Snyder Signs Safe Drinking Water Bill

Legislation that will require Michigan communities to be informed faster than residents of Flint, MI, were about elevated lead levels in their drinking water was signed by Governor Rick Snyder this month.

The bill signing is the first policy change that was signed into state law as a result of the Flint water crisis, according to the Detroit Free Press.

"This bill is an important first step," Snyder said. "This is about dealing with the tragic crisis we've suffered through."

In June of last year, Snyder also unveiled a 30-year strategy for safe drinking water. The first segment of this plan focused on five areas that echo water issues Michigan currently faces or has faced in recent years.

“There’s a framework here for long-term success,” Snyder said, according to The Detroit News. “If there’s one thing that binds Michiganders together, as much or more than anything, it’s a love of the Great Lakes and the wonderful water resources we have in this state.”

The strategy includes steps that have already been taken, such as holding “the line on discharges” at the Detroit Water and Sewage Department plant as well as the Wayne County Downriver treatment plant.

One of the problems, phosphorus, has been a difficulty in northeast and southwest Michigan according to The Detroit News. Algae growth has been linked to the amount of phosphorous that runs off the land in the region and into Lake Erie.

Michigan introduced several measures late in 2015 designed to reduce the phosphorus reaching Lake Erie. According to the Detroit Free Press Snyder did not put a “dollar figure on how much the decades-long plan would cost.”

The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Sheldon Neeley, “requires municipal water systems, upon learning their water has exceeded the federal ‘action level’ for lead,” to inform the public within three business days.

According to a House Fiscal Agency analysis of the legislation, under the present law, public notice of any violation must happen as soon as possible, “but within no more than 30 days.”

"We need to change those levels," Snyder said Friday. "We need to have stricter standards."

Neeley added that the bill will assist in preventing other Michigan communities from going through what Flint experienced.

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