Senate Bill 2285

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON MARINE RESOURCES TO ADJUST FEES TO DEFRAY THE COSTS OF OPERATION OF THE COMMISSION AND THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES; TO CREATE THE DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES PROGRAM FUND; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) The Commission on Marine Resources may adjust fees to cover all reasonable direct and indirect costs associated with the development and administration of all permitting and permitting-related programs and activities within the jurisdiction of the commission or the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. These fees shall be adjusted by the commission at an amount not to exceed the expenses borne by the state, exclusive of federal funding, in carrying out the permitting and permitting-related duties of the commission and department. The commission shall review and, if necessary, revise its fees at least once each year. The commission may establish fees by order or by regulation.

(2) Any person required to pay fees established by the commission may petition the commission for a hearing.

(3) The commission shall file a report by July 31 of each year with the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House describing the type and amount of fees collected and the ratio of general fund appropriations to environmental fees for the preceding fiscal year.

(4) The commission shall deposit all fees collected under this section into the "Department of Marine Resources Program Fund."

SECTION 2. (1) There is created in the State Treasury a special trust fund to be designated as the "Department of Marine Resources Program Fund," hereinafter referred to in this section as the "fund." Interest earned on the principal therein shall be credited by the Treasurer to the fund. Monies in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall be retained in the fund for use in the next succeeding fiscal year. The fund may receive monies from any available public or private source, including, but not limited to, collection of fees, interest, grants, public and private donations, and judicial actions.

(2) The commission and the department shall administer the fund as provided in Section 7-7-3.

(3) The commission is authorized to utilize any monies in the fund to support the exercise of the powers and duties of the commission and the department and its executive director as set forth in statute. The commission may delegate to the executive director the authority to make expenditures of the fund.

SECTION 3. The commission may take any administrative or legal action necessary to collect any fee owed to the commission and to collect attorney's fees and costs related to the collection of any fee. The commission may, by regulation or order, impose a late fee for any fee not paid to the commission in a timely fashion and may issue an order directing the holder of a permit who has not paid its fees within ninety (90) days of the fee due date to cease and desist its operations under the permit. The commission may adopt regulations allowing the revocation of any permit for which fees due under commission regulations have not been paid within ninety (90) days of the due date.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.