December 2, 2008, Introduced by Senator BROWN and referred to the Committee on Finance.
A bill to amend 1988 PA 466, entitled
"Animal industry act,"
by amending section 14 (MCL 287.714), as amended by 2002 PA 458,
and by adding section 14a.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 14. (1) If the director determines that the control or
eradication of a disease or condition of livestock warrants entry
onto property where livestock or domestic animals are located, the
director shall order the entry onto property where livestock or
domestic animals are located and authorize seizure, slaughter,
destruction, or other disposition of individual livestock or
domestic animals or the entire herd, flock, or school. If the
director has signed an order for the slaughter, destruction, or
other disposition of livestock or domestic animals, the director
shall notify the attorney general and the house and senate
appropriations committees and the department of management and
budget on the issue of indemnity under this section. The director
may approve facilities and procedures for the orderly disposal of
animals, animal products, and animal feeds for the purpose of
controlling or preventing the spread of an infectious, contagious,
or toxicological disease. The director may select a site or method
for the disposal with the advice of the director of the department
of environmental quality.
(2) The director may, under rules promulgated by the
department, allow indemnification for the slaughter, destruction,
or other disposition of livestock or domestic animals due to
livestock diseases or toxicological contamination. If the director
has signed an order for the slaughter, destruction, or other
disposition of livestock or domestic animals, the owner may apply
for indemnification. The director shall appraise and inventory the
condemned livestock or domestic animals. The appraisals and
inventories shall be on forms approved by the director. The
director shall use agricultural pricing information from commercial
livestock or domestic animal auction markets and other livestock or
domestic animal market information as determined by the director to
determine the value of condemned livestock or domestic animals.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5),
indemnification for individual livestock or domestic animals within
a herd, flock, or school shall be based upon 100% of the fair
market value of that type of livestock or domestic animal on the
date of the appraisal and marketable for the purpose for which the
livestock or domestic animal was intended, not to exceed $4,000.00
for each livestock or domestic animal. The appraisal determination
shall not delay the slaughter, destruction, or disposition of the
livestock or domestic animals. The indemnification amount under
this subsection shall include a deduction for any compensation
received, or to be received, from any other source including, but
not limited to, indemnification by the United States department of
agriculture, insurance, salvage value, or any monetary value
obtained to encourage disposal of infected or exposed livestock or
domestic animals in accordance with a disease control or
eradication program. The owner shall furnish to the department all
records indicating other sources of indemnity. An affidavit signed
by the owner attesting to the amount of compensation for the
livestock received or to be received from any other source shall
accompany the appraisal certificate before indemnification under
this section.
(4) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5),
indemnification for entire herd, flock, or school depopulations of
livestock or domestic animals shall be based upon 100% of the fair
market value of that type of animal on the date of the appraisal
and marketable for the purpose for which the livestock or domestic
animal was intended, not to exceed an average of $4,000.00 per
animal in the flock, herd, or school. The appraisal determination
shall not delay depopulation. The indemnification amount under this
section shall include a deduction for any compensation received, or
to be received, from any other source including, but not limited
to, indemnification by the United States department of agriculture,
insurance, salvage value, or any monetary value obtained to
encourage disposal of infected or exposed livestock or domestic
animals in accordance with a disease control or eradication
program. The owner shall furnish to the department all records
indicating other sources of indemnity. An affidavit signed by the
owner attesting to the amount of compensation for the livestock or
domestic animals received, or to be received, from any other source
shall accompany the appraisal certificate prior to indemnification
under this section.
(5) The department may provide for indemnity pursuant to this
section not to exceed $100,000.00 per order, from any line item in
the annual budget for the department in the applicable fiscal year.
Any agreement greater than $100,000.00 entered into between the
department and an owner of livestock shall contain a provision
indicating that, notwithstanding the terms of the agreement,
indemnification shall be subject to specific appropriations by the
legislature and not be paid from department funds.
(6) Acceptance of compensation under this act constitutes a
full and complete release of any claim the owner has against the
state of Michigan, its departments, agencies, officers, employees,
agents, and contractors to the extent these persons were acting on
behalf of the state, within the scope of their employment with the
state or under the direction of the state, its departments,
agencies, officers, or employees, arising out of testing, purchase,
removal, slaughter, destruction, and other disposition of the
owner's animals.
