Bill Text: MI HB5939 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Environmental protection; sewage; exemption from domestic septage law; provide for portable toilets for farm laborers. Amends secs. 11701 & 11718 of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.11701 & 324.11718) & adds sec. 11721.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-11-13 - Printed Bill Filed 11/13/2014 [HB5939 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2013-HB5939-Introduced.html

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE BILL No. 5939

 

November 12, 2014, Introduced by Reps. Outman and Lauwers and referred to the Committee on Agriculture.

 

     A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled

 

"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"

 

by amending sections 11701 and 11718 (MCL 324.11701 and 324.11718),

 

section 11701 as amended by 2005 PA 199 and section 11718 as

 

amended by 2004 PA 381, and by adding section 11721.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 11701. As used in this part:

 

     (a) "Agricultural land" means land on which a food crop, a

 

feed crop, or a fiber crop is grown, including land used or

 

suitable for use as a range or pasture; a sod farm; or a Christmas

 

tree farm.

 

     (b) "Certified health department" means a city, county, or

 

district department of health certified under section 11716.

 

     (c) "Cesspool" means a cavity in the ground that receives

 

waste to be partially absorbed directly or indirectly by the

 

surrounding soil.

 

     (d) "Department" means the department of environmental quality

 

or its authorized agent.

 

     (e) "Director" means the director of the department of

 

environmental quality or his or her designee.

 

     (f) "Domestic septage" means liquid or solid material removed

 

from a septic tank, cesspool, portable toilet, type III marine

 

sanitation device, or similar storage or treatment works that

 

receives only domestic sewage. Domestic septage does not include

 

liquid or solid material removed from a septic tank, cesspool, or

 

similar facility that receives either commercial wastewater or

 

industrial wastewater and does not include grease removed from a

 

grease interceptor, grease trap, or other appurtenance used to

 

retain grease or other fatty substances contained in restaurant

 

waste.

 

     (g) "Domestic sewage" means waste and wastewater from humans

 

or household operations.

 

     (h) "Domestic treatment plant septage" means biosolids

 

generated during the treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment

 

works and transported to a receiving facility or managed in

 

accordance with a residuals management program approved by the

 

department.

 

     (i) "Farm operation" means that term as defined in section 2

 

of the Michigan right to farm act, 1981 PA 93, MCL 286.472.

 

     (j) (i) "Food establishment septage" means material pumped

 

from a grease interceptor, grease trap, or other appurtenance used

 

to retain grease or other fatty substances contained in restaurant

 

wastes and which is blended into a uniform mixture, consisting of

 

not more than 1 part of that restaurant-derived material per 3

 

parts of domestic septage, prior to land application or disposed of

 

at a receiving facility.

 

     (k) (j) "Fund" means the septage waste program fund created in

 

section 11717.

 

     (l) (k) "Governmental unit" means a county, township,

 

municipality, or regional authority.

 

     (m) (l) "Incorporation" means the mechanical mixing of surface-

 

applied septage waste with the soil.

 

     (n) (m) "Injection" means the pressurized placement of septage

 

waste below the surface of soil.

 

     (o) (n) "Operating plan" means a plan developed by a receiving

 

facility for receiving septage waste that specifies at least all of

 

the following:

 

     (i) Categories of septage waste that the receiving facility

 

will receive.

 

     (ii) The receiving facility's service area.

 

     (iii) The hours of operation for receiving septage waste.

 

     (iv) Any other conditions for receiving septage waste

 

established by the receiving facility.

 

     (p) (o) "Pathogen" means a disease-causing agent. Pathogen

 

includes, but is not limited to, certain bacteria, protozoa,

 

viruses, and viable helminth ova.

 

     (q) (p) "Peace officer" means a sheriff or sheriff's deputy, a

 

village or township marshal, an officer of the police department of

 

any city, village, or township, any officer of the Michigan state

 

police, any peace officer who is trained and certified pursuant to

 

the commission on law enforcement standards act, 1965 PA 203, MCL

 

28.601 to 28.616, or any conservation officer appointed by the

 

department or the department of natural resources pursuant to

 

section 1606.

 

     (r) (q) "Portable toilet" means a receptacle for human waste

 

temporarily in a location for human use.

 

     (s) (r) "Receiving facility" means a structure that is

 

designed to receive septage waste for treatment at a wastewater

 

treatment plant or at a research, development, and demonstration

 

project authorized under section 11511b to which the structure is

 

directly connected, and that is available for that purpose as

 

provided for in an ordinance of the local unit of government where

 

the structure is located or in an operating plan. Receiving

 

facility does not include either of the following:

 

     (i) A septic tank.

 

     (ii) A structure or a wastewater treatment plant at which the

 

disposal of septage waste is prohibited by order of the department

 

under section 11708 or 11715b.

 

     (t) (s) "Receiving facility service area" or "service area"

 

means the territory for which a receiving facility has the capacity

 

and is available to receive and treat septage waste. , subject to

 

the following:

 

     (i) Beginning October 12, 2005 and before the 2011 state fiscal

 

year, the geographic service area of a receiving facility shall not

 

extend more than 15 radial miles from the receiving facility.

