Bill Text: MI HB5055 | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Chaptered
Bill Title: Natural resources; inland lakes; permit conditions for marinas and other mooring structures; provide for. Amends secs. 30101, 30102, 30103 & 30104 of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.30101 et seq.) & adds sec. 30106a.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2009-11-04 - Assigned Pa 139'09 With Immediate Effect [HB5055 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2009-HB5055-Chaptered.html
Act No. 139
Public Acts of 2009
Approved by the Governor
November 3, 2009
Filed with the Secretary of State
November 4, 2009
EFFECTIVE DATE: November 4, 2009
STATE OF MICHIGAN
95TH LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION OF 2009
Introduced by Rep. Bennett
ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 5055
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 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 30101, 30102, 30103, and 30104 (MCL 324.30101, 324.30102, 324.30103, and 324.30104), section 30101 as amended by 2006 PA 275, section 30102 as added by 1995 PA 59, section 30103 as amended by 2006 PA 33, and section 30104 as amended by 2008 PA 276, and by adding section 30106a.
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. 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 as listed in R 281.816 of the Michigan administrative code 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) “Structure” includes a wharf, dock, pier, dam, weir, stream deflector, breakwater, groin, jetty, sewer, pipeline, cable, and bridge.
(v) “Upland” means the land area that lies above the ordinary high-water mark.
Sec. 30102. Except as provided in this part, a person without a permit from the department shall not do any of the following:
(a) Dredge or fill bottomland.
(b) Construct, enlarge, extend, remove, or place a structure on bottomland.
(c) Construct, reconfigure, or expand a marina.
(d) Create, enlarge, or diminish an inland lake or stream.
(e) Structurally interfere with the natural flow of an inland lake or stream.
(f) Construct, dredge, commence, extend, or enlarge an artificial canal, channel, ditch, lagoon, pond, lake, or similar waterway where the purpose is ultimate connection with an existing inland lake or stream, or where any part of the artificial waterway is located within 500 feet of the ordinary high-water mark of an existing inland lake or stream.
(g) Connect any natural or artificially constructed waterway, canal, channel, ditch, lagoon, pond, lake, or similar water with an existing inland lake or stream for navigation or any other purpose.
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 a riparian owner.
(d) Construction or maintenance of a private agricultural drain regardless of outlet.
(e) A waste collection or treatment facility that is ordered to be constructed or is approved for construction by the department.
(f) Construction and maintenance of minor drainage structures and facilities which are identified by rule promulgated by the department pursuant to 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 the director of the state transportation department or their designated representatives. The rules shall be reviewed at least annually.
(g) Maintenance and improvement of all drains legally established or constructed prior to 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.
(h) Projects constructed under the watershed protection and flood prevention act, chapter 656, 68 Stat. 666, 16 USC 1001 to 1008 and 1010.
(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.
(2) As used in this section, “water withdrawal” means the removal of water from its source for any purpose.
Sec. 30104. (1) A person shall not undertake a project subject to this part except as authorized by a permit issued by the department pursuant to part 13. An application for a permit shall include any information that may be required by the department. If a project includes activities at multiple locations, 1 application may be filed for the combined activities.
(2) Except as provided in subsections (3) and (4), until October 1, 2011, an application for a permit shall be accompanied by a fee based on an administrative cost in accordance with the following schedule:
(a) For a minor project listed in R 281.816 of the Michigan administrative code, or a seasonal drawdown or the associated reflooding, or both, of a dam or impoundment for the purpose of weed control, a fee of $50.00. However, for a permit for a seasonal drawdown or associated reflooding, or both, of a dam or impoundment for the purpose of weed control that is issued for the first time after October 9, 1995, an initial fee of $500.00 with subsequent permits for the same purpose being assessed a $50.00 fee.
(b) For authorization under a general permit, a $50.00 fee.
(c) For construction or expansion of a marina, a fee of:
(i) $50.00 for an expansion of 1-10 slips to an existing permitted marina.
(ii) $100.00 for a new marina with 1-10 proposed marina slips.
(iii) $250.00 for an expansion of 11-50 slips to an existing permitted marina, plus $10.00 for each slip over 50.
