Yearly Archives: 2015

“Governor Snyder’s apology over the Flint water crisis is appropriate, as are personnel changes announced today at the Department of Environmental Quality. Through this ongoing crisis, the people of Flint did nothing wrong – they are victims of this failure of government. The State of Michigan must not only acknowledge its role in this crisis, but also take responsibility and act right away to make it right.

Rep. Brenda Lawrence voted with the majority of her colleagues in the House to adopt, by a vote of 316 to 113, the FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill.  This measure funds the government for FY 2016.

A bill expected to be passed by Congress this week includes a provision fought for by Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) to transfer $2 billion more into the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF), a program that has already helped to remove and repurpose thousands of abandoned properties in cities across Michigan, including Flint and Saginaw. Additionally, these new funds would have greater flexibility and could be used to make additional progress on removing blight, including past 2016, when the funds currently expire

Places of worship, homeless shelters and food banks are among 410 Michigan nonprofit organizations that Consumers Energy has helped this year with over $700,000 in energy efficiency upgrades and rebates – the energy provider’s largest outreach yet to help community organizations to reduce their costs.

U.S. Representative Candice Miller (MI-10) and U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow (MI) wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shaun Donovan urging the Administration to make the expansion of a customs plaza for the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron a high priority for funding in the Fiscal Year 2017 budget. Despite land being cleared and property demolished in Port Huron for the expansion, funding for the customs plaza construction has yet to be allocated.

Congressman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, today joined the majority of his House colleagues in advancing H.R. 8, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act by a bipartisan 249-174 vote. The innovative legislation, sponsored by Upton, focuses on updating the United States’ energy policy to properly reflect the changing energy landscape

S. 611 will amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to help alleviate the financial burden imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on small and rural drinking supply systems. It would reauthorize the EPA program that provides technical assistance to small public water systems and authorize the EPA to provide technical assistance programs to small public water systems through grants or cooperative agreements made to non-profit organizations.

Michigan family forest owners often use their Forest Stewardship Plans to obtain financial assistance, enroll in a property tax program, prepare for a timber sale, improve wildlife habitat, or join the American Tree Farm System to certify their sustainable forest management.

Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) today testified before a meeting of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC) about the Flint water crisis and changes to federal policy that can be made to promote transparency and accountability for city residents.

“Later this month, I will testify at a meeting of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council on what we’ve learned firsthand in Flint and necessary improvements to the Lead and Copper Rule. This will be an important moment to highlight the changes that are needed to ensure that a crisis like the one Flint faces does not occur anywhere else in the country.”

During the audit, EPA Region 5 staff will go to MDEQ offices to review state files on public water system compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA will also review MDEQ oversight of public water systems. The audit will consist of a full programmatic review that supplements the reviews of the Michigan drinking water program that EPA conducts each year.

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure introduced a 6-year highway reauthorization bill, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015, which includes a Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) provision authored by Representative Candice Miller (MI-10) to assist with the advancement of V2I technologies that improve road safet

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today announced $1,254,412 for three Lansing-based projects to help train and support beginning farmers. This funding for Michigan State University and the Greater Lansing Food Bank, which comes through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, was authorized by Senator Stabenow's 2014 Farm Bill.

Congressman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, today released the following statement after the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a nationwide stay to block the Environment Protection Agency’s (EPA) enforcement of its final Waters of the United State (WOTUS) rule

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) today approved a settlement agreement authorizing Alpena Power Company to implement its 2016-2017 energy optimization plan. Under the terms of the settlement, Alpena Power Company residential customers using 500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a month will see a decrease of 7 cents on their monthly bills, effective January 2016.