March 9, 2011, Introduced by Rep. Geiss and referred to the Committee on Energy and Technology.
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
(MCL 324.101 to 324.90106) by adding sections 62715, 62717, 62719,
62721, 62723, 62725, 62727, 62729, 62731, 62733, 62735, 62737,
62739, 62741, 62743, and 62745.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 62715. (1) A sequestration project owner shall maintain
financial assurance during the sequestration operation and until
the department issues a certificate of completion of the
sequestration operation under section 62729.
(2) The financial assurance required under subsection (1)
shall meet all of the following requirements:
(a) Apply to all sequestration operations subject to the
sequestration order.
(b) Be in an amount determined by the department to be
sufficient to cover the cost to administer closure of the
sequestration project; to hire a third party to remove surface
buildings and equipment utilized in geologic sequestration; to
conduct postclosure monitoring; and to implement necessary
environmental protection measures, including any necessary
remediation of contamination of the soil, surface water, or
groundwater caused by the sequestration operation that is in
violation of the sequestration order.
(c) Consist of escrow, cash, certificate of deposit,
irrevocable letter of credit, surety bond, or any combination
thereof; or any other method satisfactory to the department.
(3) Every 3 years, or as the department considers necessary, a
sequestration project owner shall adjust the amount of financial
assurance as determined by the department to ensure that it is
sufficient for the purposes of subsection (2)(b).
(4) If the sequestration project owner fails to maintain
financial assurance required under this section, the department may
order immediate suspension of the sequestration operation.
(5) The department shall waive financial assurance otherwise
required under this part to the extent it duplicates financial
assurance required by any federal agency.
Sec. 62717. (1) Before beginning the sequestration operation,
a sequestration project owner shall record a certified copy of the
sequestration order with the register of deeds of the county or
counties in which the sequestration project is to be located.
(2) The sequestration project owner shall notify the
department at least 30 days before beginning a sequestration
operation, and 5 business days before actual geologic sequestration
begins.
Sec. 62719. (1) A person may request the department to amend a
sequestration order to name the person as a new sequestration
project owner. The request shall be submitted to the department on
a form provided by the department. The request shall include an
organization report and other relevant information required by the
department. The request shall be verified in the same manner as a
pleading in a civil action. The department shall approve the
request and issue an amended sequestration order if all of the
following requirements are met:
(a) The person submitting the request provides financial
assurance as required under section 62715.
(b) The person submitting the request accepts the conditions
of the existing sequestration order.
(c) If the department determines the current sequestration
project owner to be in violation of this part or the rules
promulgated under this part at the sequestration project involved
in the transfer, the current sequestration project owner has
completed the necessary corrective actions or the person submitting
the request has entered into a written consent agreement with the
department to correct the violation.
(2) Pending the approval of an amended sequestration order
under subsection (1), the current sequestration project owner
remains responsible for the sequestration operation.
(3) A sequestration order may be amended, for purposes other
than naming a new sequestration project owner, as follows:
(a) The sequestration project owner may submit to the
department a request to amend the sequestration order to address
anticipated changes in the sequestration project.
(b) The department may propose an amendment to a sequestration
order if the department determines that the sequestration project
or sequestration operation does not support the findings made for
the sequestration project pursuant to section 62713(1)(c), (d), or
(e), or that the sequestration operation is not adequately
achieving geologic sequestration.
(c) Within 30 days after receiving a request to amend a
sequestration order, or upon a determination by the department
under subdivision (b), the department shall determine whether the
amendment would constitute a significant substantive change from
the conditions of the approved sequestration order.
(d) If the department determines that the amendment would
constitute a significant substantive change, then the department
shall give notice and conduct an evidentiary hearing on the
proposed amendment as provided under section 62711.
(e) If the department determines that the amendment would not
constitute a significant substantive change from the conditions of
the approved sequestration order, the department shall provide
written notice of the determination to the county and to the city
or township and, if applicable, village where the sequestration
project is located. The department shall also publish notice of the
determination in a newspaper of general circulation in the county
or counties where the sequestration project is located. The
department shall issue a decision on the amendment not more than 14
days after publication of the notice and shall notify the
sequestration project owner of the decision.
(f) The department shall approve an amended sequestration
order if the department determines that the amendments meet the
requirements of section 62713(1) with respect to the underlying
sequestration order.
(4) If the department denies a request to amend a
sequestration order under subsection (1) or (3), the department
shall state the reasons for denial in an order provided to the
sequestration project owner.
