November 9, 2006, Introduced by Senator BIRKHOLZ 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 30101, 30104, and 30105 (MCL 324.30101,
324.30104, and 324.30105), as amended by 2006 PA 275.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 30101. As used in this part:
(a) "Bottomland" means the land area of an inland lake or
stream that lies below the ordinary high-water mark and that may or
may not be covered by water.
(b) "Bulkhead line" means a line that is established pursuant
to this part beyond which dredging, filling, or construction of any
kind is not allowed without a permit.
(c) "Dam" means an artificial barrier, including dikes,
embankments, and appurtenant works, that impounds, diverts, or is
designed to impound or divert water.
(d) "Department" means the department of environmental
quality.
(e) "Fund" means the land and water management permit fee fund
created in section 30113.
(f) "Height of the dam" means the difference in elevation
measured vertically between the natural bed of an inland lake or
stream at the downstream toe of the dam, or, if it is not across a
stream channel or watercourse, from the lowest elevation of the
downstream toe of the dam, to the design flood elevation or to the
lowest point of the top of the dam, whichever is less.
(g) "Impoundment" means water held back by a dam, dike,
floodgate, or other barrier.
(h) "Inland lake or stream" means a natural or artificial
lake, pond, or impoundment; a river, stream, or creek, which may or
may not be serving as a drain as defined by the drain code of 1956,
1956 PA 40, MCL 280.1 to 280.630; or any other body of water that
has definite banks, a bed, and visible evidence of a continued flow
or continued occurrence of water, including the St. Marys, St.
Clair, and Detroit rivers. Inland lake or stream does not include
the Great Lakes, Lake St. Clair, or a lake or pond that has a
surface area of less than 5 acres.
(i) "Marina" means a facility that is owned or operated by a
person, extends into or over an inland lake or stream, and offers
service to the public or members of the marina for docking,
loading, or other servicing of recreational watercraft.
(j) "Minor offense" means either of the following violations
of this part if the project involved in the offense is a minor
project as listed in R 281.816 of the Michigan administrative code
or the department determines that restoration of the affected
property is not required:
(i) The failure to obtain a permit under this part.
(ii) A violation of a permit issued under this part.
(k) "Ordinary high-water mark" means the line between upland
and bottomland that persists through successive changes in water
levels, below which the presence and action of the water is so
common or recurrent that the character of the land is marked
distinctly from the upland and is apparent in the soil itself, the
configuration of the surface of the soil, and the vegetation. On an
inland lake that has a level established by law, it means the high
established level. Where water returns to its natural level as the
result of the permanent removal or abandonment of a dam, it means
the natural ordinary high-water mark.
(l) "Pipeline" means those gas transmission pipelines subject
to the pipeline safety improvement act of 2002, Public Law 107-355.
(m) (l) "Project" means an activity that requires
a permit
pursuant to section 30102.
(n) (m)
"Property owners' association" means any
group of
organized property owners publishing a directory of their
membership, the majority of which are riparian owners and are
located on the inland lake or stream that is affected by the
proposed project.
(o) (n)
"Riparian owner" means a person who has
riparian
rights.
(p) (o)
"Riparian rights" means those rights which
that
are associated with the ownership of the bank or shore of an inland
lake or stream.
(q) (p)
"Seasonal structure" includes any type of
dock, boat
hoist, ramp, raft, or other recreational structure that is placed
into an inland lake or stream and removed at the end of the boating
season.
(r) (q)
"Structure" includes a marina, wharf,
dock, pier,
dam, weir, stream deflector, breakwater, groin, jetty, sewer,
pipeline, cable, and bridge.
(s) (r)
"Upland" means the land area that lies above the
ordinary high-water mark.
Sec. 30104. (1) A person shall not undertake a project subject
to this part except as authorized by a permit issued by the
department pursuant to part 13. An application for a permit shall
include any information that may be required by the department. If
a project includes activities at multiple locations, 1 application
may be filed for the combined activities.
(2) Except as provided in subsections (3) and (4), until
October 1, 2008, an application for a permit shall be accompanied
by a fee based on an administrative cost in accordance with the
following schedule:
(a) For a minor project listed in R 281.816 of the Michigan
administrative code, or a seasonal drawdown or the associated
reflooding, or both, of a dam or impoundment for the purpose of
weed control, a fee of $50.00. However, for a permit for a seasonal
drawdown or associated reflooding, or both, of a dam or impoundment
for the purpose of weed control that is issued for the first time
after October 9, 1995, an initial fee of $500.00 with subsequent
permits for the same purpose being assessed a $50.00 fee.
(b)
For authorization under a general permit, for the removal
of
a qualifying small dam under section 30105(8), a
$50.00 fee.
(c) For construction or expansion of a marina, a fee of:
(i) $50.00 for an expansion of 1-10 slips to an existing
permitted marina.
(ii) $100.00 for a new marina with 1-10 proposed marina slips.
(iii) $250.00 for an expansion of 11-50 slips to an existing
permitted marina, plus $10.00 for each slip over 50.
(iv) $500.00 for a new marina with 11-50 proposed marina slips,
plus $10.00 for each slip over 50.
(v) $1,500.00 if an existing permitted marina proposes
maintenance dredging of 10,000 cubic yards or more or the addition
of seawalls, bulkheads, or revetments of 500 feet or more.
