SB-0472, As Passed House, May 27, 2014

HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL NO. 472

     A bill to amend 1990 PA 345, entitled

"State survey and remonumentation act,"

by amending the title and sections 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,

13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 (MCL 54.262, 54.263, 54.264, 54.266, 54.267,

54.268, 54.269, 54.270, 54.271, 54.272, 54.273, 54.274, 54.275,

54.276, and 54.277), sections 2 and 12 as amended by 2010 PA 260,

section 6 as amended by 1998 PA 5, section 8 as amended by 2002 PA

489, and section 11 as amended by 2006 PA 76, and by adding

sections 9a, 9b, and 17a.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

TITLE

     An act to create a state survey and remonumentation commission

and to prescribe its powers and duties; to provide for the

appointment of an executive director; to provide for a contract for

the services of a state geodetic advisor; to create the state

survey and remonumentation fund and to provide for its use; to

coordinate and implement the monumentation and remonumentation of

property controlling corners in this state; and coordinate the

establishment of geographic information systems; and to provide for

certain powers and duties of certain state and local officers and

agencies; and to require the promulgation of rules.

     Sec. 2. As used in this act:

     (a) "Commission" means the director of the department of

energy, labor, and economic growth.state survey and remonumentation

commission created in section 3.

     (b) "County plan" means a county monumentation and

remonumentation plan and perpetual monument maintenance plan

established under section 8.

     (c) "Executive director" means the person appointed to that

office under section 7.

     (c) "County representative" means the individual obligated to

perform the duties of county representative under section 9.

     (d) "Department" means the department of licensing and

regulatory affairs.

(e) (d) "Fund" means the state survey and remonumentation fund

created in section 11.

     (f) "Monumentation" means all land surveying activities

performed by a surveyor to monument a protracted public land survey

corner under this act and in accordance with the laws of this

state.

     (g) "Original public land survey corner" means a corner

established and monumented pursuant to orders and instructions

issued by the United States government for the purposes of

delineating United States public lands and private lands or

subdividing public lands for conveyance.

(h) (e) "Property controlling corner" for a property means a

public land survey corner or any property corner that does not lie

on a property line of the property in question but that controls

the location of 1 or more of the property corners of the property

in question.either of the following:

     (i) A position misidentified as and used as an original public

land survey corner or as a protracted public land survey corner

that serves to control property lines.

     (ii) Any other corner approved by the department, acting in

consultation with the commission.

     (i) "Protracted public land survey corner" means either of the

following:

     (i) A closing quarter section position along a township or

range line or a center quarter section position that was not

actually monumented on the ground in the field notes of the

original United States government survey, but that serves to

complete the nominal half-mile grid of government corners.

     (ii) A monumented position that is not an original public land

survey corner, lying on a section line or quarter line near a body

of water, that serves to define the section line or quarter line in

lieu of a submerged government position or an omitted meander

position.

     (j) "Remonumentation" means all land surveying activities

performed by a surveyor to perpetuate a previously monumented

original public land survey corner, protracted public land survey

corner, or property controlling corner as provided in this act.

     (k) "Surveyor" means a professional surveyor who is licensed

to practice professional surveying under article 20 of the

occupational code, 1980 PA 299, MCL 339.2001 to 339.2014.

     Sec. 3. (1) The state survey and remonumentation commission is

created in the department. of commerce.

     (2) The commission shall consist of 5 7 members. , who shall

be appointed by the By January 1, 2015, the governor shall appoint

the members, with the advice and consent of the senate, as follows:

     (a) One member Two members shall be appointed to represent the

general public.

     (b) One member must be a grant administrator appointed under

section 9a.

(c) (b) The remaining 4 members shall must be land surveyors,

licensed pursuant to article 20 of the occupational code, Act No.

299 of the Public Acts of 1980, being sections 339.2001 to 339.2014

of the Michigan Compiled Laws, 1 of whom must also shall be serving

as a county surveyor for a county in this state. representative.