Sec. 62721. (1) A person who owns or has an ownership interest in
pore space or oil, gas, or minerals may file a petition asserting that
carbon dioxide injected pursuant to a sequestration order has migrated
out of the predicted carbon dioxide plume area to occupy pore space in
the person's subsurface property and requesting that the sequestration
order be amended to expand the legal description of the lands
comprising the carbon dioxide plume area and the buffer zone
accordingly.
(2) The department shall determine whether the petition is
administratively complete, subject to section 62707(6) and (7). If the
petition is administratively complete, not more than 30 days after
receipt of the petition, the department shall determine if there is a
reasonable basis for the petition and shall notify the petitioner in
writing of its determination. If there is a reasonable basis for the
petition, the department shall grant the petitioner an evidentiary
hearing on the petition. Otherwise, the department shall deny the
petition.
(3) An evidentiary hearing shall be held not more than 90 days
after the department notifies the petitioner under subsection (2) that
there is a reasonable basis for the petition. The department shall
publish notice of the evidentiary hearing in a newspaper of general
circulation in the county or counties in which the sequestration
project is located and in an oil and gas industry publication if there
are operations for the extraction of oil or gas from the pore space
owned by the petitioner into which the carbon dioxide plume is alleged
to have migrated. Publication shall occur not less than 45 days before
the date of the hearing. The department shall also mail copies of the
notice to the county clerk and the clerk of the city or the township
and, if applicable, village where the geologic sequestration project
is to be located.
(4) If the department determines, after the evidentiary hearing,
that carbon dioxide injected pursuant to a sequestration order has
migrated out of the approved carbon dioxide plume area to occupy the
petitioner's subsurface property, the department shall grant the
petition. Otherwise, the department shall deny the petition. If the
department grants the petition, both of the following apply:
(a) The project owner shall acquire all of the necessary rights
to pore space or oil, gas, or minerals in the petitioner's tract by
title conveyance or other contractual arrangement, by eminent domain
as provided under section 62723, or as otherwise allowed by statute.
(b) The department may order sequestration operations modified or
suspended until the project owner has acquired the rights described in
subdivision (a).
(5) The administrative remedy provided by this section is the
exclusive remedy available to a person who asserts that the carbon
dioxide plume is occupying the pore space in the person's subsurface
property located outside the boundary of an approved carbon dioxide
plume area.
Sec. 62723. (1) The legislature finds that geologic
sequestration results in long-term storage of CO2, thereby reducing
man-made CO2 emissions to the atmosphere and the attendant adverse
atmospheric effects of these emissions on natural resources, the
environment, and public health and safety. Consequently, a
sequestration project is a public use of property. The project owner
under a sequestration order may acquire any of the following by
exercise of power of eminent domain:
(a) Necessary rights to use the pore space or to oil, gas, or
minerals in the sequestration zone.
(b) The right to use property and highway rights-of-way in this
state, but only to transport carbon dioxide by a pipeline or
pipelines, and to locate, lay, construct, maintain, and operate those
pipelines. The pipeline or pipelines shall be used exclusively for the
transmission, transportation, and distribution of carbon dioxide
within this state.
(2) Eminent domain under this section shall be exercised by
condemnation pursuant to the uniform condemnation procedures act of
1980, 1980 PA 87, MCL 213.51 to 213.75.
(3) Rights or interests a project owner acquires for a
sequestration project by title conveyance or other contractual
arrangement are not subject to the exercise of the power of eminent
domain under subsection (1) for a different sequestration project.
(4) This section does not alter any power of eminent domain that
exists under any other authority.
(5) None of the following may be taken by the exercise of the
power of eminent domain granted in this section:
(a) The right of an owner of oil, gas, or minerals or pore space
located above or below the sequestration zone to drill a well into
strata above or below the sequestration zone if that owner complies
with all of the applicable rules and regulations of the department.
(b) The right of the property owner to exercise interests in
property not acquired for the sequestration project within the borders
of the sequestration project.
(6) Any acquisition of property rights pursuant to this section
is a taking of private property for which just compensation is due.
Just compensation for property described in subsection (1)(a) is an
amount equal to the fair market value of the pore space or of valuable
oil, gas, and minerals contained within pore space taken on the date
of the exercise of eminent domain authority. In the absence of a
demonstration of an actual or reasonably foreseeable alternate use,
pore space within a sequestration facility has no compensable value.
(7) An action under this part, or under any rule promulgated or
order issued pursuant to this part, does not cause a sequestration
project owner to be a common carrier or a public utility for any
purpose whatsoever, or to be subject to any duties, obligations, or
liabilities as a common carrier or public utility.
