Rep. Reggie Miller praises Senate passage of Sen. Camilleri’s bill

On Aug. 27, the Michigan Senate passed Senate Bills 246 and 247 sponsored by Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, to raise landfill disposal fees, ban certain radioactive waste disposal, pause approvals for new facilities and halt expansions.
The package is the Senate version of state Rep. Reggie Miller’s (D-Van Buren Township) House Bill 4393, which would similarly raise Michigan’s landfill tipping fees to the levels of those in neighboring states, including a radioactive waste fee increase from $5 to $12.50 per ton.
Despite the successful passage of the Senate tipping fee bills, the Republican House Speaker has reportedly said that he does not anticipate them passing the House.
The Senate-approved legislation comes after a year-long fight led by Miller and the Van Buren Township community to halt radioactive waste from the New York Manhattan Project cleanup site to the Wayne Disposal site in the township. In response to the Senate approving the plan to raise landfill tipping fees, Miller issued the following statement:
“I am working alongside Sen. Darrin Camilleri and the Senate’s work to move this critical legislation forward. Although Michigan’s Third Circuit Court recently ruled to block shipments of FUSRAP radioactive waste to Wayne Disposal thanks to months of advocacy and protest by the community, this fight will not be over until Michigan’s tipping fees protect every Michigander from the threat of hazardous waste.
“Michigan ranks among the top states in importing waste from outside its borders. I have fought alongside the greater Van Buren Township community since day one to make their voices heard loud and clear that Michiganders’ backyards are nobody’s dumping grounds, and I will continue the fight to ensure the public and environmental health of Michigan.”