The 4 members appointed under this subdivision shall must be

residents of the following areas of this state:

     (i) One shall must be a resident of the Upper Peninsula, of

Michigan, 1 shall must be a resident of the area of the Lower

Peninsula of Michigan that is north of the survey township line

lying between survey township 16 north and survey township 17

north, and 1 shall must be a resident of the area of the Lower

Peninsula of Michigan that is south of the survey township line

lying between survey township 16 north and survey township 17

north.

     (ii) One shall must be a member at large, and shall may be a

resident of any area of this state.

     (3) Of the 5 7 members first appointed to the commission after

the effective date of the amendatory act that added section 9a, 1

shall be appointed for a term of 1 year, 1 2 for a term terms of 2

years each, 1 2 for a term terms of 3 years each, and 2 for terms

of 4 years each. At the expiration of the term of each a member,

the governor shall appoint a successor, who shall hold office for a

term of 4 years and until his or her successor has been appointed

and qualified. A If there is a vacancy in the office of a member of

the commission, the governor shall be filled by appointment by the

governor, appoint a successor, with the advice and consent of the

senate, for the unexpired term.

     (4) Members of the commission shall serve without

compensation, but shall be reimbursed from the fund for actual and

necessary per diem expenses in accordance with standards

established annually by the legislature for similar boards or

commissions. that are reimbursed from the general fund.

     Sec. 4. At the commission's first meeting, 1 member of the

commission shall be selected by a majority of the commission

members to be chairperson. The commission shall meet at least 4 2

times each year, at a time and place agreed upon by the commission.

The chairperson may call special meetings at a time and place

determined by the chairperson.

     Sec. 6. (1) The commission department shall do all of the

following:

     (a) Coordinate the restoration, maintenance, and the

preservation of the land survey records and monuments of vertical

and horizontal monuments, the public land survey system , and the

property controlling corners established by the United States

public land survey and by the national geodetic survey within in

this state, including, but not necessarily limited to, all

pertinent field notes, plats, and documents, ; and coordinate the

restoration, establishment, maintenance, and preservation of other

boundary records otherwise established by law, or considered by the

commission to be of importance.and monuments.

     (b) Establish , a policy to maintain , and provide safe

storage facilities for a comprehensive system of recordation and

dissemination of land information records required to be filed with

the department under this act.

     (c) Coordinate the extension, densification, and maintenance

of the horizontal and vertical control networks initiated by the

federal government through the national geodetic survey and the

United States geological survey.

     (d) Coordinate the collection and preservation of information

obtained from surveys made by persons or organizations authorized

to establish monuments or land boundaries, and to assist in proper

recording of monuments or land boundaries by county surveyors or

registers of deeds.

     (c) Coordinate memoranda of understanding with other state,

federal, and local agencies to promote the activities necessary,

incidental, or appropriate to promote this act.

(d) (e) Foster, encourage, and promote the establishment of

remonumentation programs in every county plans for each county in

this state and, after submission of county plans, review the plans

for approval.

     (f) Establish and maintain a data base of information on

approved monumented horizontal and vertical control in this state.

     (e) Coordinate and administer a grant program for grants to

counties to implement this act.

(f) (g) On or before By October 1 , 1993, and biennially after

October 1, 1993, in each odd-numbered year, submit a report to the

legislature and each county board of commissioners. The report

shall must include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

     (i) A summary of the commission's department's activities

regarding administration of this act.

     (ii) An assessment of the progress of the implementation of

county monumentation and remonumentation plans throughout this

state.

     (iii) A statement regarding the amount of money that was

received and disbursed from the fund.

     (iv) An assessment of how much money is necessary to carry out

monumentation or remonumentation of the entire the county plans in

this state.

     (v) An assessment of whether the money received in the fund is

adequate to implement this act.

     (vi) Recommendations including, but not limited to, the level

of funding that is necessary to implement this act.

     (h) On or before October 1, 1993, submit a copy of the initial

report that is prepared pursuant to subdivision (g) to the county

board of commissioners of each county of this state.

