Bill Text: MI SB0911 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Enrolled


Bill Title: Environmental protection; funding; environmental protection bond fund; modify criteria for grants. Amends secs. 19508, 19509 & 19510 of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.19508 et seq.).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-04-21 - Introduced By Senator Ken Horn [SB0911 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2015-SB0911-Enrolled.html

STATE OF MICHIGAN

98TH LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2016

Introduced by Senator Horn

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 911

AN ACT to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled “An act to protect the environment and natural resources of the state; to codify, revise, consolidate, and classify laws relating to the environment and natural resources of the state; to regulate the discharge of certain substances into the environment; to regulate the use of certain lands, waters, and other natural resources of the state; to protect the people’s right to hunt and fish; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state and local agencies and officials; to provide for certain charges, fees, assessments, and donations; to provide certain appropriations; to prescribe penalties and provide remedies; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,” by amending sections 19508, 19509, and 19510 (MCL 324.19508, 324.19509, and 324.19510), as added by 1995 PA 60.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 19508. (1) Except as provided in subsection (3), money in the fund that is allocated under section 19507 shall be used for the following purposes:

(a) Money in the fund that is allocated under section 19507(1)(a) shall be used for sites identified through parts 201 and 213, to be expended and recovered by the state in the same manner as provided in that part. Of the funds allocated under section 19507(1)(a), the following apply:

(i) Not more than $35,000,000.00 shall be used to clean up sites of environmental contamination that have been identified under former 1982 PA 307, part 201, or part 213; that meet either of the following:

(A) Until the effective date of the 2016 amendatory act that amended this section, will not be funded in the next fiscal year and have been approved by the department as having measurable economic benefit.

(B) Beginning on the effective date of the 2016 amendatory act that amended this section, for projects meeting the criteria of sections 19608 to 19615.

(ii) Not more than $10,000,000.00 may be used to provide grants to eligible communities to investigate and determine whether property within an eligible community is a site of environmental contamination and, if so, to characterize the nature and extent of the contamination. A grant shall be issued under this subparagraph only if all of the following conditions are met:

(A) The characterization of the nature and extent of contamination includes an estimate of response activity costs in relation to the value of the property in an uncontaminated state and identifies future potential limitations on the use of the property based upon current environmental conditions.

(B) The property has demonstrable economic development potential. This provision does not require a specific development proposal to be identified.

(C) The property is located within an eligible community that has received less than $1,000,000.00 in total grants under this subparagraph. However, a grant that has resulted in measurable economic benefits shall not be included in the calculation of the $1,000,000.00.

(b) Money in the fund that is allocated for solid waste projects including, but not limited to, reducing, recycling, and properly disposing of solid waste shall be used to fund state projects, to provide grants and loans to local units of government, and to provide grants and loans to private entities for any of the programs identified in part 191, in the amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (5). Not less than $17,500,000.00 of the money for solid waste projects shall be used to fund the following:

(i) To promote and expand markets for recycled materials.

(ii) To assist in the recycling of solid wastes, including, but not limited to, plastics, metals, tires, wood, and paper.

(iii) To promote research on resource recovery.

(iv) To study marketing options for products that use recycled materials.

(c) Money in the fund that is allocated to capitalize the state water pollution control revolving fund created in section 16a of the shared credit rating act, 1985 PA 227, MCL 141.1066a, shall be used as provided in part 53.

(d) Money in the fund that is allocated to fund this state’s participation in a regional Great Lakes protection fund pursuant to part 331.

(2) If, by June 28, 1995, the department determines that money allocated under subsection (1)(a)(ii) is unlikely to be expended pursuant to that subparagraph, $5,000,000.00 of the money allocated pursuant to that subparagraph shall be expended pursuant to subsection (1)(a)(i).

(3) If money that is expended pursuant to subsection (1)(a)(ii) is recovered by an eligible community from a person who may be liable under part 201, through proceeds from the sale of the property, or through any other mechanism, and additional funds for environmental response activities on the property are not necessary, the eligible community may retain those funds for expenditure on projects that the department determines are eligible to receive funding under subsection (1)(a)(ii). An accounting of the recovered funds must be provided to the department within 30 days of receipt, and approval and expenditure of the recovered funds shall be in the same manner as funds awarded pursuant to subsection (1)(a)(ii). If funds are recovered and not spent on other projects pursuant to this subparagraph within 2 years after they are recovered by the eligible community, the eligible community shall forward the money collected to the state treasurer for deposit into the fund to be used pursuant to subsection (1)(a)(ii). When accounting for the use of recovered funds, eligible communities may itemize deductions for site preparation and other costs directly related to the reuse of a site funded under this section.

