Bill Text: MI SB0509 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
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.                                   

 

         

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