Bill Text: MI HB5902 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Environmental protection; water pollution; incentives for development of green infrastructure relating to storm water management systems; provide for. Amends secs. 5301 & 5303 of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.5301 & 324.5303).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-11-12 - Printed Bill Filed 11/07/2014 [HB5902 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2013-HB5902-Introduced.html

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE BILL No. 5902

 

November 6, 2014, Introduced by Reps. Townsend, Durhal and Switalski and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources.

 

     A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled

 

"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"

 

by amending sections 5301 and 5303 (MCL 324.5301 and 324.5303), as

 

amended by 2012 PA 560.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 5301. As used in this part:

 

     (a) "Assistance" means 1 or more of the following activities

 

to the extent authorized by the federal water pollution control

 

act:

 

     (i) Provision of loans to municipalities for construction of

 

sewage treatment works projects, stormwater treatment projects, or

 

nonpoint source projects.

 

     (ii) Project refinancing assistance.

 

     (iii) The guarantee or purchase of insurance for local

 

obligations, if the guarantee or purchase action would improve

 

credit market access or reduce interest rates.

 

     (iv) Use of the proceeds of the fund as a source of revenue or

 

security for the payment of principal and interest on revenue or

 

general obligation bonds issued by this state, if the proceeds of

 

the sale of the bonds will be deposited into the fund.

 

     (v) Provision of loan guarantees for similar revolving funds

 

established by municipalities.

 

     (vi) The use of deposited funds to earn interest on fund

 

accounts.

 

     (vii) Provision for reasonable costs of administering and

 

conducting activities under title VI of the federal water pollution

 

control act, 33 USC 1381 to 1387.

 

     (b) "Authority" means the Michigan municipal bond authority

 

created in the shared credit rating act, 1985 PA 227, MCL 141.1051

 

to 141.1076.

 

     (c) "Capitalization grant" means the federal grant made to

 

this state by the United States environmental protection agency for

 

the purpose of establishing a state water pollution control

 

revolving fund, as provided in title VI of the federal water

 

pollution control act, 33 USC 1381 to 1387.

 

     (d) "Construction activities" means any actions undertaken in

 

the planning, designing, or building of sewage treatment works

 

projects, stormwater treatment projects, or nonpoint source

 

projects. Construction activities include, but are not limited to,

 

all of the following:

 

     (i) Project planning services.

 

     (ii) Engineering Design and engineering services.

 

     (iii) Legal services.

 

     (iv) Financial services.

 

     (v) Design of plans and specifications.

 

     (vi) Acquisition of land, or plants, landscaping materials, and

 

structural components. , or both.

 

     (vii) Building, erection, alteration, remodeling, renovation,

 

or extension of a sewage treatment works.

 

     (viii) Building, erection, alteration, remodeling, renovation,

 

or extension of projects designed to control nonpoint source

 

pollution, consistent with section 319 of title III of the federal

 

water pollution control act, 33 USC 1329.

 

     (ix) Building, erection, alteration, or remodeling renovation

 

of a stormwater treatment project.

 

     (x) Municipal supervision of the project activities described

 

in subparagraphs (i) to (ix).

 

     (e) "Disadvantaged community" means a municipality in which

 

all of the following conditions are met:

 

     (i) Users within the area served by a proposed sewage treatment

 

works project or stormwater treatment project are directly assessed

 

for the costs of construction.

 

     (ii) The median household income of the area served by a

 

proposed sewage treatment works project or stormwater treatment

 

project does not exceed 120% of the statewide median annual

 

household income for Michigan.

 

     (iii) The municipality demonstrates at least 1 of the following:

 

     (A) More than 50% of the area served by a proposed sewage

 

treatment works project or stormwater treatment project is

 

identified as a poverty area by the United States bureau of census.

 

     (B) The median annual household income of the area served by a

 

proposed sewage treatment works project or stormwater treatment

 

project is less than the most recently published federal poverty

 

guidelines for a family of 4 in the 48 contiguous United States. In

 

determining the median annual household income of the area served

 

by the proposed sewage treatment works project or stormwater

 

treatment project under this sub-subparagraph, the municipality

 

shall utilize the most recently published statistics from the

 

United States bureau of the census, updated to reflect current

 

dollars, for the community which most closely approximates the area

 

being served by the project.

 

     (C) The median annual household income of the area served by a

 

proposed sewage treatment works project or stormwater treatment

 

project is less than the most recently published statewide median

 

annual household income for this state, and annual user costs for

 

sewage treatment or stormwater treatment exceed 1% of the median

 

annual household income of the area served by the proposed sewage

 

treatment works project or stormwater treatment project.

