A complete list of all programs within the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE)
Community involvement and public participation are an essential part of EGLE’s mission, vision, and values.
Resources and information on utilizing RRD's data exchange and the Inventory of Facilities.
An interactive map displaying contaminated sites throughout Michigan regulated under Parts 213, 201, and 211.
EGLE's interactive calendar is designed to provide timely information on decisions before the Director, proposed settlements of contested cases, administrative rules promulgation, public hearings, meetings and comment deadlines, and environmental conferences, workshops and training programs.
The Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides all persons (except persons incarcerated in correctional facilities) with access to public records of public bodies. Requests to inspect or receive public records from EGLE must be in writing and describe the requested records with enough detail to enable the department to identify and locate the requested records. Some records are exempt from disclosure under the FOIA or another statute and thus will not be provided. A fee may be charged to process your request. Please note that many records are available that do not require a formal FOIA request.
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The Great Lakes Compact
The Great Lakes Compact is a 2008 federal agreement signed by the eight Great Lakes states and the two Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It prohibits new or increased diversions of water from the Great Lakes to areas outside the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin with provisions for the small number of straddling communities and those within straddling counties, which must first meet strict criteria to obtain approval. These criteria include conservation efforts, allotted water volume, and a 100 percent return flow requirement.
Background: The City of Waukesha’s Drinking Water Application
In January 2016, the City of Waukesha requested Lake Michigan water to address high levels of naturally-occurring radium (a carcinogen known to cause bone cancer and other health problems) present in its groundwater supply of drinking water. Waukesha lies within a county that straddles the Great Lakes basin, allowing it to apply for Lake Michigan water if it meets Compact standards. Waukesha is the first U.S. community in a straddling county to ask for a withdrawal of water out of the Great Lakes Basin under terms of the Compact.
Waukesha’s overstressed deep aquifer is currently pulling about 1.6 million gallons of water per day (or more than a half billion gallons per year) -- from the Great Lakes basin, based on analyses supported by the U.S. Geological Survey. This represents about 30 percent of the annual water pumped and is currently discharged by Waukesha into the Mississippi River Basin (not the Great Lakes Basin). If approved, this pre-existing diversion would cease by requiring Waukesha to return 100 percent the borrowed, treated water to Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes Basin could see a net volume benefit from approval of this withdrawal, provided conditions are met to ensure protection of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Michigan’s Process
Michigan’s review of the plan has involved evaluation by a collaborative team of subject experts organized by the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes (OGL), a thorough public engagement and comment process, and consultation with Michigan’s 12 federally-recognized Native American tribes. Michigan worked in conjunction with the other Great Lakes states and provinces to develop essential conditions to safeguard the Great Lakes and protect the health of Great Lakes citizens.
Conditions include:
The Compact Council and its member states retain full ability to review and ensure adherence to implementation of conditions according to Compact Law.
On May 18, 2016, the Regional Body voted to advise the Council of its conditioned approval of the withdrawal.
The Compact Council voted to approve Waukesha's request with strict conditions on June 21, 2016.
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