Michigan’s elected State Representatives and State Senators hold powerful tools that shape how pollution is regulated, enforced, and experienced in our communities. Agencies like EGLE and MDHHS carry out the work — but it’s the Legislature that defines their authority, funds their enforcement, and can intervene when those agencies fail. The decisions made in Lansing determine whether Detroiters breathe clean air or carry the cost of industrial pollution.

1. Oversight and Investigation

  • Lawmakers can hold hearings, subpoena agency records, and question EGLE, MDHHS, or the Governor’s office about environmental failures.
  • House and Senate committees on Environment, Health, and Appropriations can demand updates on violations, delayed enforcement, or inequitable permitting.
  • Legislators can request the Office of the Auditor General to investigate how agencies handle environmental complaints or community alerts.

Oversight is how lawmakers expose inaction and compel state agencies to protect the public.

2. Budget and Appropriations Power

  • The Legislature determines EGLE’s and MDHHS’s budgets, including funding for inspectors, monitors, and community response.
  • Lawmakers can allocate money for:
    • Fence-line air monitoring in overburdened neighborhoods
    • Health impact studies on asthma, cancer, and cumulative pollution
    • Community grants for local air testing and citizen science
  • They can also condition funding on stronger enforcement metrics and public transparency.

When lawmakers fund enforcement, enforcement happens.

3. Lawmaking and Policy Reform

  • Legislators can introduce, amend, and pass laws that close loopholes or create new protections.
  • They can strengthen:
    • Odor and nuisance laws to empower local action
    • Cumulative impact standards in state permitting
    • Emergency notification requirements for industrial fires, spills, and air releases
  • They can create a Michigan Environmental Justice Act guaranteeing protection for overburdened communities and mandating cumulative impact review.

4. Health Protection and Data Transparency

  • Through health and environment committees, lawmakers can require MDHHS to:
    • Track and publish environmental illness data by zip code
    • Share air quality and exposure data with residents and local governments
    • Establish statewide protocols for air alerts and public health warnings
  • They can ensure EGLE and MDHHS work together when environmental hazards threaten public health.

5. Constituent and Intergovernmental Power

  • Representatives and Senators can:
    • Submit constituent casework for affected neighborhoods
    • Request formal agency briefings and responses to pollution events
    • Introduce joint resolutions urging federal EPA or Attorney General action
    • Convene district-level task forces with residents, city officials, and agencies to monitor progress

These tools connect state power to community needs.

6. What Residents Can Demand

  1. Oversight Hearings on EGLE enforcement and pollution in overburdened communities.
  2. Legislation requiring cumulative-impact analysis before new or renewed industrial permits.
  3. Dedicated funding for Detroit and Wayne County air-quality monitoring, asthma programs, and emergency alerts.
  4. Public transparency laws mandating EGLE to publish all complaint data and violation notices online in real time.
  5. Community representation on legislative environmental task forces and budget working groups.
  6. A Michigan Environmental Justice Act that makes clean air and water a right, not a privilege.

When residents make clear, specific demands, they define what accountability looks like.