(7) The right to indemnity from the state for animals
condemned and ordered slaughtered, destroyed, or otherwise disposed
of by the director applies only to native livestock and native
domestic animals. Indemnification shall not apply to livestock or
domestic animals determined by the department to be imported
without meeting import requirements such as official interstate
health certificate or official interstate certificate of veterinary
inspection, required testing, required vaccination, or for
livestock or domestic animals determined by the department to have
been illegally moved within this state. An owner is not entitled to
indemnity from the state for an animal that comes into the
possession of the owner with the owner's knowledge that the animal
is diseased or is suspected of having been exposed to an
infectious, contagious, or toxicological disease.
(8) In order to qualify for indemnification under this
section, a herd located in a modified accredited zone shall have
adopted a wildlife risk mitigation action plan acceptable to the
department and demonstrate, in a manner acceptable to the
department, that the plan has been and is being followed.
(9) In addition, the director shall not indemnify an owner for
animals
that have under the
following circumstances:
(a) The herd has been exposed to an animal that comes in to
the possession of the owner with the owner's knowledge that the
animal is diseased or is suspected of having been exposed to an
infectious, contagious, or toxicological disease.
(b) The herd has been subject to a prior indemnification
order. Under such circumstances, the director shall specifically
address the issue of a prior indemnification order in the new
indemnification order.
(10) (8)
A premises that has been
depopulated shall be cleaned
and disinfected as prescribed by the director.
(11) (9)
Repopulation of the premises,
except as approved by
the director, shall not confer eligibility for future indemnity
under this section.
(12) (10)
The department may cooperate and
coordinate with the
secretary of the United States department of agriculture or the
secretary's authorized representative or other governmental
departments or agencies regarding indemnification under this
section.
(13) (11)
Not less than annually, within 60
days after the
close of the fiscal year, the director shall make a written report
to the standing committees of the house of representatives and
senate having jurisdiction on agricultural and farming issues. The
report will include the following:
(a) The amount expended by the department for bovine
tuberculosis eradication during the preceding fiscal year.
(b) An explanation of the expenditures made by the department
for bovine tuberculosis eradication during the preceding fiscal
year.
(c) The status of bovine tuberculosis eradication efforts in
Michigan.
(14) (12)
Not less than annually, within 60
days after the
close of the fiscal year, the director of the department of natural
resources shall make a written report to the standing committees of
the house of representatives and senate having jurisdiction on
agricultural and farming issues. The report will include the
following:
(a) The amount expended by the department of natural resources
for bovine tuberculosis eradication during the preceding fiscal
year.
(b) An explanation of the expenditures made by the department
of natural resources for bovine tuberculosis eradication during the
preceding fiscal year.
(15) As used in this section:
(a) "Modified accredited zone" means those areas identified in
this state under 9 CFR 77.11 as modified accredited zones.
(b) "Project" means certain risk mitigating measures, which
may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(i) Making it difficult for wildlife to access feed by storing
livestock feed securely, restricting wildlife access to feeding and
watering areas, and deterring or reducing wildlife presence around
cattle and cattle feed by storing feed in an enclosed barn,
wrapping bales or covering stacks with tarps, closing ends of bags,
storing grains in animal-proof containers or bins, maintaining
fences, practicing small mammal and rodent control, or feeding away
from deer cover.
(ii) Minimizing wildlife access to cattle feed and water by
feeding cattle in an enclosed area, feeding in open areas near
buildings and human activity, removing extra or waste feed when
cattle are moved, using hay feeders to reduce waste, using
artificial water systems to help keep cattle from sharing water
sources with wildlife, fencing off stagnant ponds and wetlands, and
keeping mineral feeders near buildings and human activity or using
devices that restrict deer usage.
(c) "Wildlife risk mitigation action plan" means a written
plan consisting of 1 or more projects to help reduce the risks of
bovine tuberculosis spreading between wildlife and livestock as
approved by the department under this section.
Sec. 14a. A state land grant university shall report to the
legislature, the director, and the state veterinarian by December
31, 2012 on the level of effectiveness of the most widely
implemented practices adopted under wildlife risk mitigation action
plans as defined in section 14(15)(c).