February 13, 2006

The protection of the state of Michigan’s valuable groundwater and surface water resources remains one of the most important goals of the Department of Environmental Quality. The DEQ’s groundwater and surface water regulations play a vital role in protecting our drinking water and recreational surface waters.

In 2005, the DEQ implemented a strategy that identified facilities that were once permitted as groundwater dischargers, but had allowed their permit to expire. This initiative successfully addressed over 100 of these facilities and brought most of them into permit compliance, while the others are currently in the process of achieving compliance.

In 2006, the DEQ is introducing a second initiative that is aimed at gaining compliance from facilities that currently discharge to the waters of the state but have never obtained the necessary permit from the DEQ. The goal of this initiative is to provide an opportunity for these dischargers to voluntarily pursue compliance with the state of Michigan wastewater discharge laws by obtaining the proper permit and by immediately placing them into the DEQ’s compliance tracking system via an administrative consent order. The initiative expires on September 30, 2006. Those that continue discharging wastewater illegally after that date will be subject to legal remedies available to the DEQ to gain compliance with the environmental regulations of the state.

“There are likely hundreds of facilities that are currently discharging wastewater to Michigan’s surface or groundwaters without the proper permit,” said DEQ Director Steven E. Chester. “This approach allows us to focus our efforts on protecting water quality by encouraging voluntarily compliance with Michigan’s environmental regulations.”

The goal of this initiative is to gain compliance from a large number of facilities, while fostering working relationships with them by helping to determine if they need a permit and if so, what type of permit. Participation in this program is good for the facility, and will continue to increase the effectiveness of the DEQ’s efforts while saving taxpayer dollars. Groundwater and surface water permitting programs are partially funded through annual permit fees paid by the regulated community. Facilities that take advantage of this opportunity and obtain the necessary permit are increasing the agency’s long-term capacity to provide technical and compliance assistance to the regulated community, rather than forcing the DEQ to embark on costly and adversarial enforcement efforts.

For more information, refer to the following Web page: www.michigan.gov/deqwater and find the link under "Spotlight," or call Derrick Simmons at (517) 373-4014 or e-mail him at SimmonsD@michigan.gov.

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

“Protecting Michigan’s Environment, Ensuring Michigan’s Future”

Revised February 13, 2006 by Linda Crawford for Pat Watson