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.
SARA Title III establishes requirements regarding emergency planning and "Community Right-to-Know" reporting on hazardous and toxic chemicals for federal, state, local, and tribal governments, as well as regulated facilities.
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.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s (EGLE) Water Well Viewer (WWV), is an interactive mapping system that displays water wells along with other information, such as wellhead protection areas, underground storage tanks, and sites of environmental contamination. Water well locations have been identified by address matching, the use of global positioning systems (GPS), and by legal descriptions.
This system allows water well drilling and pump installation contractors to submit water well records.
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.
Anyone wishing to formally serve legal documents upon the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), or its officers or employees, may do so by the following methods.
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The Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River Basin make up the world’s largest source of surface fresh water. It contains more than 20% of the world's supply of surface fresh water and about 84% of North America's surface fresh water.
In 2008, the eight Great Lakes states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) and the two Canadian provinces (Ontario and Quebec) signed the Great Lakes Compact protecting these waters.
The Great Lakes Compact is a federal agreement and prohibits new or increased diversions of water to areas outside the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Basin, with three exceptions:
These exceptions require communities to meet strict criteria to obtain approval. These criteria include conservation efforts, allotted water volume, and a 100% return flow requirement. Any community completely outside of the Great Lakes Basin is prohibited from withdrawals. To date, only a single diversion application has been approved - the City of Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Waukesha lies within a county that straddles the Great Lakes basin, allowing it to apply for Lake Michigan water if it meets Great Lakes Compact standards.
In January 2016, the City of Waukesha requested Lake Michigan water to address high levels of naturally-occurring radium present in its groundwater supply of drinking water. Radium is a carcinogen known to cause bone cancer and other health problems.
At the time of the application, the city was pumping about 1.6 million gallons of water per day (or more than a half billion gallons per year) from a deep well in an overstressed aquifer that drew from the Great Lakes Basin under an existing diversion. The city was using it for their municipal water supply, which was then treated and discharged into the Mississippi River Basin. This represented about 30% of the annual water pumped from the Great Lakes Basin at the time.
Waukesha was 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. Their request was approved by the Compact Council on June 21, 2016.
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. Michigan’s review of the plan involved evaluation by a collaborative team of subject experts organized by the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes, a thorough public engagement and comment process, and consultation with Michigan’s 12 federally-recognized Native American tribes.
Those conditions included:
The Great Lakes 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. On June 21, 2016, the Compact Council voted to approve Waukesha's request with strict conditions.
