House committee hears testimony on police powers for Great Lakes Water Authority

The Michigan House Committee on Regulatory Reform heard testimony on proposals to give the Great Lakes Water Authority expanded police powers to protect its water and wastewater infrastructure, witnesses said during a committee hearing.

Supporters, including Great Lakes Water Authority officials and public-safety chiefs, told the committee the authority provides drinking water to roughly 40% of Michigan residents and wastewater services to about 30%, and that its geographically dispersed facilities and use of hazardous chemicals make dedicated policing and timely contractor vetting essential.

Deputy chief executive William Wilson of the Great Lakes Water Authority said the authority serves about 3,900,000 people for drinking water and 2,800,000 for wastewater. He said GLWA’s operations draw attention from hostile actors and that officers now must call local law enforcement if they encounter incidents off their fenced property. “By the time EMS showed up about 14 minutes later, it was too late,” Wilson said, explaining an incident in which GLWA personnel were unable to leave a facility to intervene. Chief Jones, a longtime police chief who testified with GLWA officials, said GLWA needs officers trained and certified to law-enforcement standards to investigate insider threats and address intrusions, including cross-border concerns with Canada. “Police powers gives us the background and the necessary tools so we can do those investigations,” Jones said.

The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) opposed granting full law-enforcement authority to GLWA in the form proposed. Tim Bourgeois, executive director of MCOLES, said the commission supports GLWA’s security needs but urged using the existing public-security path in Public Act 330 of 1968, which allows certain private security or “security police” authority limited to an employer’s premises while on duty and in uniform. Bourgeois told the committee that PA 330 already provides access to federal and state background-check tools and argued that the statute addresses GLWA’s screening and on-premises enforcement needs without giving a single entity policing authority covering roughly 40% of the state’s population.

Committee members pressed witnesses on the scope of the request: witnesses described GLWA’s footprint as stretching from Monroe County north to Flint and Genesee County and including Lapeer, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw and Wayne counties. GLWA representatives said they anticipate only a modest number of officers (24 identified positions) would carry full police authority and that they would cover certification costs and follow Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards training requirements. Chief Jones said those officers would attend a full MCOLES-certified academy and thereafter receive annual training; witnesses referenced academy timeframes of 16–20 weeks and cited continuing-education expectations (the testimony referenced a 40-hour annual in‑service expectation and large aggregate training hours for GLWA staff).

MCOLES leaders said the proposed statutory route would create an entity with broad enforcement authority second only to statewide agencies, and worried that the bill language could be used later by smaller authorities to seek similar powers. Several committee members and GLWA witnesses said they want to work toward a solution that secures critical infrastructure while limiting unintended expansion of authority.

The committee did not take a final vote on the GLWA police‑powers bills during the hearing. The discussion concluded after extended questioning and multiple witnesses described both the operational risks to drinking-water infrastructure and the existing statutory alternative MCOLES recommends.

Ending

Committee members signaled willingness to continue discussions and to explore statutory language and safeguards. No formal committee action on the GLWA police-powers bills was recorded in the transcript excerpt for this hearing.