Michigan bill could streamline sand and gravel permits

Michigan sand and gravel producers could see streamlined permitting if S.B. 431 passes.

If passed, Michigan Senate Bill 431, sponsored by Adam Hollier (D-Detroit), would protect future development of the state’s natural resources by “prohibiting a local unit of government from preventing, prohibiting, or denying a permit, approval, or other authorization for the mining of natural resources if the natural resources were valuable and very serious consequences would not result from the extraction of the natural resources.”

Testifying before a Senate committee hearing, Kevin Cotter, general manager of Bay Aggregates, noted that some townships place unfair obstacles in the way of obtaining permits. The result is higher costs for road construction.

“We are left to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and unnecessary time pursuing permits to remove aggregate from land that we own,” Cotter says in WUOMFM report.

Opponents, including State Rep. Gary Howell (R-North Branch), claim that bill was written by and for gravel companies. He noted that nearly 100 residents attended the hearings. “If SB 431 were to pass, these individuals would effectively have no voice at all regarding gravel mining operations in their own community,” he says. “The fight is far from over, but I intend to see it through.”