On Tuesday, September 22nd, the Senate Oversight Committee held a hearing on two Republican-sponsored bills (SB 828 and SB 829) that would enact several statutory reforms to the use of private attorneys general and contingency fee contracts with outside legal firms.

On Wednesday, the Legislature passed through the entire FY2021 budget (due to begin on October 1st) in overwhelming bipartisan fashion. The $62.7billion annual budget agreement represents a major accomplishment for the Governor and Republican Legislative leaders, who fought last year over the Governor’s road funding proposal and the Governor’s subsequent vetoes and administrative transfers. Then the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic collapse required further negotiations to allocate federal funding and address major deficits.

On Wednesday, September 16th, State Senator Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) introduced a two-bill package that would extend the statute of limitations for claims made regarding contamination from PFAS and other emerging contaminants.

Last Friday, September 11th, EGLE’s Remediation and Redevelopment Division (RRD) issued a bulletin regarding volatilization to indoor air pathway (VIAP) screening levels. In June, RRD had announced new guidance and voluntary screening levels for evaluation of VIAP under the Part 201 program. RRD staff stated that this new guidance is merely an attempt to streamline the current process, but many in the regulated community expressed concerns that the screening levels utilize extremely conservative assumptions and still require significant investment to satisfy the Department.