Bill Text: MI SB0552 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Chaptered
Bill Title: Environmental protection; groundwater contamination; groundwater discharge permit fees; revise. Amends secs. 3101 & 3122 of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.3101 & 324.3122).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-12-31 - Assigned Pa 0247'15 With Immediate Effect [SB0552 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2015-SB0552-Chaptered.html
Act No. 247
Public Acts of 2015
Approved by the Governor
December 22, 2015
Filed with the Secretary of State
December 22, 2015
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 22, 2015
STATE OF MICHIGAN
98TH LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION OF 2015
Introduced by Senator Green
ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 552
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 3101 and 3122 (MCL 324.3101 and 324.3122), section 3101 as amended by 2006 PA 97 and section 3122 as amended by 2015 PA 82.
The People of the State of Michigan enact:
Sec. 3101. As used in this part:
(a) “Aquatic nuisance species” means a nonindigenous species that threatens the diversity or abundance of native species or the ecological stability of infested waters, or commercial, agricultural, aquacultural, or recreational activities dependent on such waters.
(b) “Ballast water” means water and associated solids taken on board a vessel to control or maintain trim, draft, stability, or stresses on the vessel, without regard to the manner in which it is carried.
(c) “Ballast water treatment method” means a method of treating ballast water and sediments to remove or destroy living biological organisms through 1 or more of the following:
(i) Filtration.
(ii) The application of biocides or ultraviolet light.
(iii) Thermal methods.
(iv) Other treatment techniques approved by the department.
(d) “Department” means the department of environmental quality.
(e) “Detroit consumer price index” means the most comprehensive index of consumer prices available for the Detroit area from the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(f) “Emergency management coordinator” means that term as defined in section 2 of the emergency management act, 1976 PA 390, MCL 30.402.
(g) “Great Lakes” means the Great Lakes and their connecting waters, including Lake St. Clair.
(h) “Group 1 facility” means a facility whose discharge is described by R 323.2218 of the Michigan administrative code.
(i) “Group 2 facility” means a facility whose discharge is described by R 323.2210(y), R 323.2215, or R 323.2216 of the Michigan administrative code. Group 2 facility does not include a Group 2a facility.
(j) “Group 2a facility” means a facility whose discharge is described by R 323.2210(y) or R 323.2215 of the Michigan administrative code and that meets 1 or more of the following:
(i) The facility’s discharge is from a coin-operated laundromat.
(ii) The facility’s discharge is from a car wash or vehicle wash open to the public.
(iii) The facility’s discharge is a subsurface sanitary discharge of fewer than 10,000 gallons per day that does not meet the terms for authorization under R 323.2211(a) of the Michigan administrative code.
(iv) The facility’s discharge is a seasonal sanitary discharge from a public park, public or private recreational vehicle park or campground, or recreational or vacation camp.
(k) “Group 3 facility” means a facility whose discharge is described by R 323.2211 or R 323.2213 of the Michigan administrative code.
(l) “Local health department” means that term as defined in section 1105 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.1105.
(m) “Local unit” means a county, city, village, or township or an agency or instrumentality of any of these entities.
(n) “Municipality” means this state, a county, city, village, or township, or an agency or instrumentality of any of these entities.
(o) “National response center” means the National Communications Center established under the clean water act, 33 USC 1251 to 1387, located in Washington, DC, that receives and relays notice of oil discharge or releases of hazardous substances to appropriate federal officials.
(p) “Nonoceangoing vessel” means a vessel that is not an oceangoing vessel.
(q) “Oceangoing vessel” means a vessel that operates on the Great Lakes or the St. Lawrence waterway after operating in waters outside of the Great Lakes or the St. Lawrence waterway.
(r) “Open water disposal of contaminated dredge materials” means the placement of dredge materials contaminated with toxic substances as defined in R 323.1205 of the Michigan administrative code into the open waters of the waters of the state but does not include the siting or use of a confined disposal facility designated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers or beach nourishment activities utilizing uncontaminated materials.
(s) “Primary public safety answering point” means that term as defined in section 102 of the emergency telephone service enabling act, 1986 PA 32, MCL 484.1102.
(t) “Sediments” means any matter settled out of ballast water within a vessel.
(u) “Sewage sludge” means sewage sludge generated in the treatment of domestic sewage, other than only septage or industrial waste.
(v) “Sewage sludge derivative” means a product for land application derived from sewage sludge that does not include solid waste or other waste regulated under this act.
(w) “Sewage sludge generator” means a person who generates sewage sludge that is applied to land.
(x) “Sewage sludge distributor” means a person who applies, markets, or distributes, except at retail, a sewage sludge derivative.
(y) “St. Lawrence waterway” means the St. Lawrence River, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
(z) “Threshold reporting quantity” means that term as defined in R 324.2002 of the Michigan administrative code.
(aa) “Waters of the state” means groundwaters, lakes, rivers, and streams and all other watercourses and waters, including the Great Lakes, within the jurisdiction of this state.
Sec. 3122. (1) Until September 30, 2019, the department may levy and collect an annual groundwater discharge permit fee from facilities or municipalities that discharge wastewater to the ground or groundwater of this state pursuant to section 3112. The fee shall be as follows:
(a) For a group 1 facility, $3,650.00.
(b) For a group 2 facility or a municipality of 1,000 or fewer residents, $1,500.00.
(c) For a group 2a facility, $250.00.
(d) For a group 3 facility, $200.00.
(2) Within 180 days after receipt of a complete application for a permit to discharge wastewater to the ground or to groundwater, the department shall either grant or deny a permit, unless the applicant and the department agree to extend this time period. If the department fails to make a decision on an application within the time period specified or agreed to under this subsection, an applicant subject to an annual groundwater discharge permit fee shall receive a 15% annual discount on the annual groundwater discharge permit fee.
(3) If the person required to pay the annual groundwater discharge permit fee under subsection (1) is a municipality, the municipality may pass on the annual groundwater discharge permit fee to each user of the municipal facility.
(4) As used in this section, “group 1 facility”, “group 2 facility”, “group 2a facility”, and “group 3 facility” do not include a municipality with a population of 1,000 or fewer residents.
This act is ordered to take immediate effect.
Secretary of the Senate
Clerk of the House of Representatives
Approved
Governor
