Resolution to Preserve MEPA
This resolution expresses the support of the Grand Traverse Audubon Club for the
Michigan Environmental Protection Act of 1970 .
We recognize the importance of MEPA as an instrument of environmental protection
which empowers the citizens of Michigan to engage in actions to protect our air, water,
or natural resources, or the public trust in the same, from activity that results in
pollution, impairment , or destruction.
We therefore oppose any legislative, judicial, or executive acts by the state of Michigan
or its agents that might vitiate MEPA.
WHEREAS the citizens of Michigan adopted Art 4, Sec. 52 of the Michigan
Constitution in 1963 that declares the air, water, and natural resources of the state to
be of paramount public concern and mandates the legislature to enact laws that protect
the air, water and natural resources from pollution, impairment, and destruction; and
WHEREAS, the Michigan Environmental Protection Act of 1970 (the “MEPA”) was a
landmark law in both the state and nation, empowering any citizen to take legal action
to protect the air, water and other natural resources; and
WHEREAS, the Michigan Supreme Court is currently considering a ruling that could
undermine or invalidate MEPA’s purpose, defying the will of the people; and
WHEREAS in 2003, Governor William G. Milliken and 25 organizations with a total
membership of more than 200,000 signed an amicus brief in a citizens’ suit urging the
Supreme Court to uphold the intent of the MEPA and assure the continued right of
citizens to take legal action to protect the environment from pollution, impairment, or
destruction;
THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED: That the Grand Traverse Audubon Club opposes
any effort by the courts, legislature, or agency tribunals of Michigan by interpretation,
guideline, policy, decision, order or other action that will or threatens to weaken,
undermine, or interfere with the rights and duties created and imposed by the Michigan
Environmental Protection Act of 1970 and the Michigan Constitution of 1963, Art. 4,
Sec. 52, to prevent or minimize the pollution, impairment, or degradation of the air,
water, and natural resources or the public trust in those resources within the State of
Michigan.
Further, the Grand Traverse Audubon Club opposes any such effort by the courts,
legislature, agencies, or other governmental units that will or threatens to weaken,
undermine, or interfere with the right of citizens to maintain actions under the Michigan
Environmental Protection Act (the “MEPA”) in the circuit courts and agencies or
political subdivisions of the state or local units of government to protect the air, water,
and natural resources or public trust from such harm.
Further, the Grand Traverse Audubon Club specifically opposes any such efforts by
the courts, legislature, or agencies or other governmental units that will or are likely to
result in any diminishment or erosion of the plain meaning and claims or causes of
actions under the MEPA and the legal precedents that have been established under
the common law of environmental quality since the MEPA’s inception in 1970,
including the rights of citizens to have standing to maintain such claims or actions, the
open and independent judicial review by the trial courts and administrative tribunals of
this State, and the standard of “likely pollution, impairment, or destruction” of the
environment as mandated by Art. 4, Sec. 52 of the State Constitution and the MEPA.
It is further resolved that the officers of the Grand Traverse Audubon Club are
authorized to implement this resolution through public statements, education, and
advocacy on behalf of the Michigan Environmental Protection Act and the citizens of
Michigan.
March 22, 2007
Cindee Dubey – President
Bob Carstens – Vice President