E-M:/ attorney general opinion on local authority to protect groundwater from depletion

["Dave Dempsey" <davemec@voyager.net>]

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Enviro-Mich message from "Dave Dempsey" <davemec@voyager.net>
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A county board of commissioners lacks authority to adopt a countywide
ordinance limiting the amount of well water that may be withdrawn from an
underground aquifer.

A local health department may, by regulation, limit the amount of well water
that may be withdrawn from an underground aquifer, even though the
department has issued a permit to construct a well in the same aquifer,
provided that (i) the regulation is necessary or appropriate to safeguard
the public health; (ii) the regulation is not more restrictive than
necessary to address the threat to the public health; and (iii) the
regulation is at least as stringent as any standard established by state law
applicable to the same or a similar subject matter.

http://www.ag.state.mi.us/opinion/datafiles/2000s/op10192.htm




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