 

     (ii) After the 2010 state fiscal year, However, the geographic

 

service area of a receiving facility shall not extend more than 25

 

radial miles from the receiving facility.

 

     (u) (t) "Sanitary sewer cleanout septage" means sanitary

 

sewage or cleanout residue removed from a separate sanitary sewer

 

collection system that is not land applied and that is transported

 

by a vehicle licensed under this part elsewhere within the same

 

system or to a receiving facility that is approved by the

 

department.

 

     (v) (u) "Septage waste" means the fluid mixture of untreated

 

and partially treated sewage solids, liquids, and sludge of human

 

or domestic origin that is removed from a wastewater system.

 

Septage waste consists only of food establishment septage, domestic

 

septage, domestic treatment plant septage, or sanitary sewer

 

cleanout septage, or any combination of these.

 

     (w) (v) "Septage waste servicing license" means a septage

 

waste servicing license as provided for under sections 11703 and

 

11706.

 

     (x) (w) "Septage waste vehicle" means a vehicle that is self-

 

propelled or towed and that includes a tank used to transport

 

septage waste. Septage waste vehicle does not include an implement

 

of husbandry as defined in section 21 of the Michigan vehicle code,

 

1949 PA 300, MCL 257.21.

 

     (y) (x) "Septage waste vehicle license" means a septage waste

 

vehicle license as provided for under sections 11704 and 11706.

 

     (z) (y) "Septic tank" means a septic toilet, chemical closet,

 

or other enclosure used for the decomposition of domestic sewage.

 

     (aa) (z) "Service" or "servicing" means cleaning, removing,

 

transporting, or disposing, by application to land or otherwise, of

 

septage waste.

 

     (bb) (aa) "Site" means a location or locations on a parcel or

 

tract, as those terms are defined in section 102 of the land

 

division act, 1967 PA 288, MCL 560.102, proposed or used for the

 

disposal of septage waste on land.

 

     (cc) (bb) "Site permit" means a permit issued under section

 

11709 authorizing the application of septage waste to a site.

 

     (dd) (cc) "Storage facility" means a structure that receives

 

septage waste for storage but not for treatment.

 

     (ee) (dd) "Tank" means an enclosed container placed on a

 

septage waste vehicle to carry or transport hold septage waste.

 

     (ff) (ee) "Type I public water supply", "type IIa public water

 

supply", "type IIb public water supply", and "type III public water

 

supply" mean those terms, respectively, as described in R 325.10502

 

of the Michigan administrative code.

 

     (gg) (ff) "Type III marine sanitation device" means that term

 

as defined in 33 CFR 159.3.

 

     Sec. 11718. (1) The department shall promulgate rules that

 

establish both of the following:

 

     (a) Continuing education requirements under section

 

11706.11703.

 

     (b) Design and operating requirements for receiving

 

facilities, as provided in section 11715b.

 

     (2) The department may, in addition, promulgate rules that do

 

1 or more of the following:

 

     (a) Add other materials and substances to the definition of

 

septage waste.

 

     (b) Add enclosures to the list of enclosures in the definition

 

of septage waste under section 11701 the servicing of which

 

requires a septage waste servicing license under this part.

 

     (c) Specify information required on an application for a

 

septage waste servicing license, septage waste vehicle license, or

 

site permit.

 

     (d) Establish standards or procedures for a department

 

declaration under section 11708 that a wastewater treatment plant

 

or structure is unavailable as a receiving facility because of

 

excessive hydraulic or organic loading, odor problems, or other

 

factors.

 

     (3) The department of environmental quality and the department

 

of agriculture and rural development may jointly promulgate rules

 

establishing field sanitation and food safety standards for the

 

purposes of section 11721.

 

     Sec. 11721. (1) A farm operation is exempt from this part as

 

it applies to servicing portable toilets, to associated domestic

 

septage management equipment such as trailers, pumps, and septage

 

waste vehicles, and to associated storage facilities, if the farm

 

operation meets all of the following requirements:

 

     (a) The farm operation uses the portable toilets to comply

 

with requirements listed in the publication under subsection (2).

 

     (b) The management, pumping, and temporary storage of the

 

domestic septage from the portable toilets by the farm operation

 

does not result in a release of domestic septage into the

 

environment.

 

     (c) The portable toilets and associated septage management

 

equipment are secured in a manner that prevents a release while

 

being moved by the farm operation on or across a public street,

 

road, or highway.

 

     (d) The farm operation does not store domestic septage for

 

more than 60 days.

 

     (e) The farm operation utilizes the services of a person with

 

a septage waste servicing license and septage waste vehicle license

 

to dispose of the domestic septage from the portable toilets in a

 

receiving facility.

 

     (2) The department of agriculture and rural development shall

 

publish a list of field sanitation, worker protection, and food

 

safety requirements applicable to the exemption provided in this

 

section.