(8) The department and its employees are neither necessary nor
indispensable parties to any condemnation proceeding under this
section, and if named as a party or third party, upon motion, shall be
dismissed from the action at the expense of the party who names the
department or any employee. The department shall be awarded all costs
reasonably incurred to be dismissed from the action, including
attorney fees.
Sec. 62725. (1) A sequestration project owner shall do all of
the following:
(a) Provide a copy of the contingency plan included in the
petition for the sequestration order to each emergency management
coordinator having jurisdiction over the surface of the geographic
area constituting the sequestration project.
(b) Conduct the sequestration operation in accordance with the
approved sequestration order.
(c) Conduct monitoring of the sequestration operation in
accordance with the provisions of the plan of operations.
(2) Compliance with the provisions of this part does not
relieve a sequestration project owner of the obligation to comply
with all other applicable state and federal law and, subject to
section 62743(5) and (6), local ordinances.
(3) A sequestration project owner shall monitor the
sequestration project for 20 years following permanent cessation of
subsurface injection of carbon dioxide. The department may reduce
the postclosure monitoring period upon request of the sequestration
project owner if the department determines that there is not a
significant risk that the sequestered carbon dioxide will endanger
natural resources, the environment, or public health and safety by
migrating outside the sequestration zone. The request shall be made
in writing not less than 6 months before the proposed postclosure
monitoring termination date and shall provide the department with
technical data and information demonstrating that additional
monitoring is not needed to ensure that there is not a significant
risk of endangerment of natural resources, the environment, or
public health and safety. The department shall give notice and
conduct an evidentiary hearing on the request in the same manner as
provided under section 62711.
Sec. 62727. (1) A sequestration project owner shall file a
biannual geologic sequestration report with the department on or
before March 15 and September 15 of each year of the sequestration
operation and postclosure monitoring period. The report due on or
before March 15 shall cover operations during the preceding July 1
to December 31. The report due on or before September 15 shall
cover operations during the preceding January 1 to June 30. The
geologic sequestration report shall contain all of the following:
(a) A description of the status of the sequestration project.
(b) An update of the contingency plan. The sequestration
project owner shall provide a copy of the update to the emergency
management coordinator.
(c) A report of monitoring results for the preceding 6-month
period.
(d) A report of the total tons of carbon dioxide injected into
the sequestration zone for each month of the preceding 6-month
period.
(e) A list of all sequestration wells plugged and abandoned
during the preceding 6-month period.
(f) A list of all sequestration wells drilled during the
preceding 6-month period.
(g) A list of all sequestration wells granted temporary
abandoned status under part 625 during the preceding 6-month
period.
(h) A list of the notifications under subsection (2) for the
preceding calendar year.
(2) A sequestration project owner shall notify the department
within 8 hours of learning of any incident, act of nature, or
exceedance of a permit standard or condition at a sequestration
project that endangers or has a significant risk to endanger
natural resources, the environment, or public health and safety.
(3) The sequestration project owner shall preserve records
upon which the geologic sequestration reports are based for 3
years. However, the project owner shall preserve records upon which
notifications under subsection (2) are based until the end of the
postclosure monitoring period. Records described in this subsection
shall be made available to the department upon request.
Sec. 62729. (1) At the end of the postclosure monitoring
period, the department shall inspect the sequestration project and
provide notice and hold a public hearing, in the same manner as
required under section 62709, on the question of issuing a
certificate of completion of the sequestration operation. The
department shall issue a certificate of completion of the
sequestration operation upon a showing by the sequestration project
owner of all of the following:
(a) There is not a significant risk that the sequestered
substance will endanger natural resources, the environment, or
public health and safety by migrating outside of the sequestration
zone.
(b) The sequestration operation has not resulted in any
ongoing conditions requiring correction or remediation.
(c) All wells that are part of the sequestration project have
been properly plugged and abandoned.
(d) All surface facilities associated with the sequestration
project have been removed, all underground pipelines removed or
capped, and the land restored to as near its original contours as
is reasonably practical, except as otherwise approved by the
department pursuant to a written request by the operator.
(2) The department shall publish a copy of the entire
certificate of completion in a newspaper of local distribution in
the area where the sequestration project is located.
Sec. 62731. (1) After a certificate of completion of the
sequestration operation is issued, all of the following apply:
(a) Subject to subsection (2), the sequestration project owner
is immune from liability in any civil or administrative action for
any damage caused by the sequestration operation to persons,
property, natural resources, the environment, or public health and
safety occurring after the date of issuance of the certificate of
completion.
