Office of Regulatory Reinvention Appoints Members to the Environmental Advisory Rules Committee

Contact: John Groen 517-373-9280

Agency: Licensing and Regulatory Affairs

May 26, 2011 - Today, the Office of Regulatory Reinvention appointed twelve Michigan citizens to the Environmental Advisory Rules Committee. The Environmental Advisory Rules Committee will assist the Office of Regulatory Reinvention (ORR) in identifying duplicative, obsolete, unnecessary or unduly restrictive environmental rules.

"This Advisory Rules Committee will help identify onerous rules that are hurting job creation, while not providing much social benefit," said Steve Hilfinger, Michigan's Chief Regulatory Officer and director of the ORR. "This committee has many diverse perspectives - we have representatives from utilities, environmental groups, and manufacturers, as well as environmental lawyers and local officials. This is a highly talented group that I am confident will make strong recommendations to make Michigan's regulatory system more efficient and effective."

Specifically, the ORR appointed: 

• Richard Barr, Detroit, Partner, Environmental Law Department, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP 
• Skiles Boyd, Detroit, Vice President of Environmental Management and Resources at DTE Energy 
• John Caudell, Lansing, Senior Environmental Engineer, FTC&H 
• James Clift, Lansing, Policy Director, Michigan Environmental Council 
• Troy Cumings, Grand Rapids, Attorney/Lobbyist, Warner Norcross & Judd LLP 
• Randy Gross, Lansing, Department of Environmental Quality - Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs David Gustafson, Midland, Regulatory Affairs Leader - Michigan, Minnesota, EH&S Global Regulatory Services, The Dow Chemical Company 
• Linda Hilbert, Lansing, Consumers' Energy 
• Carol Isaacs, Lansing, Attorney General's Office 
• John McCulloch, Waterford, Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner 
• Andrew Such, Lansing, Director of Environmental and Regulatory Affairs for the Michigan Manufacturers Association 
• Brian Warner, Cadillac, Director of Environmental Services, Wolverine Power Cooperative

ORR Deputy Director Rob Nederhood will chair the committee. The first committee meeting will be held next month in Lansing.

The ORR was formed pursuant to Executive Order 2011-5. The Executive Order contemplates that, as part of its effort to obtain input from a broad spectrum of stakeholders, the ORR will create certain Advisory Rules Committees.

The Environmental Advisory Rules Committee (ARC) will function for 120 days after formation, unless that date is extended by the ORR. The ARC will issue a report to the ORR containing advisory recommendations upon the completion of their work.

The ORR has already identified approximately 2,626 rules promulgated by the Department of Environmental Quality. The ARC will evaluate these rules based of the factors listed in Executive Order 2011-5, including the health and safety benefits of the rules; the cost of compliance with the rules; whether the rules are duplicative or obsolete; and other factors.

Ultimately, the ORR will submit its findings and recommendations to the Governor, based in part on the reports from all of the ARCs. Two other ARCs, Insurance & Finance and Workplace Safety, have also been created. Other ARCs will be formed in the future, to address other areas of regulation, according to Hilfinger.

In addition to forming ARCs, the ORR will provide interested parties with the opportunity to share their perspectives on the regulatory environment by, among other things, inviting the submission of comments online at www.michigan.gov/orr and by providing for public comment as part of any formal rulemaking process mandated by the Administrative Procedures Act.

For more information about LARA, please visit www.michigan.gov/lara. Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/michiganORR, "Like" us on Facebook or find us on YouTube www.youtube.com/michiganLARA.