As he mentioned in his recent State of the State Address, Governor Rick Snyder unveiled five new initiatives last week focusing on addressing environmental and infrastructure issues in our state.
As he mentioned in his recent State of the State Address, Governor Rick Snyder unveiled five new initiatives last week focusing on addressing environmental and infrastructure issues in our state.
Snyder announced new work which will zero in on increasing access to rural broadband; reduce waste and generate funding for critical environmental programs; battling invasive species such as Asian Carp; and improving our water infrastructure.
We’re highlighting these initiatives as they intersect with issue areas supported by Michigan philanthropy around the state.
Expanding Access and Connectivity to Rural Broadband
Snyder signed off creating the Michigan Consortium for Advanced Networks, which is a new work group directed to establish a roadmap to help strengthen statewide broadband access and connectivity.
The consortium will:
Identify gaps in broadband service coverage and capacity
Examine current efforts underway to address connectivity issues
Explore key strategies and recommendations for the state and private sector to pursue to achieve enhanced connectivity
The consortium will consider recommendations provided by Snyder’s 21st Century Infrastructure Commission’s report and present a plan by August 1.
As CMF reported in December 2016, the Infrastructure Commission’s report said that about a half million Michigan households lack access to advanced broadband service. Nearly 27 percent of Michigan households have access but don’t subscribe at all to broadband service.
One of the commission’s recommendations was to improve broadband access and adoption through technical assistance, digital literacy education and more.
Renew Michigan’s Environment
Snyder announced the Renew Michigan's Environment proposal which would replace the expired Clean Michigan Initiative Bond, focusing on our growing landfill issue and further incentivizing recycling.
Snyder’s office says that Michigan has one of the lowest recycling rates in the nation, recycling only 15 percent of our waste. Coupled with that, Michigan also has the lowest fee for disposing of waste in landfills in the Great Lakes basin, which has resulted in 17 million tons of trash being disposed of annually in our state, 25.5 percent of which comes from other states and Canada.
To address this waste in our landfills, Snyder is proposing an increase to the current landfill dumping fee from 36 cents per ton to $4.75 per ton, for perspective, other Midwest states charge as much as $13 per ton.
The proposed increase in Michigan would cost the average household $4.75 a year and generate $79 million a year to fund programs that will:
Clean up 300 existing contaminated sites annually, across all 83 counties
Address emerging contaminants (PFAS, vapor intrusion)
Enhance solid waste planning for local governments.
Provide recycling grants to local entities for recycling infrastructure, market development and education
Monitor beaches to keep them clean
Reduce phosphorus in Lake Erie
Remove contamination in rivers, lakes and streams
Address critical infrastructure needs to serve the park system’s 27 million visitors annually.
Great Lakes Basin Partnership
Snyder also announced the creation of a new Great Lakes Basin Partnership to Block Asian Carp that will commit strategic and financial resources to support the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Tentatively Selected Plan (TSP). His office said the partnership will offer a combination of solutions to reduce the risk of invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes.
Experts say invasive carp in the Great Lakes could harm our $7 billion fishing industry.
The new partnership seeks to address an $8 million gap in funding needed to operate and maintain an improved system.
Increasing Investments for Water Infrastructure
Snyder shared a proposed plan that would invest $110 million into our water infrastructure every year. According to the governor’s announcement, the plan would implement an affordable assessment on public water supply systems to generate the $110 million that would help fund several critical areas.
These include funding for:
Grants for local infrastructure improvements (such as lead service line replacement)
Low-interest and forgivable loans for other local capital improvements
Grants for communities and systems in financial need with emerging water or sewer failures.
Fund asset management plans for drinking water wastewater and stormwater systems
Local data collection, materials inventory, and training needs
Re:Source
On Friday, Snyder announced an executive order requiring all state of Michigan facilities to provide on-site recycling opportunities, as well as the launch of Re:Source, an initiative that's aimed at tripling Michigan’s recycling rate.
The intiative:
Creates a statewide recycling education campaign to address Michigan’s extremely low recycling rate
Updates Michigan’s solid waste laws to encourage recycling
Increases recycling opportunities at state facilities, parks, and rest areas
The governor is expected to present his proposed 2018-2019 state budget this week. CMF will share highlights of the budget.
Want more?
Learn more about the Renew Michigan’s Environment proposal.
Check out the plan for further investment in our water infrastructure.