 

     (D) The median annual household income of the area served by a

 

proposed sewage treatment works project or stormwater treatment

 

project is not greater than 120% of the statewide median annual

 

household income for this state, and annual Annual user costs for

 

sewage treatment or stormwater treatment exceed 3% of the median

 

annual household income of the area served by the proposed project.

 

     (f) "Federal water pollution control act" means 33 USC 1251 to

 

1387.

 

     (g) "Fund" means the state water pollution control revolving

 

fund established under the shared credit rating act, 1985 PA 227,

 

MCL 141.1051 to 141.1076, established pursuant to title VI of the

 

federal water pollution control act.

 

     (h) "Fundable range" means those projects, taken in descending

 

order on the priority lists, for which sufficient funds are

 

estimated by the department to exist to provide assistance at the

 

beginning of each annual funding cycle.

 

     (i) "Low-impact development" means land development designed

 

to mimic a site's presettlement hydrology without exacerbating

 

downstream flooding or stream channel instability by using

 

spatially distributed, decentralized, small scale controls that

 

infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain storm water close

 

to its source.

 

     (j) (i) "Municipality" means a city, village, county,

 

township, authority, or other public body, including an

 

intermunicipal agency of 2 or more municipalities, authorized or

 

created under state law; or an Indian tribe that has jurisdiction

 

over construction and operation of sewage treatment works or other

 

projects qualifying under section 319 of title III of the federal

 

water pollution control act, 33 USC 1329.

 

     (k) (j) "Nonpoint source project" means construction

 

activities designed to reduce nonpoint source pollution consistent

 

with the state nonpoint source management plan pursuant to section

 

319 of title III of the federal water pollution control act, 33 USC

 

1329.

 

     (l) (k) "Priority list" means the annual ranked listing of

 

projects developed by the department in section 5303. or used by

 

the department pursuant to section 5315.

 

     (m) (l) "Project" means a sewage treatment works project, a

 

stormwater treatment project, or a nonpoint source project, or a

 

combination of these.

 

     (n) (m) "Project refinancing assistance" means buying or

 

refinancing the debt obligations of municipalities within the state

 

if construction activities commenced after March 7, 1985 and the

 

debt obligation was incurred after March 7, 1985.

 

     (o) (n) "Sewage treatment works project" means construction

 

activities on any device or system for the treatment, storage,

 

collection, conveyance, recycling, or reclamation of the sewage of

 

a municipality, including combined sewer overflow correction and

 

major rehabilitation of sewers.

 

     (p) (o) "Stormwater treatment project" means construction

 

activities of a municipality on any device or system for the

 

treatment, storage, recycling, or reclamation of storm water that

 

is conveyed by a storm sewer that is separate from a sanitary

 

sewer.

 

     (q) (p) "Tier I project" means a project for which assistance

 

is sought or provided from funds made directly available from the

 

federal capitalization grant or from the Great Lakes water quality

 

bond fund pursuant to section 19708(1)(a).

 

     (r) (q) "Tier II project" means a project for which assistance

 

is sought or provided from funds other than those made directly

 

available from the federal capitalization grant or from the Great

 

Lakes water quality bond fund pursuant to section 19708(1)(a).

 

     Sec. 5303. (1) Municipalities shall consider and utilize,

 

where possible, cooperative regional or intermunicipal projects in

 

satisfying sewerage needs in the development of project plans.

 

     (2) A municipality may submit a project plan for use by the

 

department in developing a priority list.

 

     (3) The project plan for a tier I project shall include

 

documentation that demonstrates that the project is needed to

 

assure maintenance of, or to progress toward, compliance with the

 

federal water pollution control act or part 31, and to meet the

 

minimum requirements of the national environmental policy act of

 

1969, Public Law 91-190, 42 USC 4321 , 4331 to 4335, and 4341 to

 

4347. The documentation shall demonstrate all of the following:

 

     (a) The need for the project.

 

     (b) That feasible alternatives to the project were evaluated

 

taking into consideration volume reduction opportunities and the

 

demographic, topographic, hydrologic, and institutional

 

characteristics of the area.

 

     (c) That the project is cost effective and implementable from

 

a legal, institutional, financial, and management standpoint.

 

     (d) Other information as required by the department.