(d) For renewal of a marina operating permit, a fee of $50.00.
(e) For major projects other than a project described in
subdivision (c)(v), involving any of the following, a fee of
$2,000.00:
(i) Dredging of 10,000 cubic yards or more.
(ii) Filling of 10,000 cubic yards or more.
(iii) Seawalls, bulkheads, or revetments of 500 feet or more.
(iv) Filling or draining of 1 acre or more of wetland
contiguous to a lake or stream.
(v) New dredging or upland boat basin excavation in areas of
suspected contamination.
(vi) Shore projections, such as groins and underwater
stabilizers, that extend 150 feet or more into a lake or stream.
(vii) New commercial docks or wharves of 300 feet or more in
length.
(viii) Stream enclosures 100 feet or more in length.
(ix) Stream relocations 500 feet or more in length.
(x) New golf courses.
(xi) Subdivisions.
(xii) Condominiums.
(f) For all other projects not listed in subdivisions (a)
through (e), a fee of $500.00.
(3) A project that requires review and approval under this
part and 1 or more of the following acts or parts of acts is
subject to only the single highest permit fee required under this
part or the following acts or parts of acts:
(a) Part 303.
(b) Part 323.
(c) Part 325.
(d) Section 3104.
(e) Section 117 of the land division act, 1967 PA 288, MCL
560.117.
(4) If work has been done in violation of a permit requirement
under this part and restoration is not ordered by the department,
the department may accept an application for a permit if the
application is accompanied by a fee equal to 2 times the permit fee
required under this section.
Sec. 30105. (1) The department shall post on its website all
of the following under this part:
(a) A list of pending applications.
(b) Public notices.
(c) Public hearing schedules.
(2) The department may hold a public hearing on pending
applications.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in this section, upon
receiving an application, the department shall submit copies for
review to the director of the department of community health or the
local health department designated by the director of the
department of community health, to the city, village, or township
and the county where the project is to be located, to the local
conservation
district, to the watershed council
organized
established under part 311, if any, to the local port commission,
if any, and to the persons required to be included in the
application pursuant to section 30104(1). Each copy of the
application shall be accompanied by a statement that unless a
written request is filed with the department within 20 days after
the submission for review, the department may grant the application
without a public hearing where the project is located. The
department may hold a public hearing upon the written request of
the applicant or a riparian owner or a person or governmental unit
that is entitled to receive a copy of the application pursuant to
this subsection.
(4) After completion of a project for which an application is
approved, the department may cause a final inspection to be made
and certify to the applicant that the applicant has complied with
the department's permit requirements.
(5) At least 10 days' notice of a hearing to be held under
this section shall be given by publication in a newspaper
circulated in the county where the project is to be located, to the
person requesting the hearing, and to the persons and governmental
units that are entitled to receive a copy of the application
pursuant to subsection (3).
(6) In an emergency, the department may issue a conditional
permit before the expiration of the 20-day period referred to in
subsection (3).
(7)
The department, by rule, promulgated under section
30110(1),
may establish minor project categories of activities
and
projects that are similar in nature and have minimal adverse
environmental impact. The department may act upon an application
received pursuant to section 30104 for an activity or project
within a minor project category without providing notices or
holding a public hearing pursuant to subsection (3). A final
inspection or certification of a project completed under a permit
granted pursuant to this subsection is not required, but all other
provisions of this part are applicable to a minor project.
(8) The department, after notice and an opportunity for a
public hearing, may issue a general permit on a statewide basis or
within a local unit of government for projects that are similar in
nature
for the either
or both of the following:
(a) The removal of qualifying small dams that will cause only
minimal adverse environmental effects when performed separately and
that will only have minimal cumulative adverse effect on the
environment. A
general permit issued under this subsection shall
not
be valid for more than 5 years. The department may impose
conditions on the removal of a small dam authorized under a general
permit if the conditions are designed to remove an impairment to
the lake or stream, to mitigate the impact of the project, or to
otherwise
restore or rehabilitate the lake or stream. The
department
may also establish a reasonable time when the proposed
project
is to be completed or terminated. As used in this
subsection, "qualifying small dam" means a dam that meets all of
the following conditions:
(i) (a)
The height of the dam is less than 2 feet.
(ii) (b)
The impoundment from the dam covers less than 2
acres.
(iii) (c)
The dam does not serve as the first dam upstream
from the Great Lakes or their connecting waterways.
(iv) (d)
The dam is not serving as a sea lamprey barrier.
(v) (e)
There are no threatened or endangered species that
have been identified in the area that will be impacted by the
project.
(vi) (f)
There are no known areas of contaminated sediments
in the area that will be impacted by the project.
(vii) (g)
The department has received written permission for
the removal of the dam from all riparian property owners adjacent
to the dam's impoundment.
(b) The crossing of an inland lake or stream for the
maintenance, repair, or restoration of a pipeline that utilizes
practices described in the department's "Guidebook of Best
Management Practices for Michigan Watersheds", reprinted October
1998, to avoid or otherwise minimize temporary adverse impacts to
lakes or streams.
(9) A general permit issued under subsection (8) shall not be
valid for more than 5 years. The department may also establish a
reasonable time when a project subject to a general permit is to be
completed or terminated.