Summary
The Michigan Supreme Court held that the Michigan Environmental Protection Act does not authorize a collateral challenge to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s determination of eligibility for a sand dune mining permit under the Sand Dune Mining Act when the challenge is unrelated to whether the proposed mining conduct would harm protected natural resources. The Court concluded that the challenge to the permit eligibility determination was time-barred under either the Administrative Procedures Act or the Revised Judicature Act. It reversed the Court of Appeals on that issue and remanded for expedited review of whether TechniSand’s actual mining conduct violated the Michigan Environmental Protection Act.
Holdings
- MEPA does not provide a private cause of action to challenge an agency's determination of eligibility for a sand dune mining permit under MCL 324.63702(1) when the alleged permitting defect is unrelated to whether the permit holder's conduct will pollute, impair, or destroy natural resources.
- Preserve the Dunes' challenge to the DEQ's permit-eligibility determination was time-barred because it was filed nineteen months after the permit decision, beyond both the APA's sixty-day period and the RJA appeal period.
- The Court of Appeals must review the circuit court's findings concerning whether TechniSand's mining conduct violates MEPA and must expedite its consideration of that issue.
Questions Presented
- Whether MEPA authorizes a collateral challenge in circuit court to an agency's determination of eligibility for a sand dune mining permit under MCL 324.63702(1), when the challenge is unrelated to whether the permit holder's conduct will pollute, impair, or destroy natural resources.
- Whether Preserve the Dunes' challenge to the DEQ's permit-eligibility decision was time-barred under the Administrative Procedures Act or the Revised Judicature Act.
- Whether the Court of Appeals should review the circuit court's finding that TechniSand's mining conduct did not violate the MEPA standard incorporated into the Sand Dune Mining Act.
Disposition
reversed_and_remanded
Cases Cited (12)
- Oade v. Jackson National Life Insurance Co., 465 Mich. 244, 250; 632 N.W.2d 126 (2001)(followed)
- Nemeth v. Abonmarche Development, Inc., 457 Mich. 16; 576 N.W.2d 641 (1998)(distinguished)
- Ray v. Mason County Drain Commissioner, 393 Mich. 294, 309; 224 N.W.2d 883 (1975)(followed)
- Palo Group Foster Care, Inc. v. Department of Social Services, 228 Mich. App. 140, 145; 577 N.W.2d 200 (1998)(followed)
- Oscoda Chapter of PBB Action Committee, Inc. v. Department of Natural Resources, 403 Mich. 215, 232-233; 248 N.W.2d 240 (1978)(followed)
- Preserve the Dunes, Inc. v. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, 253 Mich. App. 263; 655 N.W.2d 263 (2002)(reversed)
- National Wildlife Federation & Upper Peninsula Environmental Council v. Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co. and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, 471 Mich. ___; ___ N.W.2d ___ (2004)(criticized)
- Eyde v. Michigan, 393 Mich. 453, 454; 225 N.W.2d 1 (1975)(criticized)
- West Michigan Environmental Action Council v. Natural Resources Commission, 405 Mich. 741, 751; 275 N.W.2d 538 (1979)(distinguished)
- Macomb County Prosecutor v. Murphy, 464 Mich. 149, 159; 627 N.W.2d 247 (2001)(followed)
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