(b) Any remaining financial assurance shall be released.
(c) The sequestration remediation fund created in section
62735 is intended as the sole source of public funding for
correction or remediation of conditions caused by the sequestration
operation.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, a
sequestration project owner is liable for any damage from the
sequestration operation that is proximately caused by either of the
following committed by or on behalf of the sequestration project
owner:
(a) Gross negligence.
(b) Intentional concealment or misrepresentation of material
facts.
(3) Damages or injunctive relief shall not be awarded to a
private claimant for a claim of nuisance or trespass related to the
injection into or presence in the sequestration zone of carbon
dioxide, or from the release of carbon dioxide from the
sequestration zone, unless, subject to subsection (1), the
plaintiff has incurred harm in addition to mere occupation of
subsurface property, the surface, or airspace above the surface.
Sec. 62733. (1) After a sequestration order becomes effective,
the department shall assess a sequestration project owner a
sequestration surveillance fee of not more than 15 cents per ton of
sequestered substance injected during the calendar year, as
reported under section 62727(1)(d), but not less than $50,000.00,
for each calendar year in which subsurface injection of carbon
dioxide occurs. Surveillance fees collected under this section
shall be forwarded to the state treasurer for deposit in the
sequestration administration fund created in subsection (6). The
surveillance fee rate shall be calculated each year as follows:
(a) The department shall calculate the adjusted appropriation
by deducting any unexpended money in the fund at the close of the
prior fiscal year from the amount appropriated for the current
fiscal year for surveillance, monitoring, administration, and
enforcement of this part.
(b) The department shall determine the total tons of carbon
dioxide injected by all sequestration operations in this state in
the prior calendar year.
(c) The fee rate shall be the ratio, to the nearest 1/100 of
1%, of the adjusted appropriation as determined under subdivision
(a) to the total tons of sequestered substance as determined under
subdivision (b).
(2) The sequestration surveillance fee described in subsection
(1) is due by 30 days after the department sends written notice to
the sequestration project owner of the amount due.
(3) A fine equal to 2% of the amount due, or $1,000.00,
whichever is greater, shall be assessed against the sequestration
project owner for a sequestration surveillance fee that is not paid
when due, for each full month the payment is overdue. The
department may file an action in the circuit court for Ingham
county to collect the unpaid fee and fine.
(4) If payment of the sequestration surveillance fee for a
sequestration project is overdue by more than 6 months, the
department may order the suspension of the sequestration operation
until the fee and all fines are paid.
(5) Fines paid pursuant to this section shall be deposited in
the sequestration administration fund.
(6) The sequestration administration fund is created within
the state treasury. The state treasurer may receive money or other
assets from any source for deposit into the sequestration
administration fund. The state treasurer shall direct the
investment of the sequestration administration fund. The state
treasurer shall credit to the sequestration administration fund
interest and earnings from sequestration administration fund
investments. Money in the sequestration administration fund at the
close of the fiscal year shall remain in the sequestration
administration fund and shall not lapse to the general fund. The
department shall be the sequestration administrator of the
sequestration administration fund for auditing purposes.
(7) The department shall expend money from the sequestration
administration fund, upon appropriation, only for surveillance,
monitoring, administration, and enforcement of this part.
Sec. 62735. (1) The sequestration remediation fund is created
within the state treasury.
(2) Fees collected under subsection (5) shall be deposited in
the sequestration remediation fund. The state treasurer may receive
money or other assets from any source for deposit into the
sequestration remediation fund. The state treasurer shall direct
the investment of the sequestration remediation fund. The state
treasurer shall credit to the a sequestration remediation fund
interest and earnings from sequestration remediation fund
investments. Money in the sequestration remediation fund at the
close of the fiscal year shall remain in the sequestration
remediation fund and shall not lapse to the general fund.
(3) The department shall be the administrator of the
sequestration remediation fund for auditing purposes.
(4) The department shall expend money from the sequestration
remediation fund, upon appropriation, only for correction or
remediation of physical conditions caused by a sequestration
operation that occur after issuance of the certificate of
completion under section 62729. An appropriation under this
subsection is an appropriation for a public purpose.
(5) A sequestration project owner shall pay a fee for each ton
of a sequestered substance injected after a sequestration order
becomes effective. Fees collected under this subsection shall be
deposited in the sequestration remediation fund.
