Eliminating state laws could harm smaller wetlands protected by city ordinances, said Nathan Triplett, an East Lansing City Council member.

“The key difference was to make sure that the legislation adopted does not preempt local units from adopting their own wetland ordinances to protect smaller wetlands,” Triplett said.

Currently, wetlands larger than 5 acres or within 500 feet of a lake or stream are regulated by the state, and the city of East Lansing regulates wetlands between one-fourth of an acre to five acres, East Lansing Public Works Director Todd Sneathen wrote in an e-mail.

For a developer to build on an East Lansing wetland, the city’s wetland ordinance requires developers to provide rationale for building on the wetland and a plan to restore any destroyed wetlands, Sneathen said. The city must approve the developer’s plan and provide a wetland permit, he said.

State wetland regulation is controlled by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, or MDEQ.

If passed in the House, the legislation would keep the department in control of the wetlands, while reforming responsibilities and adopting some of the federal wetland guidelines in the state.

Federal regulation of the wetlands would eliminate about $2 million — or .125 percent — of the state’s $2.7 billion deficit.

International relations senior Jon Kurian said the federal government is not familiar enough with Michigan wetlands to regulate them.

“I would lean toward it being a state issue,” he said. “Would you want the federal government to say you can or can’t do something when they don’t even know about the wetland or the situation?”

The state defines a wetland by its presence and quantity of water and the wetland’s ability to support vegetation or aquatic life, such as a bog or swamp.

Although the Senate bill would change some wetland regulations, Michigan still would maintain control and Clean Water Action Policy Associate Susan Harley said she thinks the Michigan House will vote similarly.

If regulation does remain in the state, the state will adopt some of the federal wetland guidelines, which are not as strict as some state standards, Harley said.

Michigan and New Jersey are the only two states that regulate their own wetlands. Harley said state regulation has allowed Michigan to protect more wetland.

MDEQ is about 1 percent of Michigan’s general fund budget and wetland protection is a very small portion of that, Harley said.

“It is only a tiny portion of the budget,” she said. “If we don’t have the ability to protect our own wetlands, we are really opening ourselves up for increased flooding (and) beach closures, causing the state to eventually pay more to solve these problems.”