February 6, 2008, Introduced by Reps. Walker, Moolenaar, Mayes, Steil, David Law, Amos, Hansen, Booher, Pastor and Elsenheimer and referred to the Committee on Tourism, Outdoor Recreation and Natural Resources.
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
by amending sections 32601, 32603, 32604, 32605, 32607, and 32609
(MCL 324.32601, 324.32603, 324.32604, 324.32605, 324.32607, and
324.32609), sections 32601, 32603, 32604, 32605, and 32609 as added
by 2000 PA 278 and section 32607 as amended by 2004 PA 546.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 32601. As used in this part:
(a) "Bottomlands" means land in the Great Lakes, and bays and
harbors of the Great Lakes, lying below and lakeward of the
ordinary
high-water mark. as described in section 32502.
(b) "Department" means the department of environmental
quality.
(c) "Fair market value" means the price based upon the unique
historical and physical properties, including, but not limited to,
species, growth rates, volume, and condition of the usable
submerged logs as calculated at dockside following delivery to
shore.
(d) "Fund" means the submerged log recovery fund created in
section 32610.
(e) "Great Lakes" means Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake
Huron, and Lake Erie, and includes Lake St. Clair.
(f) "Ordinary high-water mark" means the elevations described
in section 32502. When the soil, configuration of the surface, or
vegetation has been altered by human activity, the ordinary high-
water mark is located where it would have been if this alteration
had not occurred.
(g) "Patented lands" means any bottomlands lying within a
specific government grant area, including a private claim patent or
federal patent.
(h) "Riparian owner" means a person who owns frontage
bordering bottomlands.
(i) "Riparian rights" means those rights that are associated
with the ownership of frontage bordering bottomlands, subject to
the public trust.
(j) "Submerged log" means a portion of the trunk of a felled
tree that has not been further processed for any end use and is
located on, in, over, or under bottomlands. Submerged log does not
include a portion of a tree that is located in the Great Lakes or
on, in, over, or under bottomlands that poses a navigational or
safety hazard or is of no or little commercial value.
(k) "Unpatented lands" means all bottomlands except patented
lands.
Sec. 32603. (1) A person shall obtain a permit from the
department under this part prior to removing submerged logs from
bottomlands.
(2) The department may issue a permit under this part to a
person for the removal of submerged logs from patented lands if
permission is received from the lawful owner of the patented lands.
(3) A person shall not recover, alter, or destroy abandoned
property as defined in part 761 while engaging in submerged log
removal operations under a submerged log removal permit issued
under this part.
(4)
For submerged log recovery in underwater preserves a Great
Lakes bottomland preserve established under part 761, the
department shall place conditions on submerged log removal permits
to prevent damage to abandoned watercraft or other features of
archaeological, historical, recreational, or environmental
significance and to minimize conflicts between recreational
activities within the Great Lakes bottomland preserve and the
submerged log recovery operation. A person shall not be allowed to
recover submerged logs that are associated with a shipwreck.
Sec.
32604. (1) For calendar year 2000, the department shall
establish
a time period for the submission of applications for
submerged
log removal permits under this part. Beginning in 2001,
and
each year thereafter, applications shall be submitted before
February
1 of each calendar year. However, the department shall not
issue
a submerged log removal permit under this part after December
31,
2003.
(1) (2)
An application A person may
apply for a submerged log
removal
permit shall be submitted in writing by submitting an
application to the department on a form provided by the department.
and
The application shall include all of the following:
(a) A description of the proposed bottomland log removal area
with boundaries delineated by a digital global positioning system
or other technology approved by the department. The proposed
bottomland log removal area shall be a contiguous area of not more
than 320 acres. The area proposed shall be square or rectangular in
shape, and the length shall not exceed the width by more than a
factor of 6.
(b) A description of the methods to be used to raise the
submerged logs, the time of year during which submerged logs will
be raised, and the procedures to be used for transferring logs to
the shore.
(c) Identification of any adverse environmental impacts
associated with the proposed submerged log removal method.
(d) Identification of the steps proposed to mitigate any
adverse environmental impacts caused by the proposed submerged log
removal operation.
(e) Other information that the department considers necessary
in evaluating a submerged log removal permit application.
(f)
A $3,500.00 $1,000.00 application fee.
(2) (3)
An application for a submerged log
removal permit is
not administratively complete until all information requested on
the application form and any other information requested by the
department are received. Within 30 days of its receipt of an
application, the department shall notify the applicant in writing
if the application is deficient. The applicant shall submit the
requested information to the department within 30 days after the
date the notice is provided. If the applicant fails to respond
within the 30-day period, the department shall deny the submerged
log removal permit unless the applicant requests and the department
approves an extension of time based upon the applicant's reasonable
justification for the extension. The department shall grant or deny
an application for a permit within 120 days after the department
receives an administratively complete application.
(3) (4)
Application fees received under
this section shall be
forwarded to the state treasurer for deposit into the fund.
Sec. 32605. Upon receiving a complete application for a
submerged log removal permit, the department shall do both of the
following:
(a) Place the application on public notice for a 20-day period
for review and comment.