(6) As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this
part, the department shall establish by rule the minimum and
maximum balance for the sequestration remediation fund, and the
amount of the fee required under subsection (5) to maintain a
sequestration remediation fund balance in that range, after taking
into account the following criteria:
(a) The estimated quantity of carbon dioxide to be injected
annually by all sequestration operations in the state.
(b) The likelihood of an incident resulting in liability.
(c) The likely dollar value of any damages relating to an
incident.
(d) Other factors relating to the risk of sequestration
projects.
(e) The effect of the fee on commercial and economic viability
of sequestration of carbon dioxide.
(7) The department shall review and if appropriate adjust the
minimum and maximum sequestration remediation fund balance at least
every 5 years to ensure that the balance is sufficient to meet the
potential need for payments from the remediation fund.
(8) The geologic sequestration advisory board is created
within the department. The board shall consist of the following
members:
(a) The following members appointed by the governor:
(i) 1 member representing an organization of intrastate gas
pipeline operators.
(ii) 1 member that is a carbon sequestration researcher or
geologist.
(iii) 1 member representing an environmental protection
organization.
(b) The following members appointed by the senate majority
leader:
(i) 1 member representing the Michigan oil and gas industry.
(ii) 1 member who is an engineer specializing in carbon
sequestration.
(c) The following members appointed by the speaker of the
house of representatives:
(i) 1 member representing the natural gas storage industry.
(ii) 1 member who is an actuary.
(d) The following ex officio members:
(i) The director of the department or his or her designee.
(ii) The manager of the operations and wholesale market
division, or a successor division, of the Michigan public service
commission.
(iii) The state treasurer or his or her designee, as a nonvoting
member.
(9) The members first appointed to the geologic sequestration
advisory board shall be appointed within 30 days after the
effective date of this section. Members of the board shall serve
for terms of 4 years or until a successor is appointed, whichever
is later, except that the member first appointed under subsection
(8)(a)(ii) shall serve for 1 year, the members first appointed under
subsection (8)(b)(i) and (c)(i) shall serve for 2 years, and the
members first appointed under subsection (8)(b)(ii) and (c)(ii) shall
serve for 3 years. If a vacancy occurs on the board, the vacancy
shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term in the same
manner as the original appointment. The officer appointing a member
of the board may remove the member for incompetency, dereliction of
duty, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or any
other good cause.
(10) The first meeting of the geologic sequestration advisory
board shall be called by the director of the department. At the
first meeting, the board shall elect from among its members a
chairperson and other officers as it considers necessary or
appropriate. After the first meeting, the board shall meet at least
annually, or more frequently at the call of the chairperson or if
requested by 2 or more members. A majority of the members of the
board constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at a
meeting of the board. A majority of the members present and serving
are required for official action of the board.
(11) The business that the geologic sequestration advisory
board performs shall be conducted at a public meeting of the board
held in compliance with the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL
15.261 to 15.275. A writing prepared, owned, used, in the
possession of, or retained by the board in the performance of an
official function is subject to the freedom of information act,
1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
(12) Members of the geologic sequestration advisory board
shall serve without compensation. However, members of the board may
be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in
the performance of their official duties as members of the board.
(13) The geologic sequestration advisory board shall make
recommendations to the department on all of the following:
(a) The fees to be established under this section.
(b) The minimum and maximum sequestration remediation fund
balance.
(c) Management of the sequestration remediation fund.
(14) The department shall consider the recommendations of the
geologic sequestration advisory board and shall explain the reasons
in writing if recommendations of the board are not adopted.
Sec. 62737. (1) This part does not apply to the use of carbon
dioxide as a part of or in conjunction with any secondary recovery
project approved by the department under part 615 or part 617, or
both, and any consequential geologic sequestration, if the primary
purpose of the project is secondary oil or gas recovery.
(2) The department may promulgate rules to allow conversion or
expansion of an existing secondary recovery project approved under
part 615 or part 617, or both, into a sequestration project. Upon
approval of a conversion or expansion of a secondary recovery
project, this part applies to the project.
Sec. 62739. (1) If the department determines that a
sequestration project owner has violated this part, a rule
promulgated under this part, or a sequestration order issued under
this part, the department shall order the sequestration project
owner to correct the violation.
