September 13, 2016, Introduced by Rep. LaFontaine 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 30101 and 30103 (MCL 324.30101 and 324.30103),
section 30101 as amended by 2014 PA 351 and section 30103 as
amended by 2014 PA 253.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 30101. As used in this part:
(a) "Bottomland" means the land area of an inland lake or
stream that lies below the ordinary high-water mark and that may or
may not be covered by water.
(b) "Bulkhead line" means a line that is established pursuant
to this part beyond which dredging, filling, or construction of any
kind is not allowed without a permit.
(c) "Dam" means an artificial barrier, including dikes,
embankments, and appurtenant works, that impounds, diverts, or is
designed to impound or divert water.
(d) "Department" means the department of environmental
quality.
(e) "Expand" means to occupy a larger area of an inland lake
or stream than authorized by a permit issued under this part for
marina mooring structures and watercraft moored at the marina.
(f) "Fund" means the land and water management permit fee fund
created in section 30113.
(g) "Height of the dam" means the difference in elevation
measured vertically between the natural bed of an inland lake or
stream at the downstream toe of the dam, or, if it is not across a
stream channel or watercourse, from the lowest elevation of the
downstream toe of the dam, to the design flood elevation or to the
lowest point of the top of the dam, whichever is less.
(h) "Impoundment" means water held back by a dam, dike,
floodgate, or other barrier.
(i) "Inland lake or stream" means a natural or artificial
lake, pond, or impoundment; a river, stream, or creek which may or
may not be serving as a drain as defined by the drain code of 1956,
1956 PA 40, MCL 280.1 to 280.630; or any other body of water that
has definite banks, a bed, and visible evidence of a continued flow
or continued occurrence of water, including the St. Marys, St.
Clair,
and Detroit rivers. Rivers.
Inland lake or stream does not
include the Great Lakes, Lake St. Clair, or a lake or pond that has
a surface area of less than 5 acres.
(j) "Marina" means a facility that is owned or operated by a
person, extends into or over an inland lake or stream, and offers
service to the public or members of the marina for docking,
loading, or other servicing of recreational watercraft.
(k) "Minor offense" means either of the following violations
of this part if the project involved in the offense is a minor
project or the department determines that restoration of the
affected property is not required:
(i) The failure to obtain a permit under this part.
(ii) A violation of a permit issued under this part.
(l) "Mooring structures" means structures used to moor
watercraft, including, but not limited to, docks, piers, pilings,
mooring anchors, lines and buoys, and boat hoists.
(m) "Ordinary high-water mark" means the line between upland
and bottomland that persists through successive changes in water
levels, below which the presence and action of the water is so
common or recurrent that the character of the land is marked
distinctly from the upland and is apparent in the soil itself, the
configuration of the surface of the soil, and the vegetation. On an
inland lake that has a level established by law, it means the high
established level. Where water returns to its natural level as the
result of the permanent removal or abandonment of a dam, it means
the natural ordinary high-water mark.
(n) "Project" means an activity that requires a permit
pursuant to section 30102.
(o) "Property owners' association" means any group of
organized property owners publishing a directory of their
membership, the majority of which are riparian owners and are
located on the inland lake or stream that is affected by the
proposed project.
(p) "Reconfigure" means to, without expanding the marina, do
either of the following:
(i) Change the location of the dock or docks and other mooring
structures at the marina to occupy an area of the inland lake or
stream that was not previously authorized by a permit issued under
this part.
(ii) Decrease the distance available for ingress and egress to
an outside slip as described in section 30106a.
(q) "Riparian interest area" means that portion of an inland
lake or stream over which a riparian owner has an ownership
interest.
(r) "Riparian owner" means a person who has riparian rights.
(s) "Riparian rights" means those rights which are associated
with the ownership of the bank or shore of an inland lake or
stream.
(t) "Seasonal structure" includes any type of dock, boat
hoist, ramp, raft, or other recreational structure that is placed
into an inland lake or stream and removed at the end of the boating
season.
(u) "Seawall" means a vertically sloped wall constructed to
break the force of waves and retain soil for the purpose of shore
protection.
(v) "Small scale noncommercial gold mining" means searching
for and removing gold, silver, or other precious minerals from
among small quantities of aggregate or a vein of ore in a manner
that is consistent with a hobby or casual activity, using any of
the following:
(i) Pans.
(ii) Sluices.
(iii) Rocker boxes.
(iv) Other nonmotorized equipment.
(v) Dredges with motors of not more than 10 horsepower and
suction nozzles not more than 4 inches in diameter.
(w) (v)
"Structure" includes a
wharf, dock, pier, seawall,
dam, weir, stream deflector, breakwater, groin, jetty, sewer,
pipeline, cable, and bridge.
(x) (w)
"Upland" means the land
area that lies above the
ordinary high-water mark.
Sec. 30103. (1) A permit is not required under this part for
any of the following:
(a) Any fill or structure existing before April 1, 1966, in
waters covered by former 1965 PA 291, and any fill or structures
existing before January 9, 1973, in waters covered for the first
time by former 1972 PA 346.
