November 1, 2005, Introduced by Senators CHERRY, BRATER, BASHAM, EMERSON, SCHAUER, CLARKE, SWITALSKI, JACOBS, OLSHOVE, THOMAS, SCOTT, PRUSI, BERNERO, LELAND and CLARK-COLEMAN and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs.
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
by amending sections 32701 and 32706 (MCL 324.32701 and 324.32706),
section 32701 as amended by 2003 PA 148 and section 32706 as
amended by 1996 PA 434, and by adding section 32707a.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 32701. As used in this part:
(a) "Agricultural purpose" means the agricultural production
of those
plants and animals useful to human beings produced
by
agriculture
and includes, but is not limited to, forages and sod
crops, grains and feed crops, field crops, dairy animals and dairy
products, poultry and poultry products, cervidae, livestock,
including breeding and grazing, equine animals, fish and other
aquacultural products, bees and bee products, berries, herbs,
fruits, vegetables, flowers, seeds, grasses, nursery stock, trees
and tree products, mushrooms, and other similar products, or any
other product, as determined by the commission of agriculture, that
incorporates the use of food, feed, fiber, or fur.
(b) "Consumptive use" means that portion of water withdrawn or
withheld from the Great Lakes basin and assumed to be lost or
otherwise not returned to the Great Lakes basin due to evaporation,
incorporation into products, or other processes.
(c) "Department" means the department of environmental
quality.
(d) "Farm" means that term as it is defined in section 2 of
the Michigan right to farm act, 1981 PA 93, MCL 286.472.
(e) "Generally accepted conservation practices" means any
beneficial reduction in water loss, waste, or use accomplished by
the implementation of water management practices and water
efficiency measures that are economically feasible based on a cost-
benefit analysis that includes avoided environmental and economic
costs, including infrastructure and operation and maintenance
costs.
(f) (e)
"Great
Lakes basin" means the watershed
of the Great
Lakes and the St. Lawrence river.
(g) (f)
"Great
Lakes charter" means the document
establishing the principles for the cooperative management of the
Great Lakes water resources, signed by the governors and premiers
of the Great Lakes region on February 11, 1985.
(h) (g)
"Great
Lakes region" means the
geographic region
composed of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota,
New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
(i) (h)
"Industrial or processing facility" means
an
operating plant or other entity, including a thermoelectric power
generation plant, carrying on a common manufacturing activity,
trade, or business on a common site, including similar plants or
entities under common ownership or control located on contiguous
properties. Plants or entities under common ownership or control
located on separate sites shall be considered separate facilities.
Industrial or processing facility does not include an irrigation
facility or a farm.
(j) (i)
"Irrigation facility" means all wells,
pumps,
intakes, gates, tanks, pipes, or other equipment under common
ownership or control and located either on the same site or on
separate sites, which are used to withdraw, convey, or distribute
water for the purposes of irrigating golf courses, parks,
recreational areas, or other grounds. Irrigation facility does not
include a farm.
(k) (j)
"Public water supply system" means a water
system
that provides water for human consumption or other purposes to
persons other than the supplier of water.
(l) (k)
"Registrant" means any industrial or
processing
facility or irrigation facility registered under this part.
(m) (l) "Water of the Great Lakes basin" means
the Great
Lakes and all streams, rivers, lakes, connecting channels, and
other bodies of water, including groundwater, within the Great
Lakes basin.
(n) (m)
"Withdrawal" means the removal of water
from its
source for any purpose, other than for hydroelectric generation at
sites certified, licensed, or permitted by the federal energy
regulatory commission.
Sec. 32706. Each registration under this part shall consist of
a statement and supporting documentation that includes all of the
following:
(a) The place and source of the proposed or existing
withdrawal.
(b) The location of any discharge or return flow.
(c) The location and nature of the proposed or existing water
user.
(d) The actual or estimated average annual and monthly volumes
and rate of withdrawal.
(e) The actual or estimated average annual and monthly volumes
and rates of consumptive use from the withdrawal.
(f) Self-certification by the registrant that the registrant
is utilizing generally accepted conservation practices as provided
by rule promulgated pursuant to section 32707a or, if applicable,
by guidelines established by the department of agriculture.
Sec. 32707a. (1) The department shall establish, by rule,
generally accepted conservation practices for sectors of water
withdrawal users other than agricultural sectors subject to
guidelines established by the department of agriculture. The
department shall review these rules at least every 5 years to
determine whether the rules should be updated and, if so, shall
promulgate updated rules.
(2) Compliance with generally accepted conservation practices
does not authorize a water withdrawal that is otherwise prohibited
by law.