Michigan fight over gravel, sand mines is back in Capitol

David Eggert is a senior reporter covering politics and policy for Crain's Detroit Business. He joined Crain's in 2022 after a combined 15 years at The Associated Press in Lansing and jobs at MLive, the Lansing State Journal and various other newspapers.

LANSING — A not-in-my-backyard fight over opening new mines to source aggregates for Michigan road and bridge projects is back before lawmakers, with a coalition of industry groups and labor unions pushing bills that are opposed by municipalities and environmental organizations.

The legislation would prohibit local regulation of sand and gravel mining and trucking, and transfer permitting to the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. The agency already regulates the mining of oil, gas, iron ore and nickel.

Supporters say too many proposed aggregate pits are being delayed or denied, costing taxpayers money when trucks haul materials from more distant pits to construction sites. They want a more uniform regulatory environment.

"When considering the billions being spent on our roads and even more in private construction, we need access to aggregate more than ever," said Doug Needham, executive director of the Michigan Aggregates Association. The bipartisan House Bills 4526-28, he said, would "repair our broken supply chain and allow us to fix more roads because when aggregate mining is permitted closer to major projects, trucking costs are reduced. That money goes back into construction improvements. It will slash CO2 emissions because trucks will travel fewer miles."

Opposing the legislation, however, are those who say it would improperly strip control from local elected officials responsible for ensuring residents' quality of life. The bills would not only put gravel and sand mines into EGLE's purview but also crushing facilities and storage areas, said Judy Allen, government relations director for the Michigan Townships Association.

She listed a host of concerns, including with provisions requiring that the loading and unloading of trucks be allowed at least from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and removing local regulation of trucking routes.

Similar legislation stalled going back at least three two-year sessions.

"New year, same crap," Jennifer Rigterink, assistant director of state and federal affairs for the Michigan Municipal League, told the Democratic-led House Regulatory Reform Committee this month.

Municipal officials, she said, do not deny that there are problems to address, but the bills are "complete profit over people" and are "written by the industry, for the industry."

Environmentalist groups, which also are opposed, accuse House Democratic leaders of "betrayal" by taking up the legislation before considering their clean energy and anti-pollution policy priorities after Republicans had partial or full legislative control for nearly 40 years.

Another important Democratic constituency, organized labor, backs the bills that are being sponsored by House Appropriations Committee Chair Angela Witwer, D-Delta Township; House Regulatory Reform Committee Chair Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit; and Rep. Pat Outman, R-Six Lakes.

"This package is very much aligned with the commitment of the governor to fix our state's crumbling roads and infrastructure," Carter said. "I believe aggregate-permitting reform is a huge part of our overall commitment to improving infrastructure."

Under the legislation, the state would preempt local regulation of sand and gravel deposits of more than 1 million tons. Owners or operators with 1 million or fewer tons could choose the state or local permitting process.

A mining area would have to be set back at least 50 feet from the nearest public road or adjoining property. Screening and crushing equipment could be no closer than 200 feet from the road, 300 feet from the property line and 400 feet from the closest house on that land. Noise levels would be capped at weighted average decibels depending on whether the adjacent property is zoned residential, commercial or industrial. Dirt and rock piles could not be higher than 70 feet above the ground.

Needham said when gravel and sand producers try to start an operation in a community, they hit resistance despite a 2011 law that says zoning ordinances cannot prevent mining unless "very serious consequences" would result. That law reinstated a standard that had been in place from 1982 until 2010, when the Michigan Supreme Court declared the rule unconstitutional because it violated the separation of powers.

"They say, 'We understand the need for the raw product and (that) sand and gravel is the building block of our infrastructure, but just not here. Don't put it in our community," Needham said. "The sand and gravel is where Mother Nature laid it. For construction-grade material, it has to meet certain characteristics and physical qualities. We can't just go to the neighboring community in a lot of cases. We have to go where Mother Nature laid it."

He estimated at least a dozen new mines are being held up in the courts or by regulatory delays.

The bills continue to be opposed by property owners in Lapeer County's Metamora Township, where a subsidiary of the Dearborn-based Edw. C. Levy Co. has proposed a 500-acre pit on a former Boy Scouts ranch. The area has four other mines operating. The proposed mine is next to a closed landfill that is a federal Superfund site.

Mark Frank, a board member of the Metamora Land Preservation Alliance, expressed confidence that if the bills are enacted, residents could keep successfully blocking the mine because of its proximity to the toxic site.

"But we're more afraid for the other communities in the state that really have no idea that this could be coming to an abandoned golf course near them or worse," he said.

The new rules take effect June 30.