WHITE-TAILED DEER LICENSE PLATE; ROAD-KILL CLEAN-UP GRANT PROGRAM
House Bills 4509 and 4510
Sponsor: Rep. Larry DeVuyst
Committee: Transportation
Complete to 4-10-01
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILLS 4509 AND 4510 AS INTRODUCED 3-22-01
The bills would create a white-tailed deer specialty license plate, and dedicate the revenue from the sale of the plate to the Department of Transportation, which would be charged with creation of a road-kill clean-up grant program. House Bill 4510 is tie-barred to House Bill 4509 so that it could not become law unless House Bill 4509 also were enacted.
House Bill 4509 would amend the Michigan Vehicle Code (MCL 257.811o) to require the secretary of state to develop, and upon application to issue, a state-sponsored fund-raising registration plate and matching collector plate to recognize the white-tailed deer.
Under current law, the secretary of state can develop up to six different limited term registration plates to recognize a state-sponsored event, a Michigan university, or an accomplishment or occasion of a Michigan university. The secretary of state is authorized to develop, promote, and market the fund-raising registration plates and matching collector plates with the funds available through service fees.
To authorize a plate commemorating the white-tailed deer, House Bill 4509 would increase to seven (from six) the total number of specialty fund-raising plates the secretary of state could develop and promote. Under the bill, those making application for the white-tailed deer registration plate bearing a design prescribed by the secretary of state would be required to follow the existing motor vehicle registration and re-registration procedure, except that a $25 service fee would be added to the annual vehicle registration tax for the original plate, and a $10 service fee would be added for a renewal of the plate. At registration, the secretary of state could issue a temporary permit (without fee) for a period not to exceed 60 days, to be used until the white-tailed deer registration plate was available. At renewal, the secretary of state could issue an expiration tab.
House Bill 4509 would require that the white-tailed deer registration plate service fees collected by the secretary of state be kept in a separate account, and on a quarterly basis transferred to the state treasurer, who would credit the fee money to a segregated account in the Michigan Transportation Fund, to be used exclusively for the removal of dead animals from state highways. The secretary of state also would be required first to deduct the manufacturing and administrative costs, including the administrative costs associated with issuing, replacing, and substituting the specialty plates.
House Bill 4510 would amend the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (MCL 324.101 et al.) to create a new section that would establish the Michigan Road Kill Clean-up Fund. Under the bill, the state treasurer could receive money or other assets from any source for deposit into the fund, including but not limited to revenue received from the sale of white-tailed deer specialty registration plates. The bill specifies that the state treasurer would direct the investment of the fund, and credit to the fund interest and earnings from fund investments. Money in the fund at the close of the fiscal year would remain in the fund, and not lapse to the general fund.
Under the bill, the state transportation department could expend money from the fund, upon appropriation, only for the removal of animal carcasses and offal from state highways as provided in the Michigan road-kill clean-up grant program. More specifically, the department would be required to establish and administer a road-kill clean-up grant program, and develop implementation guidelines. Then, the department could make a grant to a local governmental unit to provide the funds necessary to pay for, or offset the cost of, road-kill clean-up on the highways under its jurisdiction. The bill specifies that the local government could contract with a private company to conduct the removal and disposal, and pay the cost of that contract with funds provided by the grant.
The bill would require that the state transportation department first make grants to local units of government with a high deer population as determined by the Wildlife Division of the Department of Natural Resources, and that an application for a grant would be made on a form provided by the state transportation department. Finally, the bill would define "local governmental unit" to mean a county, city, township, or village.
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This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.