(iv) $500.00 for a new marina with 11-50 proposed marina slips, plus $10.00 for each slip over 50.
(v) $1,500.00 if an existing permitted marina proposes maintenance dredging of 10,000 cubic yards or more or the addition of seawalls, bulkheads, or revetments of 500 feet or more.
(d) For major projects other than a project described in subdivision (c)(v), involving any of the following, a fee of $2,000.00:
(i) Dredging of 10,000 cubic yards or more.
(ii) Filling of 10,000 cubic yards or more.
(iii) Seawalls, bulkheads, or revetments of 500 feet or more.
(iv) Filling or draining of 1 acre or more of wetland contiguous to a lake or stream.
(v) New dredging or upland boat basin excavation in areas of suspected contamination.
(vi) Shore projections, such as groins and underwater stabilizers, that extend 150 feet or more into a lake or stream.
(vii) New commercial docks or wharves of 300 feet or more in length.
(viii) Stream enclosures 100 feet or more in length.
(ix) Stream relocations 500 feet or more in length.
(x) New golf courses.
(xi) Subdivisions.
(xii) Condominiums.
(e) For all other projects not listed in subdivisions (a) through (d), a fee of $500.00.
(3) A project that requires review and approval under this part and 1 or more of the following acts or parts of acts is subject to only the single highest permit fee required under this part or the following acts or parts of acts:
(a) Part 303.
(b) Part 323.
(c) Part 325.
(d) Section 3104.
(e) Section 117 of the land division act, 1967 PA 288, MCL 560.117.
(4) If work has been done in violation of a permit requirement under this part and restoration is not ordered by the department, the department may accept an application for a permit if the application is accompanied by a fee equal to 2 times the permit fee required under this section.
Sec. 30106a. (1) The department shall issue a permit to construct, expand, or reconfigure a marina if the department determines that the marina meets the conditions of section 30106 and all of the following conditions:
(a) The marina extends from riparian property of the applicant.
(b) The marina does not unreasonably interfere with navigation.
(c) The marina is located and designed to be operated consistently with the correlative rights of other riparians, including the rights of adjacent riparians.
(2) In order to be designed consistently with the correlative rights of other riparians as required under subsection (1), the marina shall be configured so that all boat mooring under any wind condition will occur solely within the marina’s riparian interest area. Additionally, boat mooring and ingress and egress for an outside slip shall require a minimum maneuvering distance of 1.5 times the length of the slip. This minimum distance shall be measured from the end of the slip or, for broadside moorage, the outside beam of a watercraft moored at the slip, to the boundary of the marina’s riparian interest area.
(3) In order to support the determinations under this section, the department may require the applicant to do either of the following:
(a) Submit a riparian interest area estimate survey, sealed by a licensed surveyor. In making its determination on the need for a riparian interest area estimate survey, the department shall consider factors such as the shape of the water body, the location of the marina on the water body, how much frontage is available to locate the marina, and the dock and mooring configurations.
(b) Obtain an easement from any affected adjacent riparian owner authorizing an incursion and record the easement with the register of deeds for the county in which the marina is located.
(4) The owner or operator of a marina existing on the effective date of the amendatory act that added this section that has not been authorized by a permit issued under this part shall obtain a permit under this section before expanding or reconfiguring the marina, or by January 1, 2012, whichever comes first. The owner or operator of a marina existing on the effective date of the amendatory act that added this section that has been authorized by a construction permit under this part does not need to obtain a new construction permit except to expand or reconfigure.
(5) As used in this section:
(a) “Marina’s riparian interest area” means the riparian interest area of an applicant for a permit under subsection (1) and any adjacent area for which the applicant has secured written authorization from the riparian owner whose interest is or may be affected.
(b) “Outside slip” means a slip that is accessed from a location between the boundary of the marina’s riparian interest area and the mooring structure.
(c) “Slip length” means the longer of either of the following:
(i) The total length of all mooring structures, including the docks and pilings.
(ii) The total length of the vessel moored in the slip, including, but not limited to, outboard engines, boat hoists, bowsprits, and swim platforms.
This act is ordered to take immediate effect.
Clerk of the House of Representatives
Secretary of the Senate
Approved
Governor