 

     (4) The project plan for a tier II project shall include

 

documentation that demonstrates that the project is or was needed

 

to assure maintenance of or progress towards compliance with the

 

federal water pollution control act or part 31, and is consistent

 

with all applicable state environmental laws. The documentation

 

shall include all of the following information:

 

     (a) Information to demonstrate the need for the project.

 

     (b) A showing that the cost of the project is or was

 

justified, taking into account available alternatives. Those costs

 

determined by the department to be in excess of those costs

 

justified are not eligible for assistance under this part.

 

     (5) After notice and an opportunity for public comment, the

 

department shall annually develop separate priority lists for

 

sewage treatment works projects and stormwater treatment projects,

 

for nonpoint source projects, and for projects funded under the

 

strategic water quality initiatives fund created in section 5204.

 

Projects not funded during the time that a priority list developed

 

under this section is in effect shall be automatically prioritized

 

on the next annual list using the same criteria, unless the

 

municipality submits an amendment to its plan that introduces new

 

information to be used as the basis for prioritization. These

 

priority lists shall be based upon project plans submitted by

 

municipalities, and the following criteria:

 

     (a) That a project complies with all applicable standards in

 

part 31 and the federal water pollution control act.

 

     (b) An application for a segment of a project that received

 

funds under the title II construction grant program under title II

 

of the federal water pollution control act or title VI state

 

revolving loan funds under title VI of the federal water pollution

 

control act or revenue from the strategic water quality initiatives

 

fund created in section 5204 shall be first priority on its

 

respective priority list for funding for a period of not more than

 

3 years after funds were first committed under those programs.

 

     (c) After sewage treatment works projects and stormwater

 

treatment projects have been ranked, for stormwater treatment

 

projects that have equal ranking, the first priority on the

 

priority list shall be those projects that do 1 or more of the

 

following:

 

     (i) Substantially rely on the utilization of low-impact

 

development.

 

     (ii) Substantially rely on the restoration or creation of

 

native habitat.

 

     (iii) Assist in making progress in total maximum daily load

 

compliance or removal of waters from the impaired waters list under

 

33 USC 1313(d).

 

     (d) (c) If the project is a sewage treatment works project or

 

a stormwater treatment project, all of the following criteria:

 

     (i) The severity of the water pollution problem to be

 

addressed, maximizing progress towards restoring beneficial uses

 

and meeting water quality standards.

 

     (ii) A determination of whether a project is or was necessary

 

to comply with an order, permit, or other document with an

 

enforceable schedule for addressing a municipality's sewage-related

 

water pollution problems that was issued by the department or

 

entered as part of an action brought by the state against the

 

municipality or any component of the municipality. A municipality

 

may voluntarily agree to an order, permit, or other document with

 

an enforceable schedule as described in this subparagraph.

 

     (iii) The population to be served by the project. However, the

 

criterion provided in this subparagraph shall not be applied to

 

projects funded by the strategic water quality initiatives fund

 

created in section 5204.

 

     (iv) The dilution ratio existing between the discharge volume

 

and the receiving stream.

 

     (v) If the project is within a disadvantaged community, a

 

maximum of 50 points shall be awarded to the project in the manner

 

that points are awarded in rules promulgated under this part.

 

     (e) (d) If the project is a sewage treatment works project,

 

100 priority points shall be awarded pursuant to R 323.958 of the

 

Michigan administrative code for each of the following that apply

 

to the project:

 

     (i) The project addresses on-site septic systems that are

 

adversely affecting the water quality of a water body or represent

 

a threat to public health, provided that and soil and hydrologic

 

conditions are not suitable for the replacement of those on-site

 

septic systems.

 

     (ii) The project includes the construction of facilities for

 

the acceptance or treatment of septage collected from on-site

 

septic systems.

 

     (f) (e) Rankings for nonpoint source projects shall be

 

consistent with the state nonpoint source management plan developed

 

pursuant to section 319 of title III of the federal water pollution

 

control act, chapter 758, 101 Stat. 52, 33 USC 1329.

 

     (g) (f) Any other criteria established by the department by

 

rule.

 

     (6) The priority list shall be submitted annually to the chair

 

of the senate and house of representatives standing committees that

 

primarily consider legislation pertaining to the protection of

 

natural resources and the environment.

 

     (7) For purposes of providing assistance, the priority list

 

shall take effect on the first day of each fiscal year.

 

     (8) This section does not limit other actions undertaken to

 

enforce part 31, the federal water pollution control act, or any

 

other act.

 

     (9) As used in this section, "on-site septic system" means

 

that term as defined in section 5201.