     (i) Establish and administer a grant program to counties to

implement this act.

     (vii) A statement of the amount of money disbursed from the

fund to each grantee, the average amount of money spent per corner

by each grantee, and the percentage of work in its county plan

completed by each grantee.

     (2) If a county or 2 or more counties elect elects to expedite

the county's or counties' plan as provided in section 8(5), 8, the

commission department shall enter into a contract described in

section 8(5) 8(4) to pay or reimburse the costs of expediting the

plan. The amount expended or borrowed for expediting the county's

or counties' plan shall be paid from the fund as provided in

section 12(2). and (4).

     (3) In performing its duties under this act, if the department

is required to interact in any way with the commission and if the

initial members of the commission have not been appointed and their

appointment consented to by the senate under section 3 as amended

by the amendatory act that added this subsection, the department

may proceed with its duties under this act without the required

interaction until the initial members are appointed and their

appointment consented to.

     Sec. 7. (1) The commission shall appoint an executive

director. The executive director, under the direction of the

commission, shall carry out the routine duties of the commission,

as delegated to the executive director by the commission. The

executive director shall retain employees, including at least 1

licensed surveyor and adequate secretarial staff, as the executive

director considers necessary. The employees shall be classified

civil servants.

     (2) The commission shall enter into a contract with a geodetic

advisor qualified to perform the duties described in section

6(c).The employee in direct charge of the state survey and

remonumentation section in the department that performs services

for the director of the department under this act must be a

surveyor.

     Sec. 8. (1) Each county shall establish a county monumentation

and remonumentation plan and perpetual monument maintenance plan.

Not later than 1 year after January 1, 1991, The department, in

consultation with the commission, shall create and distribute a

model county plan that may be adopted by a county with any changes

appropriate for that county. Not later than January 1, 1994, each

county shall have submitted a county plan that is approved by the

commission.By the second March 1 after the department promulgates

rules under section 17(3), each county shall submit to the

department for approval in consultation with the commission a

county plan or, if the county has previously submitted a county

plan, a revised county plan that complies with the amendments to

this act enacted by the amendatory act that added section 9a and

any rules promulgated after the effective date of that amendatory

act and before the date that the county plan or revised county plan

is to be submitted.

     (2) A county plan shall provide for all of the following:

     (a) The monumentation or remonumentation of the entire county,

within 20 years, under the guidelines of the manual of instructions

for the survey of the public lands of the United States, 1973,

prepared by the bureau of land management of the department of

interior, technical bulletin 6, or subsequent editions.

     (a) A monumentation and remonumentation plan that provides for

the remonumentation of all of the original public land survey

corners, and any associated property controlling corners, and the

monumentation or remonumentation of all of the protracted public

land survey corners, and any associated property controlling

corners, identified in the county plan. The monumentation or

remonumentation of the county shall consist of:

     (i) The filing of a land corner recordation certificate

pursuant to the requirements of the corner recordation act, 1970 PA

74, MCL 54.201 to 54.210d, for each original public land survey

corner and protracted public land survey corner in the county.

     (ii) The inclusion in a certificate filed under subparagraph (i)

of any property controlling corner associated with the original

public land survey corner or protracted public land survey corner

that is the subject of the certificate.

     (iii) The filing of geodetic coordinates for each original

public land survey corner and protracted public land survey corner

in the county.

     (b) The provision filing of copies of all survey monumentation

information recorded land corner recordation certificates produced

by pursuant to the county plan to the county surveyor and the

commission.with the department.

     (c) The filing with the county surveyor and the commission of

copies of all monumentation or remonumentation documents required

to be recorded with the register of deeds under the corner

recordation act, 1970 PA 74, MCL 54.201 to 54.210d, or recorded

with the register of deeds under 1970 PA 132, MCL 54.211 to 54.213.

     (c) The exclusion or addition by the county of original public

land survey corners or protracted public land survey corners, with

the approval of the department, acting in consultation with the

commission.