(b) A seasonal structure placed on bottomland to facilitate
private noncommercial recreational use of the water if it does not
unreasonably interfere with the use of the water by others entitled
to use the water or interfere with water flow.
(c) Reasonable sanding of beaches to the existing water's edge
by the riparian owner or a person authorized by the riparian owner.
(d) Maintenance of an agricultural drain, regardless of
outlet, if all of the following requirements are met:
(i) The maintenance includes only activities that maintain the
location, depth, and bottom width of the drain as constructed or
modified at any time before July 1, 2014.
(ii) The maintenance is performed by the landowner or pursuant
to the drain code of 1956, 1956 PA 40, MCL 280.1 to 280.630.
(e) A waste collection or treatment facility that is ordered
to be constructed or is approved for construction under state or
federal water pollution control law, if constructed in upland.
(f) Construction and maintenance of minor drainage structures
and
facilities which that are identified by rule promulgated by the
department
pursuant to under section 30110. Before such a rule is
promulgated, the rule shall be approved by the majority of a
committee consisting of the director of the department, the
director of the department of agriculture and rural development,
and the director of the state transportation department or their
designated representatives. The rules shall be reviewed at least
annually.
(g) Maintenance of a drain that either was legally established
and constructed before January 1, 1973, pursuant to the drain code
of 1956, 1956 PA 40, MCL 280.1 to 280.630, except those legally
established drains constituting mainstream portions of certain
natural watercourses identified in rules promulgated by the
department under section 30110, or was constructed or modified
under a permit issued pursuant to this part. As used in this
subdivision, "maintenance of a drain" means the physical
preservation of the location, depth, and bottom width of a drain
and appurtenant structures to restore the function and approximate
capacity of the drain as constructed or modified at any time before
July 1, 2014, and includes, but is not limited to, the following
activities if performed with best management practices:
(i) Excavation of accumulated sediments back to original
contours.
(ii) Reshaping of the side slopes.
(iii) Bank stabilization where reasonably necessary to prevent
erosion. Materials used for stabilization must be compatible with
existing bank or bed materials.
(iv) Armoring, lining, or piping if a previously armored,
lined, or piped section is being repaired and all work occurs
within the footprint of the previous work.
(v) Replacement of existing control structures, if the
original function of the drain is not changed and the original
approximate capacity of the drain is not increased.
(vi) Repair of stabilization structures.
(vii) Culvert replacement, including culvert extensions of not
more than 24 additional feet per culvert.
(viii) Emergency reconstruction of recently damaged parts of
the drain. Emergency reconstruction must occur within a reasonable
period of time after damage occurs in order to qualify for this
exemption.
(h) Projects constructed under the watershed protection and
flood
prevention act, chapter 656, 68 Stat. Stat 666, 16 USC 1001
to
1008, 1010, and 1011.1012.
(i) Construction and maintenance of privately owned cooling or
storage ponds used in connection with a public utility except at
the interface with public waters.
(j) Maintenance of a structure constructed under a permit
issued pursuant to this part and identified by rule promulgated
under section 30110, if the maintenance is in place and in kind
with no design or materials modification.
(k) A water withdrawal.
(l) Annual installation of a seasonal dock or docks, pilings,
mooring buoys, or other mooring structures previously authorized by
and in accordance with a permit issued under this part.
(m) Controlled access of livestock to streams for watering or
crossing if constructed in accordance with applicable practice
standards
set by the United States department of agriculture,
natural
resources conservation service.Department
of Agriculture,
Natural Resources Conservation Service.
(n) Temporary drawdowns of impoundments at hydroelectric
projects
licensed by the federal energy regulatory commission
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and subject to FERC's
authority if both of the following apply:
(i) The FERC licensee has consulted this state during the
drawdown plan development and this state's concerns have been
addressed in the drawdown plan as FERC considers appropriate.
(ii) Adverse environmental impacts, including stream flow,
aquatic resources, and timing, have been avoided and minimized to
the extent practical.
(o) Removal, by the riparian owner or a person authorized by
the riparian owner, of plants that are an aquatic nuisance as
defined in section 3301, if the removal is accomplished by hand-
pulling without using a powered or mechanized tool and all plant
fragments are removed from the water and properly disposed of on
land above the ordinary high-water mark as defined in section
30101.
(p) Raking of lake bottomlands by the riparian owner or a
person authorized by the riparian owner. To minimize effects on the
lake bottomlands, the areas raked shall be unvegetated before
raking and predominantly composed of sand or pebbles, and the
raking shall be performed without using a powered or mechanized
tool. For the purposes of this subdivision, the pulling of a
nonpowered, nonmechanized tool with a boat is not the use of a
powered or mechanized tool.
(q) Small scale noncommercial gold mining.
(2) As used in this section, "water withdrawal" means the
removal of water from its source for any purpose.
(3) As used in this part, "agricultural drain" means a human-
made conveyance of water that meets all of the following
requirements:
(a) Does not have continuous flow.
(b) Flows primarily as a result of precipitation-induced
surface runoff or groundwater drained through subsurface drainage
systems.
(c) Serves agricultural production.
(d) Was constructed before January 1, 1973, or was constructed
in compliance with this part or former 1979 PA 203.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.