Bill Text: MI SB0509 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Natural resources; nonnative species; aquatic invasive species advisory council; create, and require recommendations on DEQ AIS management plan. Amends 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.101 - 324.90106) by adding pt. 414. TIE BAR WITH: SB 0508'11, SB 0510'11
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 17-5)
Status: (Passed) 2011-12-28 - Assigned Pa 0285'11 With Immediate Effect [SB0509 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-SB0509-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 509
June 21, 2011, Introduced by Senators WALKER, CASPERSON, HANSEN, MOOLENAAR, BOOHER, ROCCA, PAPPAGEORGE, MARLEAU, SCHUITMAKER, PROOS, WARREN, HOPGOOD, BIEDA, SMITH, YOUNG, CASWELL, GREEN, MEEKHOF, NOFS, KOWALL, JANSEN and JONES and referred to the Committee on Outdoor Recreation and Tourism.
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
(MCL 324.101 to 324.90106) by adding part 414.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
PART 414 AQUATIC Invasive Species Advisory Council
Sec. 41403. The legislature finds all of the following:
(a) The waters of the Great Lakes basin are precious public
natural resources shared and held in trust by the Great Lakes
states and provinces.
(b) The waters of the Great Lakes basin are interconnected and
part of a single hydrologic system.
(c) The Great Lakes basin can concurrently serve multiple
uses, such as municipal, public, industrial, commercial,
agriculture, mining, navigation, energy development and production,
recreation, fishing, tourism, the subsistence, economic and
cultural activities of native peoples, water quality maintenance,
and the maintenance of fish and wildlife habitat and a balanced
ecosystem.
(d) The Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces have a
shared duty to protect, conserve, restore, improve, and manage the
Great Lakes for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of all their
citizens, including generations yet to come. The most effective
means of protecting, conserving, restoring, improving, and managing
the Great Lakes is through the joint pursuit of unified and
cooperative principles, policies, and programs mutually agreed
upon, enacted, and adhered to by the Great Lakes states and by the
Great Lakes Canadian provinces.
(e) AIS are a threat to public health and safety, the
environment and natural resources, and the economy. AIS are a
serious threat to the ecological integrity and uses of the Great
Lakes.
(f) Over 180 AIS have become established in the Great Lakes,
not including microbes. Ballast water discharge is a major source
of introduction of AIS.
(g) Trade, including the aquarium, bait, pet, water garden,
horticulture, aquaculture, shipping, and tourism trades, has been
identified as a major potential vector of AIS introduction and
spread, through purposeful or incidental buying, selling, and
transport. The overall goal of this state's AIS prevention efforts
is to close the open pathways for AIS.
(h) This state's aquatic invasive species management plan
provides a strategy to prevent and control AIS in waters of this
state, including the Great Lakes. The plan, last updated in 2002,
is being updated by the departments of environmental quality,
natural resources, and agriculture and rural development to ensure
that it provides a comprehensive approach to AIS including ballast
water treatment standards and other AIS prevention, AIS monitoring,
and AIS control and eradication, including rapid response to new
AIS infestations.
(i) This state can effectively address the threat posed by AIS
by updating and implementing a comprehensive AIS management plan,
developing and adopting model programs to address AIS, and working
cooperatively with other Great Lakes states and provinces to ensure
a coordinated and consistent response to AIS.
Sec. 41405. (1) The aquatic invasive species advisory council
is created within the department of environmental quality.
(2) The council shall consist of the following:
(a) The director of the department of environmental quality or
his or her designee.
(b) The director of the department of natural resources or his
or her designee.
(c) The director of the department of agriculture and rural
development or his or her designee.
(d) The director of the state transportation department or his
or her designee.
(e) The attorney general or his or her designee.
(f) The following members appointed by the governor:
(i) A representative of the United States department of the
interior, national park service.
(ii) A representative of an association of Great Lakes shipping
companies.
(iii) A representative of the horticulture industry.
(g) The following members appointed by the senate majority
leader:
(i) A representative of a statewide private conservation
organization.
(ii) A representative of the Great Lakes commission.
(iii) A representative of a statewide association of businesses.
(iv) A representative of an association of Indian tribes.
(h) The following members appointed by the speaker of the
house of representatives:
(i) A representative of a regional or national private
conservation organization.
(ii) A representative of an association of industries in the
Great Lakes region.
(iii) A representative of a public utility.
(iv) A representative of a statewide association of local units
of government.
(3) The members first appointed to the council shall be
appointed within 30 days after the effective date of this section.
Members of the council shall serve for the life of the council.
(4) If a vacancy occurs on the council, the vacancy shall be
filled in the same manner as the original appointment was made. The
appointing officer may remove a member of the council for
incompetence, dereliction of duty, malfeasance, misfeasance, or
nonfeasance in office, or any other good cause.
(5) The first meeting of the council shall be called by the
director of the department of environmental quality or his or her
designee. At the first meeting, the council shall elect from among
its members a chairperson and other officers as it considers
necessary or appropriate. After the first meeting, the council
shall meet at least quarterly, or more frequently at the call of
the chairperson or if requested by 3 or more members.
(6) A majority of the members of the council constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business at a meeting of the council.
The council may adopt bylaws governing its organization and
procedure. Unless otherwise provided in its bylaws, a majority of
the members present and serving are required for official action of
the council.
(7) The business that the council may perform shall be
conducted at a public meeting of the council held in compliance
with the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275.
(8) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or
retained by the council in the performance of an official function
is subject to the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL
15.231 to 15.246.
(9) Members of the council shall serve without additional
compensation. However, members of the council may be reimbursed for
their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of
their official duties as members of the council.
(10) The council may appoint technical advisory committees of
individuals with relevant specific technical, scientific, or legal
expertise, or relevant expertise in a trade listed in section
41409, or may appoint such individuals as adjunct members of the
council without voting rights.
Sec. 41407. (1) Within 180 days after the effective date of
the amendatory act that added this section or within 60 days of the
issuance of a draft update to the Michigan aquatic invasive species
management plan by the department of environmental quality,
whichever is later, the council shall provide recommendations to
the department of environmental quality on a final update to the
plan. The final update shall address AIS prevention, AIS
monitoring, and AIS control and eradication, including rapid
response to new AIS infestations. In preparing the final update to
the plan, the department of environmental quality shall consult
with the advisory council.
(2) The council shall provide its recommendations under
subsection (1) to the governor upon request. The recommendations
are nonbinding and advisory in nature and may be used at the
discretion of and in the manner determined by the governor. The
recommendations shall be suitable for use by the executive branch
in collaborating with other Great Lakes states and Canadian
provinces to create or strengthen regional programs or coordinate
state and provincial programs to achieve the purposes of this
section.
(3) Within 60 days of the issuance of a final update to the
aquatic invasive species management plan, the council shall submit
a report with recommendations on the funding necessary to implement
the plan and the method of providing that funding. The council
shall submit the report to the governor, the senate majority
leader, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the
standing committees of the senate and house with primary
responsibility for natural resources, conservation, agriculture,
and commerce.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless all of the following bills of the 96th Legislature are
enacted into law:
(a) Senate Bill No. 510.
(b) Senate Bill No. 508.