     (d) A perpetual monument maintenance plan that provides for

all corners to be checked, and if necessary remonumented, at least

once every 20 years.original public land survey corners or

protracted public land survey corners included in the county plan,

and associated geodetic coordinates, to be maintained by requiring

the filing of a land corner recordation certificate as required by

the corner recordation act, 1970 PA 74, MCL 54.201 to 54.210d, as

necessary.

     (e) A peer review group as described in section 9b.

(f) (e) Any other provisions reasonably required by the

commission department for purposes of this act.

     (3) Two or more contiguous counties may submit a multicounty

plan, which shall meet the same requirements within each member

county as are established for a county plan under this act.

(3) (4) If a county fails to establish and submit a plan or

revised plan that is approved by the commission within the time

required department under subsection (1), the commission department

shall initiate and contract for the implementation of a county plan

in that county pursuant to as provided in section 10.

(4) (5) Upon Subject to subsection (5), after the

establishment and approval by the commission department of a county

plan, a county may expend or borrow funds money to expedite the

completion of its plan. If a county or 2 or more counties elect

elects to expend or borrow funds money to expedite their its county

plan, the commission department shall enter into a contract to

provide that the costs to expedite that plan including the payment

of the principal of and interest on the bonds issued under

subsection (7) are reimbursed or paid from the fund as provided in

section 12(2). and (4).

     (5) After the effective date of the amendatory act that added

section 9a, a county shall not expedite its county plan or expend

or borrow money to expedite its county plan. A county that, before

the effective date of the amendatory act that added section 9a,

expedited its county plan or expended or borrowed money to expedite

its county plan shall either have on file with the department a

contract entered into under subsection (4) or execute a contract

under subsection (4) within 1 year after the effective date of the

amendatory act that added section 9a.

     (6) A county or 2 or more counties that expended or borrowed

money to expedite their its county plan in accordance with this

section after January 1, 1991 may recapture costs expended or

borrowed and used to expedite that plan. , which shall be paid out

of the fund as provided in section 12(2) and (4). The commission

department shall pay those costs to the county from the fund as

provided in section 12(2) over a period of not less than 10 years.

     (7) Upon the establishment and approval by the commission of a

county plan, a county or 2 or more counties seeking to expedite

their county plan may by resolution of the county board of

commissioners, and without the vote of its electors, issue bonds

payable primarily from the money received or to be received under

the contract provided for in subsection (5). These bonds may be

secured by a limited tax full faith and credit pledge of the county

or counties. The bonds shall be payable in annual installments, and

unless otherwise determined by the commission, the annual

installments are not to exceed the length of the contract that the

county or counties entered into with the commission under

subsection (5). The issuance of bonds under this section shall be

subject to the provisions of the revised municipal finance act,

2001 PA 34, MCL 141.2101 to 141.2821.

     (7) A county plan may provide for the support by a county

program of the extension, densification, upgrade, and maintenance

of active and passive geodetic control stations.

     Sec. 9. The county surveyor in each county in this state shall

be the perform the duties of county representative for all

surveying projects approved by or initiated through the commission.

In under this act. If a county that does not have a county

surveyor, the county board of commissioners shall appoint a

licensed professional surveyor shall be appointed and shall to

perform the duties described in this section.

     Sec. 9a. A county board of commissioners shall appoint a grant

administrator to be responsible for and oversee the county's

obligations and money associated with this act.

     Sec. 9b. A county board of commissioners shall appoint a

county peer review group to act as a panel of surveyors to review

and provide advice on original public land survey corners or

protracted public land survey corners presented by surveyors before

the county accepts the original public land survey corners or

protracted public land survey corners for filing under its county

plan.

     Sec. 10. (1) Any monumentation or remonumentation conducted by

the commission under section 8(3) shall be pursuant to conducted

under a negotiated contracts. contract. The commission department

shall prepare specifications for each contract negotiated by the

commission, department and shall monitor the field work and notes

of all work done under each contract to ensure compliance with

those specifications.

