Act No. 50

Public Acts of 2001

Approved by the Governor

July 20, 2001

Filed with the Secretary of State

July 23, 2001

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 23, 2001

STATE OF MICHIGAN

91ST LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2001

Introduced by Reps. DeVuyst, Sheltrown, Tabor and Kowall

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 4912

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, and assessments; to provide certain appropriations; to prescribe penalties and provide remedies; to repeal certain parts of this act on a specific date; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts," by amending sections 43701, 43702, 43703, and 43704 (MCL 324.43701, 324.43702, 324.43703, and 324.43704), as added by 1995 PA 57, and by adding section 43705.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 43701. As used in this part:

(a) "Game and fish protection fund" means the game and fish protection fund in the department of treasury that is created in part 435.

(b) "Gas" means a mixture of hydrocarbons and nonhydrocarbons in a gaseous state which may or may not be associated with oil and includes liquids resulting from the condensation of those hydrocarbons and nonhydrocarbons.

(c) "Mineral" means an inorganic substance that can be extracted from the earth, except for oil or gas, and includes rock, metal ores, and mineral water.

(d) "Oil" means natural crude oil or petroleum and other hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, which are produced at the well in liquid form by ordinary production methods and which are not the result of condensation of gas after it leaves the underground reservoir.

(e) "Trust fund" means the game and fish protection trust fund established in section 43702.

Sec. 43702. The game and fish protection trust fund is created for the benefit of the people of this state and shall consist of the following:

(a) Gifts, grants, or bequests conveyed to the trust fund, or income derived from such gifts, grants, or bequests.

(b) All funds transferred to the game and fish protection fund by section 1909(a).

(c) Bonuses, rentals, delayed rentals, royalties, and other revenues collected or reserved by the state under leases or direct sale contracts in effect on or after April 7, 1986, entered into by the state pursuant to section 502, 503, or 33936 or section 12 of former 1909 PA 280, or any other law enacted for leasing for the purpose of permitting extraction or removal of minerals, coal, oil, gas, or other resources from state owned lands, if these bonuses, rentals, delayed rentals, royalties, direct sale proceeds, and other revenues accrue from lands acquired by the state using revenues derived from the game and fish protection fund, the game and fish protection trust account created in section 4 of the Kammer recreational land trust fund act of 1976, former 1976 PA 204, federal funds made available to the state under chapter 899, 50 Stat. 917, 16 U.S.C. 669 to 669b and 669c to 669i, commonly known as the federal aid in wildlife restoration act, or chapter 658, 64 Stat. 430, 16 U.S.C. 777 to 777e, 777f to 777i, and 777k to 777l, commonly known as the federal aid in fish restoration act, or related state or federal funds.

Sec. 43703. (1) The interest and earnings from the trust fund shall be deposited in the game and fish protection fund.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the corpus of the trust fund shall be maintained by the state treasurer in a manner that will provide for future disbursements to the game and fish protection fund from the trust fund's interest and earnings.

(3) The legislature may annually appropriate and transfer not more than $6,000,000.00 from the corpus of the trust fund to the game and fish protection fund.

Sec. 43704. The state treasurer shall direct the investment of the trust fund.

Sec. 43705. A joint legislative work group on game and fish program revenue is established. This work group shall consist of representatives of the house and senate standing committees with primary responsibility for natural resources issues and the house and senate appropriations subcommittees on natural resources. Members shall be appointed on a bipartisan basis by the speaker of the house of representatives and the senate majority leader. The work group shall also include representatives of the natural resources commission and stakeholders. Assistance and staff support to the work group may be provided by the house and senate fiscal agencies. The work group shall issue a report by September 30, 2002, to the members of the legislature which includes tax credit issues and alternative funding options to establish stable sources of long-term financial support for game and fish protection programs.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Secretary of the Senate.

Approved

Governor.