. The last lead water pipe in Benton Harbor was replaced in November 2023. The unprecedented replacement program was part of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “whole-of-government” effort to address high lead levels in the city’s drinking water. Additionally, his two recent lead testing periods had lead results of 1 ppb (parts per billion), well below the 15 ppb action level. We continue to work with cities to address the needs of the entire drinking water system and work with state and local health agencies to address potential sources of lead in indoor plumbing. Across the state, an estimated 450,000 service lines have yet to be removed. EGLE uses a combination of federal, state, and local funding to support community efforts to remove these lines as quickly as possible.
- Provided $1.4 billion in grants and loans to communities. More than half of EGLE’s budget goes toward supporting and investing in Michigan communities. These funds will be used to rebuild water infrastructure such as service line replacements and dam upgrades, enhance recycling and waste management services, remediate contaminated land for housing and other redevelopment, and install renewable energy. , and helped improve the overall well-being of Michigan residents. EGLE also leveraged more than $669 million in federal tax dollars to reinvest in Michigan. It also includes funding to reduce utility costs by improving energy efficiency and strengthening the power grid to reduce power outages.
- Protecting health through improving and monitoring air quality. Remember when there were wildfires and how hard it was to breathe? Suddenly everyone was checking the ‘AQI’ (Air Quality Index) on their weather app. Where did those numbers come from? Us! Providing accurate information that you and your family can trust is an important part of our job. During the smoke outbreak, our staff meteorologists conducted dozens of media interviews to explain what happened, why, and how Michiganders can protect themselves and their families. Although Canada’s fires were out of our control, the air pollution problem we can influence continues to improve. Ozone levels in southeastern Michigan have been steadily declining for two decades, culminating in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moving the region into ozone “attainment status.” We continue to work to reduce levels of air pollutants, especially in overburdened communities near industry and other sources of pollution. We are also actively working with the EPA to identify solutions to the challenging ozone nonattainment concerns impacting Michigan’s West Coast.
- Advocate for clean energy. EGLE is actively implementing the MI Healthy Climate Plan, the state’s climate action roadmap. To build momentum for bold climate action in Michigan, EGLE hosted the state’s first-ever MI Healthy Climate Conference, a forum to gather input on how to prioritize climate action. A series of public meetings continued throughout the year. The passage of the transformative Clean Energy Act and a national budget focused on climate change have strengthened implementation efforts. The team worked to integrate climate into existing programs, including the Department of Water Resources’ efforts to better incorporate climate resilience into water infrastructure planning. The goal is to reduce the negative impacts of flooding and a more unstable climate. The new initiative also includes the MI Health Climate Corps in the Office of Climate and Energy. This is a program that provides training and career development support to strengthen your capacity to act on climate. The state’s climate change efforts are a marathon, not a sprint, so do it this year and in the next few years to meet the state’s overall goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 52% by 2030. There are many things to do.
- Contamination cleanup and brownfield redevelopment. In 2023, EGLE spent more than $54 million at 627 contaminated sites to identify, investigate, and mitigate risks to ensure public health and protect land, air, and water. The team also worked to support communities through cleanup and redevelopment programs, including investing more than $31 million in incentives to support 88 brownfield redevelopment projects in 49 communities. Ta. These investments have paved the way for new affordable housing, business opportunities, new school campuses, investments in place creation such as hotels, marinas, amphitheaters, and more. The team will also tap funding from President Biden’s bipartisan Infrastructure Act to plug more than 200 orphan wells in Michigan in 2023, completing nearly a decade of work in one calendar year. Michigan has 26,000 known contaminated sites, and cleanup and brownfield redevelopment efforts will continue to be a major challenge for the state. EGLE continues to work to obtain funding to clean up legacy sites and hold polluters accountable for cleaning up new releases.
- lead the country PFAS response. Michigan continues to lead the nation in identifying and addressing perfluorinated and polyfluorinated substance (PFAS) contaminated sites. In 2023, EGLE established new surface water quality values for two new PFAS compounds in addition to the previous three. This builds on our commitment to establishing the strongest health-based PFAS standards in the country. Our team will continue to add PFAS facilities to our work list and build on our efforts to continue protecting Michiganders from these toxic chemicals.
These accomplishments and efforts are just a few of the things our team did on behalf of and helped Michiganders this year. Working with just 1% of the state budget, we are proud of what we accomplished in 2023 and focused on what comes next. We will protect the environment, rebuild our infrastructure, invest in our communities, support sustainable development and improve the quality of life for Michiganders. After all, EGLE’s work is at the heart of protecting many things we all cannot live without.