Michigan Department of Environmental Quality

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Department overview
Formed	1995
Preceding department	Department of Natural Resources and Environment
Jurisdiction	Michigan
Headquarters	Lansing, Michigan
Annual budget	$502.6 million (2015)
Department executive	Keith Creagh, Director (interim)
Child agencies	Air Quality Division Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance Office of Environmental Assistance Office of Oil, Gas, and Minerals Office of the Great Lakes Office of Waste Management and Radiological Protection Remediation and Redevelopment Division Water Resources Division
Website	michigan.gov/deq

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (Michigan DEQ, MDEQ, or simply DEQ) is the agency of the U.S. state of Michigan.

The department was created in 1995. It mission statement says that it "promotes wise management of Michigan's air, land, and water resources to support a sustainable environment, healthy communities, and vibrant economy."

In 1995, the DEQ was created by Executive Order No. 1995-18, which transferred environmental regulatory functions from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to the newly created department. This was part of a broader effort by Governor John Engler to "secure more direct oversight over" state environmental policy and reduce the number of state environmental employees through budget cuts."

The DEQ's first director was Russell J. Harding, appointed by Engler. Harding "developed a national reputation for leading opposition to any state intervention on climate change as well as most other policy initiatives proposed by the federal government or by the states and provinces of the Great Lakes Basin." Under Harding, the Michigan DEQ "regularly spurned federal grants to study climate change" and rejected outreach from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seeking state engagement. Harding said that he believed that addressing climate change would cause an economic risk to the state.

In 1996, Executive Order No. 1996-1 transferred oversight of environmental health programs "relating to drinking water and radiological protection" from the Michigan Department of Public Health to the DEQ, and Executive Order No. 1996-2 transferred the Low Level Radioactive Waste Authority from the Michigan Department of Commerce to the DEQ.

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