As one measure that Michigan lawmakers passed last year faces a legal challenge, the state’s Democrats could ram through another measure to erode local control.

Michigan lawmakers could soon consider House Bill 6108, which would remove local governments’ authority to regulate mining operations. The bill is part of a four-bill package Michigan Democrats could force through during the lame-duck session before they lose their trifecta control of the state government.

State Reps. Alabas Farhat, D-Dearborn, and Will Snyder, D-Muskegon, sponsored the measure, which was referred to the House Committee on Regulatory Reform. However, it was not on the committee’s agenda Tuesday.

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“House Bill 6108 completely pre-empts local involvement unless a proposed extraction operation would result in a public or private nuisance,” Our Home, Our Voice said in a Facebook post. “But even if the Department finds that a nuisance will occur, the mining operator may still have the right to mine, regardless of objections local officials and neighboring property owners may present,” Our Home, Our Voice’s post continued.

“The bill would also allow for mining operations to take place in communities where a risk of groundwater contamination may be present, posing further risks to the environment,” the group added. “This positions Michigan as a state that fails to prioritize the preservation of its natural resources and the protection of its residents. In addition, the bill would result in constant heavy truck traffic and dust to both residential and commercial residents.”

The Michigan Aggregate Association’s assertions that the state is running out of gravel are “not proven,” Sharon Township resident Barbara Schmid told The Sun Times News.

“This is the fourth session in which the aggregate industry has tried to usurp local control over the right to permit mining operations. It is also the most egregious so far,” the outlet quoted Schmid as saying.

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The push is just the latest instance that critics say is an erosion of local control around zoning. They point to Public Act 233 of 2023 passed in the fall of 2023.

Critics say it overrides local ordinances and zoning regulations and strips local elected officials of their power to zone land for industrial energy fields. Instead, it gave the power to a three-member Michigan Public Service Commission appointed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

On Oct. 10, the MPSC adopted application procedures for electric providers and independent power producers to follow when they pursue approval to site renewable energy projects.

Last month, Foster Swift Collins & Smith P.C. appealed the MPSC’s Oct. 10 decision on behalf of more than 70 municipalities across the Wolverine State. The appeal challenges the MPSC’s order, which critics say would “unlawfully strip local governments of their authority to regulate renewable energy projects within their communities.”

Michael Homier, chair of the Foster Swift Municipal Practice Group, said in a statement: “We are deeply concerned that the MPSC’s ruling undermines the democratic process by removing the voices of local residents and local officials in decisions that directly impact their communities,” “Local governments have a longstanding responsibility to ensure that developments align with their unique priorities, and this decision threatens to leave them powerless in the face of large-scale renewable energy projects.”

The act’s passage coincided with other “clean energy” bills that ostensibly aim to move the state from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

“This August, federal land managers proposed a plan to open up 32 million acres of federal land to solar field development,” the Economic Development Responsibility Alliance of Michigan said in a template letter posted to its site. “Green energy lobbyists tell residents about the benefits of pollinator-friendly agrivoltaics,” the letter continued.

“But for neighbors of industrial solar fields, the reality has been soil erosion, flooding, water pollution, loss of prime farmland, and the unstudied impacts of electromagnetic frequency exposure,” the letter added. “Likewise: neighbors of wind turbines have told endless tales of noise, light disruption, and ecological destruction.”