(4) Money provided in the fund may be used by the department of treasury to pay for the cost of issuing bonds under former 1988 PA 326 or part 193 and by the department to pay department costs as provided in this subsection. Not more than 6% of the total amount specified in section 19507(1)(a), (b), and (d) shall be available for appropriation to the department to pay department costs directly associated with the completion of a project described in section 19507(1)(a), (b), or (d), for which bonds are issued as provided under this part. Any department costs associated with a project described in section 19507(1)(c) for which bonds are issued under this part shall be paid as provided in the state statute implementing the state water pollution control revolving fund. Bond proceeds shall not be available to pay indirect, administrative overhead costs incurred by any organizational unit of the department not directly responsible for the completion of a project. It is the intent of the legislature that general fund appropriations to the department shall not be reduced as a result of department costs funded pursuant to this subsection.

(5) Except as provided in subsection (3), the department shall annually submit a list of all projects that are recommended to be funded under this part to the governor, the standing committees of the house of representatives and the senate that primarily address issues pertaining to the protection of natural resources and the environment, and the appropriations committees in the house of representatives and the senate. This list shall be submitted to the legislature not later than February 15 of each year. This list shall also be submitted before any request for supplemental appropriation of bond funds. The list shall include the name, address, and telephone number of the eligible recipient or participant; the nature of the eligible project; the county in which the eligible project is located; an estimate of the total cost of the eligible project; and other information considered pertinent by the department.

(6) The legislature shall appropriate prospective or actual bond proceeds for projects proposed to be funded. Appropriations shall be carried over to succeeding fiscal years until the project for which the funds are appropriated is completed. Environmental cleanup projects that are eligible for funding under subsection (1)(a), but not including subsection (1)(a)(i) and (ii), shall be prioritized and approved pursuant to the procedures outlined in part 201. Projects to which loans are provided from the state water pollution control revolving fund shall be approved pursuant to state law implementing that fund. The capitalization of the regional Great Lakes protection fund shall be a 1-time appropriation.

(7) Not later than December 31 of each year, the department shall submit a list of the projects financed under this part to the governor, the standing committees of the house of representatives and the senate that primarily address issues pertaining to the protection of natural resources and the environment, and the committees of the house of representatives and the senate on appropriations for the department. The list shall include the name, address, and telephone number of the recipient or participant; the nature of the project; the amount of money received; the county in which the project is located; and other information considered pertinent by the department.

(8) As used in this section, “eligible community” means any of the following:

(a) A city, village, or township, or a county on behalf of a city, village, or township, that on May 1, 1993 meets the applicable criteria of a local government unit under section 2(f) of the neighborhood enterprise zone act, 1992 PA 147, MCL 207.772.

(b) A city that meets any of the following descriptions:

(i) Has a population of greater than 10,000 and is located within a county that has a population density of less than 39 residents per square mile.

(ii) Has a population of greater than 2,500 and is located within a county that has a population density of less than 39 residents per square mile.

(iii) Had an average unemployment rate of 11.5% or more during the most recent calendar year for which data is available from the Michigan employment security commission.

Sec. 19509. (1) The department shall promulgate rules necessary to implement grant and loan programs provided in this part.

(2) The department shall assure maximum participation by local units of government and by private entities by promulgating rules that provide for a grant or loan program, where appropriate. In determining whether a grant or a loan program is appropriate, the department shall consider whether the project is likely to be undertaken without state assistance; the availability of state funds from other sources; the degree of private sector participation in the type of project under consideration; the extent of the need for the project as a demonstration project; and such other factors considered important by the department.

(3) Prior to making a grant or loan authorized by this part, the department shall consider the extent to which the making of the grant or loan contributes to the achievement of a balanced distribution of grants and loans throughout the state.

(4) The department shall provide in rules promulgated under this part that loans that are issued by the department to private entities shall include an interest charge of not less than 5% per year.

(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, for grant projects considered for funding under section 19508(1)(a) on or after the effective date of the 2016 amendatory act that amended this section, subsections (1) to (4) do not apply and the department shall apply the criteria used for projects funded under section 19611.

(6) Neither this section nor section 19510 apply to loans from the state water pollution control revolving fund.

Sec. 19510. (1) An application for a grant or a loan authorized under this part shall be made on a form prescribed by the department. The department may require the applicant to provide any information reasonably necessary to allow the department to make a determination required by this part.

(2) Beginning on the effective date of the 2016 amendatory act that amended this section, an application for a grant under section 19508(1)(a) is subject to the same requirements listed in section 19610 for a loan under section 19608(1)(a)(iv).

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days after the date it is enacted into law.

Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect unless all of the following bills of the 98th Legislature are enacted into law:

(a) Senate Bill No. 908.

(b) Senate Bill No. 909.

(c) Senate Bill No. 910.

(d) Senate Bill No. 912.

(e) Senate Bill No. 913.

Secretary of the Senate

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Approved

Governor