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Whitmer keeps intact 2 environmental panels in new order

Posted at 4:42 PM, Feb 20, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-20 16:42:15-05

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — After a standoff with the Republican-led Legislature, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has issued a new environmental order that keeps intact two panels to oversee rule-making and permitting.

The order released Wednesday comes after GOP lawmakers rejected her previous attempt to reorganize and rename the Department of Environmental Quality. Her new order is largely the same as her previous one, but it no longer abolishes two business-backed commissions that were established under 2018 laws.

Whitmer says the panels will remain intact while she awaits Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel’s opinion on whether they are legal.

The Legislature’s vote last week to reject her order was the first time the full Legislature had done so in 42 years.

Whitmer says she won’t let “partisan politics” slow work to clean up drinking water.