(2) If the department determines that the sequestration
project owner has violated this part, a rule promulgated under this
part, or an order issued under this part, and that the violation is
endangering or that there is a significant risk that the violation
will endanger natural resources, the environment, or public health
and safety, the department shall serve notice by registered mail or
in person of this determination, in writing, to the project owner
and to any surety executing a bond filed with the department by the
project owner. The notice shall specify actions necessary to
remediate the violation. If the project owner and surety fail to
take the actions described in the notice of determination as soon
as practicable but not later than 30 days after the date of
service, the department may enter into and upon any private or
public property necessary to reach the site of the sequestration
project, and take actions necessary to remediate the violation. The
project owner and surety are jointly and severally liable for all
expenses incurred by the department for remediation under this
section. The project owner or surety shall pay within 30 days any
claim submitted by the department listing the expenses incurred to
remediate the violation. If a claim is not paid within that time,
the department may bring a suit against the project owner or
surety, jointly or severally, to collect the claim in any court of
competent jurisdiction. A person challenging the recovery of costs
under this subsection has the burden of establishing that the costs
were not reasonably incurred under the circumstances.
(3) This section does not require a surety to pay more than
its obligations under the applicable surety instrument.
(4) A finding of significant endangerment under this section
does not provide a basis for a finding of an imminent and
substantial endangerment or a similar finding under any other
provision of law.
(5) If the department finds that emergency action is required
to protect natural resources, the environment, or public health and
safety, the department may issue an emergency order without a
hearing to require a sequestration project owner to suspend the
sequestration operation or to take other corrective actions. An
emergency order shall remain in force and effect for not more than
21 days.
(6) If a sequestration project owner fails to comply with an
order under subsection (1), the department may request the attorney
general to commence a civil action for appropriate relief,
including a permanent or temporary injunction, for a violation of
this part, a rule promulgated under this part, or an order issued
under this part. An action under this subsection may be brought in
the circuit court for the county of Ingham or for the county in
which the defendant is located, resides, or is doing business. The
court has jurisdiction to restrain the violation and to require
compliance. In addition to any other relief granted under this
section, the court may impose a civil fine of not less than
$2,500.00, and the court may award reasonable attorney fees and
costs to the prevailing party. The maximum fine imposed by the
court shall be not more than $25,000.00 per day of violation.
(7) The attorney general may file a civil suit in a court of
competent jurisdiction to recover, in addition to a fine under
subsection (6), the full value of the injuries done to the natural
resources of this state and the costs of surveillance and
enforcement by this state resulting from the violation.
(8) A civil fine or other civil award imposed under this
section is payable to this state and shall be credited to the
general fund. The fine constitutes a lien on any property, of any
nature or kind, owned by the defendant.
Sec. 62741. A person who intentionally makes a false
statement, representation, or certification in a petition for a
sequestration project under this part or in a notice or report
required under this part or under a sequestration order is guilty
of a felony and may be imprisoned for not more than 2 years and
shall be fined not less than $2,500.00 or more than $25,000.00 for
each violation.
Sec. 62743. (1) The department has jurisdiction and authority
over all persons and property necessary to administer and enforce
effectively the provisions of this part.
(2) The department may promulgate rules and issue orders as
may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this part.
(3) The department may enter at all reasonable times in or
upon a sequestration project subject to this part for the purpose
of inspecting and investigating operating records, sequestration
wells, and facilities of a sequestration project. The department
shall conduct an inspection and investigation at least annually.
(4) The department may enter into cooperative agreements with
the federal government or other state governments or state
government entities to regulate sequestration projects that extend
beyond state regulatory authority under this part.
(5) A local unit of government shall not enact, maintain, or
enforce an ordinance, regulation, or resolution that duplicates,
contradicts, exceeds, or conflicts with a provision of this part,
except that an ordinance may regulate aboveground elements of the
sequestration operation or sequestration project to protect public
health and safety.
(6) A sequestration operation or sequestration project that
has been approved by a sequestration project order is not subject
to an ordinance adopted under the Michigan zoning enabling act,
2006 PA 110, MCL 125.3101 to 125.3702.
(7) A carbon dioxide injection project designed to gather data
or as a pilot or feasibility study of geologic sequestration that
injects not more than 2,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide is not
subject to this part, if the owner or operator of the project
complies with all applicable provisions of part 615 and part 625,
as appropriate, and pursuant to those parts, obtains the approval
of the department for construction and operation of the project.
The project may at any time be considered for conversion into a
sequestration project subject to this part, on a prospective basis,
upon filing a petition pursuant to section 62707.
Sec. 62745. This part shall be construed liberally to
effectuate the legislative intent and the purposes as complete and
independent authority for each act and thing authorized by this
part, and all powers granted shall be broadly interpreted to
effectuate the intent and purposes and not as a limitation of
powers.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 4399(request no.
01871'11) of the 96th Legislature is enacted into law.