Opinion ID: 848681
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: the separation of powers doctrine and mepa

Text: Turning to the interplay between the Michigan environmental protection act and the separation of powers clause, I cannot conclude that the act offends the clause. Separation of powers principles ensure that courts do not move beyond the area of judicial expertise and that political questions are not answered by a branch of government unaccountable to the people. House Speaker v. Governor, 443 Mich. 560, 574, 506 N.W.2d 190 (1993). I am unable to discern how MEPA's private attorneys general standing provision will offend these principles. The Legislature made the public's interest in the environment a legal right. [15] It is authorized to determine who may enforce such rights and in what manner. Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228, 241, 99 S.Ct. 2264, 60 L.Ed.2d 846 (1979). MEPA is an expression of public concern for protecting the state's natural resources that was passed into law through the normal political process. It reflects the determination that the resources of the executive branch should be supplemented with those of the people. The majority today threatens to diminish the victory signified by its passage. See ante at 811-812. MEPA does not enable the judiciary to exercise legislative power at the instigation of a disinterested plaintiff. The structure of MEPA ensures that the plaintiffs are not mere interlopers. The act requires a plaintiff to make a prima facie showing of environmental damage. MCL 324.1703. Hence, there will always be alleged actual or imminent harm that will ensure that cases like this one will be ripe and that they will not be moot. See pp. 808-809. This case presents one such actual, live controversy. The defendants' mine expansion is imminent. Plaintiffs' membership includes people who live and recreate in the area of the mine and claim to be adversely affected by its expansion. Environmental and other collective concerns often have strong personal manifestations, called passive use or standby value interests. See, e.g., General Electric Co. v. United States Dep't of Commerce, 327 U.S. App DC 33, 38, 128 F.3d 767 (1997). These interests ensure that environmental suits are vigorously pursued by people with a strong personal belief in their claim. I cannot perceive that the judiciary would be enabled to make policy by this Court's affirmance of the constitutionality of MEPA's standing provision without the need for particularized injury. Sutherland v. Governor, 29 Mich. 320, 324 (1874). Neither does MEPA offend executive authority. The Constitution states that The executive power is vested in the governor. Const. 1964, art. V, § 1. However, it is not vested solely in the Governor. Obviously, the Governor may delegate some of her power. As stated, the Legislature may vest some of its power in an agency. Similarly, the Legislature may return it to the people. The people know how to vest power exclusively in a single branch of government. For example, our Constitution says, The judicial power is vested exclusively in one court of justice. Const. 1963, art. VI, § 1 (emphasis added). The Legislature's decision to allow the people to directly enforce MEPA would offend the executive branch if it interfered with the executive branch's ability to accomplish its functions. Nixon v. Administrator of Gen. Services, 433 U.S. 425, 443, 97 S.Ct. 2777, 53 L.Ed.2d 867 (1977), citing United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 711-712, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974). MEPA does not do this. MEPA includes a mechanism to ensure that executive branch decisions are respected. It allows the judiciary to refer environmental protection act cases to state agencies for resolution. MCL 324.1704(2). MEPA is explicitly supplementary to existing administrative and regulatory procedures as provided by law. MCL 324.1706. Nothing in it encourages or authorizes the judiciary to itself exercise executive power or hinders the discretion of the executive branch. MEPA poses no danger of aggrandizement or encroachment of power that would trigger separation of powers concerns. Mistretta v. United States, 488 U.S. 361, 382, 109 S.Ct. 647, 102 L.Ed.2d 714 (1989).