Michigan would have greater oversight over some of its federally licensed dams under a bill passed Thursday in the state Senate.
The legislation would require more dam inspections and emergency planning, and let the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy remove dams in danger of failure. It’s a response to the 2020 failure of the Edenville Dam, which led to widespread flooding in Midland County.
State Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) said future disasters are likely if lawmakers don't act. That’s as climate change leads to more frequent extreme weather events.
Earlier this year, heavy rain and snowmelt threatened overflow at the Cheboygan Lock and Dam. The dam held but communities near Cheboygan were told to evacuate after levees breached.
“As we see rising extreme weather, natural disasters occurring in our state, we know that the cost is greater if we don’t act,” McMorrow told reporters.
McMorrow argued having an emergency plan in place on the front end would help keep responders from scrambling after the fact. One of the concerns, she noted, was the lack of clear accountability following the Edenville Dam failure.
Senator Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp) voted against the bill. During a floor speech, he shared a desire to increase dam safety but doubted giving the state more oversight control was the way to go.
McBroom accused state regulators of not looking out for dam safety, especially when failures happen.
"No department will finally take responsibility but they are sure happy to offload that responsibility on every business, every owner, every local community,” he said.
Aside from giving EGLE more oversight power over dams, the legislation would create a new Dam Safety Emergency Fund to address clean up in case a dam operator either couldn’t or wouldn’t address concerns before a failure.
The Michigan Attorney General would gain the power to go after operators to recoup that money.
During the committee process, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce opposed the bill. It argued the state doesn’t have the power to regulate dams licensed under the Federal Power Act.
McMorrow said her bill encourages all parties to step up.
“What this says is we need to strengthen our regulations in hopes that the federal government does the same thing,” McMorrow said.
Her bill now goes to the Republican-led Michigan House of Representatives. There, House lawmakers acted Thursday night on a separate dam safety bill, led by state Representative Bill G. Schuette (R-Midland).
