City of Romulus, City of Taylor, and County of Wayne v Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
On August 31, 2004, the Michigan Supreme Court issued an order denying the Appellants’ application for appeal because the court was not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by the court.
On January 26, 2004, the city of Romulus, city of Taylor, and county of Wayne filed an Application for Leave to Appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court. Appellants are appealing the Michigan Court of Appeal’s and Wayne County Circuit Court’s decision to affirm the WHMD decision to issue a hazardous waste construction permit to EDS. In the appeal brief, Appellants argue that the DEQ should not have issued the construction permit because the facility is to be located in a wetland and the administrative rules prohibit citing in a wetland.
On September 14, 2001, the city of Romulus, city of Taylor, and county of Wayne filed an Application for Leave to Appeal with the Michigan Court of Appeals to appeal the Wayne County Third Circuit Court’s decision to affirm the Waste and Hazardous Materials Division (formerly the Waste Management Division) decision to issue a hazardous waste construction permit to EDS. In the appeal brief, the Appellants again argued the same issues that were addressed in the Circuit Court’s decision: (1) The DEQ should not have issued the permit because the facility is to be located in a wetland and the administrative rules prohibit citing in a wetland; (2) The DEQ did not consider need in making its decision to issue the permit and the statute requires that need be considered; (3)The DEQ failed to promulgate rules to implement the Updated Hazardous Waste Management Plan as required by the statute; (4) The DEQ failed to advise the Site Review Board of the conflicting positions that DEQ personnel had on the issue of citing a facility in a wetland; and (5) The DEQ decision to issue the permit was not supported by substantial and competent evidence on the record and was arbitrary and capricious. On December 16, 2003, the Michigan Court of Appeals issued a final opinion affirming the DEQ construction permit issuance decision. The Court of Appeals concluded that the Circuit Court did not err in affirming the DEQ decision to issue the permit because: (1) the DEQ did not violate Rule 603 by issuing the permit; (2) the DEQ was not required to consider need when issuing the permit; (3) the DEQ was not required under the Administrative Procedures Act to promulgate rules establishing need would not be considered; and (4) the DEQ permit decision was supported by competent material and was not arbitrary.