He Testified Against the Michigan Environmental Agency. Days Later, His Family Was Sued.

The family says state regulators stayed silent for months, then filed a lawsuit days after testimony supporting a bill to limit permitting requirements for small ponds.

LANSING — A Mid Michigan lawmaker is advancing legislation aimed at easing state permitting requirements for small residential ponds, while a Freeland resident told lawmakers his family became the target of a lawsuit just days after speaking out against state regulators.

State Rep. Matthew Bierlein, R Vassar, testified before a Michigan House committee in support of House Bill 5707, which would create an exemption from state permitting requirements for certain noncommercial ponds less than one acre in size on residential and agricultural property.

Bierlein said the legislation is intended to provide relief to property owners who may unknowingly run afoul of state environmental regulations when constructing small ponds on their own land.

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“Michigan residents deserve clear rules, fair treatment and a government that exercises common sense,” Bierlein told lawmakers. He said the bill seeks to balance environmental protections with private property rights while reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens.

Joining Bierlein was Freeland resident Zach Wenzlick, whose family has spent more than three years in a dispute with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, known as EGLE, over a pond on his brother’s property.

Wenzlick told lawmakers that after testifying in support of the bill before another legislative committee on May 13, his brother was served with a lawsuit from EGLE five days later. He argued the timing was not coincidental.

“As a result of my testimony in support of this bill, EGLE filed a lawsuit against my brother,” Wenzlick said. He noted that neither EGLE nor the Michigan Attorney General’s Office had communicated with his brother since July 2025 before the lawsuit was filed.

Wenzlick said the lawsuit and comments made by agency officials during previous testimony demonstrated why reforms are needed to protect property owners undertaking what he described as modest improvements on private land.

He outlined a timeline dating back to 2023, when his brother expanded an existing pond on private property. According to Wenzlick, the family believed permits were not required based on previous determinations and guidance they had received. He said the dispute eventually escalated into enforcement action and demands that could have cost the family tens of thousands of dollars to comply with.

Wenzlick accused the agency of delaying communication, providing conflicting explanations for its decisions and pursuing enforcement despite evidence he said supported the family’s position. He told lawmakers the dispute has now lasted more than 1,100 days.

EGLE has previously maintained that its actions are intended to enforce Michigan’s environmental laws and protect regulated wetlands.

Bierlein said House Bill 5707 would not eliminate environmental oversight for larger projects or ponds connected to lakes, rivers or other waterways. A substitute version of the bill preserves EGLE’s permitting authority in those situations.

Under the proposal, qualifying ponds under one acre that are intended for noncommercial residential use would no longer require the same level of state review, provided they are not connected to other bodies of water. Bierlein argued that small backyard and farm ponds should not be treated the same as major development projects.

The legislation remains under consideration in the Michigan House.