     (2) The commission department shall pay the cost of any

contracts under this section from the fund.

     Sec. 11. (1) The state survey and remonumentation fund is

created in the state treasury as a separate fund. The fund shall be

administered by the commission.department.

     (2) Money deposited in the fund, and all interest and earnings

generated by the fund, except as otherwise provided in this

section, shall not lapse at the end of a fiscal year, but shall

remain in the fund to be expended as provided in this act. For the

fiscal year ending September 30, 2006 only, $15,000,000.00 of the

unreserved balance in the fund shall be deposited in the state

general fund.

     (3) The fund may accept funds money received as gifts or

donations, or funds money received from individuals or corporations

to be used for purposes of this act.

     (4) The commission department may direct the department of

treasury to establish restricted subaccounts within the fund as

necessary to administer the fund.

     (5) In addition to any other appropriation, it is the intent

of the legislature that this state appropriate an amount from the

general fund to the fund equal to the difference between the amount

deposited into the fund in the fiscal year and the following

amounts for the following fiscal years:

     (a) $10,134,000.00 in the 2005-2006 fiscal year.

     (b) $11,134,000.00 in the 2006-2007 and the 2007-2008 fiscal

years.

     (6) Subsection (5) only applies if the amount deposited into

the fund is less than $10,134,000.00 in the 2005-2006 fiscal year

and $11,134,000.00 in the 2006-2007 and the 2007-2008 fiscal years.

     Sec. 12. (1) Money in the fund shall be used by the commission

department for the following purposes:

     (a) Annual grants to the various counties to implement their

county monumentation and remonumentation plans , excluding the

perpetual monument maintenance plan described in section

8(2)(d).8(2)(a).

     (b) Annual grants to 2 or more counties to implement their

multicounty plan, excluding the perpetual monument maintenance plan

described in section 8(2)(d).

(b) (c) The implementation of county plans that are initiated

and contracted for by the commission pursuant to department under

section 8(4).8(3).

(c) (d) An annual grant to each county that has a county plan

or to 2 or more Annual grants to counties that have a multicounty

plan to implement the their perpetual monument maintenance plan

described in section 8(2)(d). The commission shall make not less

than 5% of the total amount of the fund available for grants under

this subdivision.

(d) (e) The payment of contracts that are entered into by the

commission department under section 10.

(e) (f) Other activities necessary, incidental, or appropriate

to implement this act.

     (2) In addition to the purposes described in subsection (1),

money in the fund shall be used to pay the costs of expediting a

plan or to reimburse the cost described in section 8(6) and (7),

8(4), for a county or 2 or more counties that have has elected to

expend or borrow funds money to expedite the implementation of the

county's or counties' plan.

     (3) Of the money collected and remitted to the state treasurer

for deposit in the fund pursuant to under section 2567a of the

revised judicature act of 1961, 1961 PA 236, MCL 600.2567a, both

all of the following shall apply:

     (a) An annual grant to a county pursuant to under subsection

(1)(a) or to 2 or more counties pursuant to subsection (1)(b) shall

must be in an amount that is not less than 40% of the amount of

money collected in that county or those counties, as applicable,

under section 2567a of the revised judicature act of 1961, 1961 PA

236, MCL 600.2567a, during the calendar state fiscal year

immediately preceding that began 2 years before the beginning of

the state fiscal year in which the grant is made.

     (b) If the commission department initiates and contracts for

the implementation of a county plan for a county pursuant to under

section 8(4), 8(3), the commission department shall annually spend

an amount that is not less than 40% of the amount of money

collected in that county under section 2567a of the revised

judicature act of 1961, 1961 PA 236, MCL 600.2567a, during the

calendar state fiscal year immediately preceding that began 2 years

before the beginning of the state fiscal year in which the

expenditure is made, to implement that county plan.