(b) Submit a copy to the department of natural resources and
the
department of state underwater
salvage and preserve committee
created in section 76103 for their review and comment.
Sec. 32607. (1) The department shall not authorize the same
bottomland log removal area in more than 1 submerged log removal
permit at any 1 time.
(2) The department may modify the boundaries of a proposed
bottomland log removal area in a submerged log removal permit to
avoid overlaps with other active submerged log removal permits or
adverse impacts, including, but not limited to, impacts to the
environment, natural resources, riparian rights, and the public
trust.
(3) A submerged log removal plan approved by the department
shall be included in each submerged log removal permit.
(4) A submerged log removal permit shall contain terms and
conditions that are determined by the department to protect the
environment, natural resources, riparian rights, and the public
trust, .
including all of the
following:
(a) Logs shall not be dragged on the bottomlands or removed
from the water by pulling them up the bank of the shore.
(b) Logs shall be lifted from the water and carried to a
commercial dock or a permitted boat ramp for removal.
(c) The permittee shall only remove precut logs that have been
cut on both ends of the log.
(d) The permittee shall not remove logs that have been
deliberately stacked for the development of fish populations.
(e) The department, with the approval of the department of
natural resources, may require the permittee to place brush or
other habitat sustaining material on bottomland at the location in
which the logs were removed to minimize the impact of log removal
on aquatic species. The permittee may utilize habitat replacement
requirements issued by the United States army corps of engineers to
fulfill habitat mitigation requirements of the department or the
department of natural resources under this subsection. The
placement of materials on bottomland as a condition of a log
removal permit is exempt from the permit requirement of part 325.
(f) Based upon input from the department of natural resources,
the department may limit the location or time of year that that log
removal may take place to ensure that the log removal does not
adversely affect fish spawning areas.
(5)
Each A submerged log removal permit that was issued prior
to the effective date of the 2008 amendatory act that amended this
subsection shall expire on January 1, 2013. A submerged log removal
permit that is issued after the effective date of the 2008
amendatory act that amended this subsection is effective for a
period of 5 years after all necessary federal, state, and local
authorizations for the submerged log recovery operation have been
received. An applicant shall notify the department of the date on
which the federal government issued its approval for the submerged
log
removal permit. Processing fees received under this subsection
shall
be forwarded to the state treasurer for deposit into the
fund.
(6) A submerged log removal permit issued under this section
is not transferrable unless approved in writing by the department.
(7)
An applicant for A person
holding a submerged log removal
permit shall provide to the department a mechanism of financial
assurance acceptable to the department or a performance bond
acceptable
to the department in the amount of
$100,000.00. The
financial
assurance or performance bond shall be
provided to the
department
at least 10 days prior to beginning
submerged log
removal in a bottomland log removal area. The financial assurance
or performance bond shall ensure compliance with the submerged log
removal
permit for the period of the permit. or until the
authorized
submerged log removal is completed to the satisfaction
of
the department and all payments under section 32609 have been
made.
The Within 60 days after the
expiration of a submerged log
removal permit, the department shall issue a written statement
releasing
the permittee and bonding company upon termination of the
submerged
log removal permit and upon satisfaction of the
department
as to the compliance of the permittee with the terms and
conditions
of the permit from the
financial assurance or
performance bond requirement or shall notify the permittee
specifically what actions are required in order to comply with the
terms
of the permit and to obtain the release.
The department may
draw
upon the performance bond for delinquent payments as required
in
section 32609.
(8) A permittee may request, in writing, and the department
may grant, termination of a submerged log removal permit prior to
the expiration date, including release from quarterly reports and
performance bond requirements.
Sec.
32609. (1) The state reserves a payment of 2.0 times 50%
of the sawlog stumpage value for each usable submerged log that is
removed from unpatented lands. As used in this subsection, "sawlog
stumpage value" means the most recent average value of standing
timber on state forestlands for each species as determined and
reported by the department of natural resources. However, if a
species is no longer harvested on state forestlands, "sawlog
stumpage value" means the most recent highest value of any species
currently being harvested on state forestlands as determined and
reported by the department of natural resources.
(2) The holder of a submerged log removal permit under this
part shall provide the department with a detailed report and all
payments due under this section within 30 days after the close of
each calendar quarter. The report shall include an accurate scaling
at dockside of all submerged logs removed, by species. The
permittee shall provide for an independent agent, approved by the
department in writing, to conduct the scaling and species
determination.
(3) All payments received under this section shall be
forwarded to the state treasurer for deposit into the fund.
(4) After a permittee is notified in writing that a payment
under this section is overdue, the department may order suspension
of the submerged log removal permit until the payment is submitted
in full. The permittee shall not resume submerged log removal
operations until the department provides written authorization for
the operations to resume.
(5)
Not later than December 31,
2001, the The department
shall
conduct
a study to annually determine the fair market value of
submerged
logs as a potential basis for determining the payment to
the
state under subsection (1). The department may conduct the
study
or may enter into a contract with a qualified person to
conduct
the study. Upon completion, the department and shall submit
a
report of the results of the study determination to the
standing
committees of the legislature with jurisdiction primarily related
to natural resources and the environment and to the senate and
house appropriations subcommittees on environmental quality and
natural resources.