Michigan Senate approves bill to hike landfill fees, limit hazardous waste

Craig Mauger, The Detroit News on Aug 26, 2025

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LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would increase landfill tipping fees and place new restrictions on the flow of hazardous waste, including a moratorium on new storage facilities.

Under the proposal, which passed the Democratic-led chamber in a vote of 19-15, the surcharge for disposing of a ton of solid waste would go from 36 cents to $1.20. The measure still has to pass the Republican-controlled House and gain Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's signature to become law.

For years, some state leaders, including Whitmer and Republican former Gov. Rick Snyder, have unsuccessfully sought to hike the tipping fee, contending that Michigan's low rate attracts trash from other states and Canada.

Michigan is one of the cheapest places to dump garbage and hazardous waste, said Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton.

"That is unacceptable for a state that holds 90% of the nation's fresh water," Camilleri said.

Camilleri also told reporters that a new reimbursement fund, included in the 60-page bill, would ensure that residents' trash rates don't increase.

"Many of our senators raised those concerns. We added it to the bill," Camilleri said. "So any of the rhetoric you heard from the other side is just not true. Regular residents will not see this impact."

Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Bellino, R-Monroe, blasted the bill, saying it represented a 233% increase in landfill tipping fees.

"They're coming back to Michigan taxpayers asking for more and more," Bellino said of Democrats.

At one point, Bellino said the bill stunk like his garbage after his baby grandson who wears diapers stayed at his house.

As part of the governor's budget proposal for next year, Whitmer recommended in February increasing the solid waste surcharge from 36 cents per ton to $5 per ton to bring "Michigan in line with the average Midwest tipping fee."

Michigan is a destination for "a substantial volume of out-of-state waste, with an annual average of 12 million cubic yards coming into Michigan (25% of all Michigan waste), straining landfill capacities," the State Budget Office said in February.

"This influx of waste not only intensifies the environmental impact on Michigan but places an undue burden on the state's waste management infrastructure," the State Budget Office added.

Indiana's tipping fee is 60 cents per ton, while Ohio's is $4.75, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

In the new bill, Camilleri said senators had combined the landfill proposal — amid ongoing budget negotiations in Lansing — with his plan to combat the flow of hazardous waste into Michigan.

The Legislature has to OK a new budget by Oct. 1, when the next fiscal year begins.

In 2023, Michigan residents protested after learning that waste removed from the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, had been disposed of in Metro Detroit. Similarly, this year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers eventually decided not to send waste from a western New York Manhattan Project cleanup site to a Wayne County hazardous waste landfill after "strenuous community pushback," Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said.

"It should not take outrage, lawsuits and court rulings every time to keep Michigan from becoming America's dumping ground," Camilleri said. "That's not sustainable. That's not safe. And that's not justice."

His bill would require the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to develop a statewide plan for dealing with hazardous waste and institute a five-year moratorium on licenses for new multi-source commercial hazardous waste treatment and storage facilities and on expansions of existing facilities.

The bill would also increase the fee for disposing of hazardous waste in Michigan from $10 a ton to $25 a ton.

The vote was along party lines, with three Republican senators not in attendance on Tuesday.

As for the proposal's chances in the GOP-led House, Camilleri noted that there have been few negotiations between the Senate and House on any bills so far this term.

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(Staff writer Carol Thompson contributed.)

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