Bill Text: MI HB6010 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Natural resources; wetlands; minimum size of wetlands subject to regulation; reduce. Amends secs. 30301 & 30307 of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.30301 & 324.30307).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-11-10 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 11/09/2016 [HB6010 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2015-HB6010-Introduced.html

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HOUSE BILL No. 6010

 

 

November 9, 2016, Introduced by Rep. Howrylak 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 30301 and 30307 (MCL 324.30301 and 324.30307),

 

section 30301 as amended by 2012 PA 247 and section 30307 as

 

amended by 2006 PA 430.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 30301. (1) As used in this part:

 

     (a) "Department" means the department of environmental

 

quality.

 

     (b) "Director" means the director of the department.

 

     (c) "Exceptional wetland" means wetland that provides physical

 

or biological functions essential to the natural resources of the

 

this state and that may be lost or degraded if not preserved

through an approved site protection and management plan for the

 

purposes of providing compensatory wetland mitigation.

 

     (d) "Fill material" means soil, rocks, sand, waste of any

 

kind, or any other material that displaces soil or water or reduces

 

water retention potential.

 

     (e) "Landscape level wetland assessment" means the use of

 

aerial photographs, maps, and other remotely sensed information to

 

predict and evaluate wetland characteristics and functions in the

 

context of all of the following:

 

     (i) The wetland's landscape position and hydrologic

 

characteristics.

 

     (ii) The surrounding landscape.

 

     (iii) The historic extent and condition of the wetland.

 

     (f) "Minor drainage" includes ditching and tiling for the

 

removal of excess soil moisture incidental to the planting,

 

cultivating, protecting, or harvesting of crops or improving the

 

productivity of land in established use for agriculture,

 

horticulture, silviculture, or lumbering.

 

     (g) "Nationwide permit" means a nationwide permit issued by

 

the United States army corps Army Corps of engineers Engineers

 

under 72 FR 11091 11092 to 11198 (March 12, 2007), including all

 

general conditions, regional conditions, and conditions imposed by

 

this state pursuant to a water quality certification under section

 

401 of title IV of the federal water pollution control act, 33 USC

 

1341, or a coastal zone management consistency determination under

 

section 307 of the coastal zone management act of 1972, 16 USC

 

1456.

     (h) "Ordinary high-water mark" means the ordinary high-water

 

mark as specified in section 32502.

 

     (i) "Person" means an individual, sole proprietorship,

 

partnership, corporation, association, municipality, this state, an

 

instrumentality or agency of this state, the federal government, an

 

instrumentality or agency of the federal government, or other legal

 

entity.

 

     (j) "Rapid wetland assessment" means a method for generally

 

assessing the functions, values, and condition of individual

 

wetlands based on existing data and field indicators.

 

     (k) "Rare and imperiled wetland" means any of the following:

 

     (i) Great Lakes marsh.

 

     (ii) Southern wet meadow.

 

     (iii) Inland salt marsh.

 

     (iv) Intermittent wetland or boggy seepage wetland.

 

     (v) Coastal plain marsh.

 

     (vi) Interdunal wetland.

 

     (vii) Lakeplain wet prairie.

 

     (viii) Lakeplain wet-mesic prairie.

 

     (ix) Northern wet-mesic prairie.

 

     (x) Wet-mesic prairie.

 

     (xi) Wet prairie.

 

     (xii) Prairie fen.

 

     (xiii) Northern fen.

 

     (xiv) Patterned fen.

 

     (xv) Poor fen.

 

     (xvi) Muskeg.

     (xvii) Rich conifer swamp.

 

     (xviii) Relict conifer swamp.

 

     (xix) Hardwood-conifer swamp.

 

     (xx) Northern swamp.

 

     (xxi) Southern swamp.

 

     (xxii) Southern floodplain forest.

 

     (xxiii) Inundated shrub swamp.

 

     (l) "Water dependent" means requiring access or proximity to

 

or siting within an aquatic site to fulfill its basic purpose.

 

     (m) "Wetland" means land characterized by the presence of

 

water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that

 

under normal circumstances does support, wetland vegetation or

 

aquatic life, and is commonly referred to as a bog, swamp, or

 

marsh, and which is any of the following:

 

     (i) Contiguous to the Great Lakes or Lake St. Clair, an inland

 

lake or pond, or a river or stream.

 

     (ii) Not contiguous to the Great Lakes, an inland lake or

 

pond, or a river or stream; and more More than 5 4 acres in size.

 

     (iii) Not contiguous to the Great Lakes, an inland lake or

 

pond, or a river or stream; and 5 acres or less in size if

 

Determined by the department determines that protection of the to

 

be an area the protection of which is essential to the preservation

 

of the natural resources of the this state from pollution,

 

impairment, or destruction and the department has so notified the

 

owner.

