Michigan would spend more money reimbursing gas station owners to clean up leaky, environmentally risky fuel tanks under legislation sent to Gov. Rick Snyder. The Republican-controlled Senate passed the bill 26-10 Tuesday months after House approval. Democrats were opposed.
The measure would create a program allowing gas station operators to be reimbursed for addressing leaks from underground petroleum tanks discovered and reported before late December 2014. They currently can be reimbursed for leaks discovered after that point. Critics say Michigan's first responsibility is cleaning up known threats at abandoned gas stations - not helping owners of sites already cleaned up.
Supporters counter that Michigan has surplus revenue that's accumulating more quickly than can be spent solely on orphan sites.
