Opinion ID: 848681
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Legislature May Confer Rights Enforceable through the Power of the Judiciary

Text: The Michigan environmental protection act explicitly recognizes the right of any person to bring suit in Michigan courts to protect the public trust in our land, water, and other natural resources. The Legislature accomplished this by writing broad standing into the act, supplementing the state's enforcement power with what has been termed private [a]ttorneys [g]eneral. Associated Industries of N.Y. State v. Ickes, 134 F.2d 694, 704 (C.A.2, 1943). As the beneficiaries of that trust, each of us is entitled to bring suit to conserve our environment. The act fulfills a state constitutional obligation. Hwy. Comm. v. Vanderkloot, 392 Mich. 159, 220 N.W.2d 416 (1974). It springs from Const. 1963, art. 4, § 52 which provides: The conservation and development of the natural resources of the state are hereby declared to be of paramount public concern in the interest of the health, safety and general welfare of the people. The legislature shall provide for the protection of the air, water and other natural resources of the state from pollution, impairment and destruction. Intentionally mirroring this language in the act, the Legislature wrote: any person may maintain an action ... for declaratory and equitable relief ... for the protection of the air, water, and other natural resources of the state. MCL 324.1701(1). Its decision to open wide the courthouse doors through the act's standing provision merely returns to the people some of the power to ensure that environmental laws are executed. Const. 1963, art. 1, § 1. The courts should acknowledge and respect this provision as a clear expression of legislative intent. Dressel v. Ameribank, 468 Mich. 557, 562, 664 N.W.2d 151 (2003).