 

     (2) The department and local units of government shall apply

 

the technical wetland delineation standards set forth in the United

States army corps of engineers Army Corps of Engineers January 1987

 

wetland delineation manual, technical report Y-87-1, and

 

appropriate regional United States army corps of engineers Army

 

Corps of Engineers supplements, in identifying wetland boundaries

 

under this part, including, but not limited to, section 30307.

 

     Sec. 30307. (1) Within 60 days after receipt of the completed

 

application and fee under section 30306, the department may hold a

 

hearing. If a hearing is held, it shall be held in the county where

 

the wetland to which the permit is to apply is located. Notice of

 

the hearing shall be made in the same manner as for the

 

promulgation of rules under the administrative procedures act of

 

1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328. The department may approve

 

or disapprove a permit application without a public hearing unless

 

a person requests a hearing in writing within 20 days after the

 

mailing of notification of the permit application as required by

 

subsection (3) or unless the department determines that the permit

 

application is of significant impact so as to warrant a public

 

hearing.

 

     (2) The action taken by the department on a permit application

 

under this part and part 13 may be appealed pursuant to the

 

administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to

 

24.328. A property owner may, after exhaustion of administrative

 

remedies, bring appropriate legal action in a court of competent

 

jurisdiction.

 

     (3) A person who desires notification of pending permit

 

applications may make a written request to the department

 

accompanied by an annual fee of $25.00, which shall be credited to

the general fund of the state. The department shall prepare a

 

biweekly list of the applications made during the previous 2 weeks

 

and shall promptly mail copies of the list for the remainder of the

 

calendar year to the persons who requested notice. The biweekly

 

list shall state the name and address of each applicant, the

 

location of the wetland in the proposed use or development,

 

including the size of both the proposed use or development and of

 

the wetland affected, and a summary statement of the purpose of the

 

use or development.

 

     (4) A local unit of government may regulate wetland within its

 

boundaries, by ordinance, only as provided under this part. This

 

subsection is supplemental to the existing authority of a local

 

unit of government. An ordinance adopted by a local unit of

 

government pursuant to this subsection shall comply with all of the

 

following:

 

     (a) The ordinance shall not provide a different definition of

 

wetland than is provided in this part, except that a wetland

 

ordinance may regulate wetland of less than 5 4 acres in size.

 

     (b) If the ordinance regulates wetland that is smaller than 2

 

acres in size, the ordinance shall comply with section 30309.

 

     (c) The ordinance shall comply with sections 30308 and 30310.

 

     (d) The ordinance shall not require a permit for uses that are

 

authorized without a permit under section 30305, and shall

 

otherwise comply with this part.

 

     (5) Each local unit of government that adopts an ordinance

 

regulating wetlands under subsection (4) shall notify the

 

department.

     (6) A local unit of government that adopts an ordinance

 

regulating wetlands shall use an application form supplied by the

 

department, and each person applying for a permit shall make

 

application directly to the local unit of government. Upon receipt,

 

the local unit of government shall forward a copy of each

 

application along with any state fees that may have been submitted

 

under section 30306 to the department. The department shall begin

 

reviewing the application as provided in this part. The local unit

 

of government shall review the application pursuant to its

 

ordinance and shall modify, approve, approve with modifications, or

 

deny the application within 90 days after receipt. If a local unit

 

of government does not approve or disapprove deny the permit

 

application within the time period provided by this subsection, the

 

permit application shall be is considered to be approved, and the

 

local unit of government shall be is considered to have made the

 

determinations as listed in section 30311. The denial of a permit

 

shall be accompanied by a written statement of all reasons for

 

denial. The failure to supply complete information with a permit

 

application may be reason for denial of a permit. If requested, the

 

department shall inform a person whether or not a local unit of

 

government has an ordinance regulating wetlands. If the department

 

receives an application with respect to a wetland located in a

 

local unit of government that has an ordinance regulating wetlands,

 

the department immediately shall forward the application to the

 

local unit of government, which shall modify, deny, or approve,

 

approve with modifications, or deny the application under this

 

subsection. The local unit of government shall notify the

department of its decision. The department shall proceed as

 

provided in this part.

 

     (7) If a local unit of government does not have an ordinance

 

regulating wetlands, the department shall promptly send a copy of

 

the permit application to the local unit of government where the

 

wetland is located. The local unit of government may review the

 

application; may hold a hearing on the application; may recommend

 

approval, approval with modification, or denial of the application

 

to the department or may notify the department that the local unit

 

of government declines to make a recommendation. The recommendation

 

of the local unit of government, if any, shall be made and returned

 

to the department at any time within 45 days after the local unit

 

of government's receipt of the permit application.

 

     (8) In addition to the requirements of subsection (7), the

 

department shall notify the local unit of government that the

 

department has issued a permit under this part for an activity

 

within the jurisdiction of that local unit of government within 15

 

days of issuance of the permit. The department shall enclose a copy

 

of the permit with the notice.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.