     (4) If the commission contracts with a county or 2 or more

counties that elect to expend or borrow funds to expedite the

implementation of the county's or counties' plan under section

6(2), the commission shall annually pay to that county or counties

in lieu of any grant or payments under subsection (3) an amount

that is not less than 40% of the amount of money collected in that

county or counties under section 2567a of the revised judicature

act of 1961, 1961 PA 236, MCL 600.2567a, during the calendar year

and will be paid in annual installments until the contract is paid

in full.

     (c) An annual grant to a county under subsection (1)(c) must

be in an amount that is not less than 20% of the amount of money

collected in that county under section 2567a of the revised

judicature act of 1961, 1961 PA 236, MCL 600.2567a, during the

state fiscal year that began 2 years before the beginning of the

state fiscal year in which the grant is made.

     (d) If the department initiates and contracts for the

implementation of a county plan for a county under section 8(3),

the department shall annually spend an amount that is not less than

20% of the amount of money collected in that county under section

2567a of the revised judicature act of 1961, 1961 PA 236, MCL

600.2567a, during the state fiscal year that began 2 years before

the beginning of the state fiscal year in which the expenditure is

made, for purposes described in section 8(2)(d).

(4) (5) In addition to the purposes described in subsections

(1) and (2), any amount of money not greater than $500,000.00 that

is appropriated by the legislature to pay the costs of the

monumentation of the Michigan-Indiana state boundary line pursuant

to the Michigan and Indiana state line monument monumentation act,

2010 PA 259, MCL 54.291 to 54.305, shall be used by the department

of energy, labor, and economic growth only for that purpose.

     Sec. 13. An application for an annual grant authorized

pursuant to under this act shall must be made on a form prescribed

and furnished by the commission. department. The commission

department may require the applicant to provide any information

reasonably necessary to allow the commission department to make a

determination required by this act.

     Sec. 14. (1) The commission department shall not make a grant

pursuant to under section 12(1)(a) or (b) unless all of the

following conditions are met:

     (a) The applicant files an application for the grant on or

before December 31 of the calendar year immediately preceding the

year in which the grant is made.

     (b) The applicant has established a county plan or a

multicounty plan that has been approved by the commission on or

before December 31 of the calendar year immediately preceding the

year in which the grant is made.

(b) (c) The applicant demonstrates to the commission

department the capability to carry out the county plan. or

multicounty plan.

(c) (d) The applicant demonstrates to the commission

department that it has not completed the its monumentation or and

remonumentation of the county, or of the several counties in a

multicounty plan described in section 8(2)(a).

     (2) The commission department shall not make a grant pursuant

to under section 12(1)(d) unless 12(1)(c) if the applicant

demonstrates to the commission department that it has completed the

its monumentation or and remonumentation of the county, or of the

several counties in a multicounty plan described in section 8(2)(a)

or if the applicant voluntarily chooses to proceed to the program

described in section 8(2)(d).

     Sec. 15. (1) A recipient of a grant made pursuant to under

section 12(1)(a), (b), or (d) shall obtain authorization from the

commission department before implementing a change that

significantly alters the approved county plan or multicounty

plan.grant.

     (2) The commission department may revoke a grant made by it

pursuant to under this act or withhold payment if the recipient of

the grant fails to comply with the terms and conditions of the

grant, or with requirements of this act or the rules promulgated

pursuant to under this act.

     (3) The commission department may withhold a grant until the

commission department determines that the recipient is able to

proceed with the implementation of the applicant's county plan. or

multicounty plan.

     Sec. 16. (1) The commission, department, upon request, shall

provide copies or certified copies of records in its possession to

the public, other state agencies or officers, or local governmental

agencies. The commission department may charge a reasonable fee for

providing the records.

     (2) A certified copy of a record provided by the commission

department is admissible in court as evidence, without further

identification, if the substance of the record is properly

admissible in the proceeding.

     Sec. 17. (1) The department of commerce shall promulgate rules

pursuant to the administrative procedures act of 1969, Act No. 306

of the Public Acts of 1969, being sections 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201

to 24.328, of the Michigan Compiled Laws, to implement this act.

     (2) In doing so, promulgating rules under this section, or in

adopting a guideline related to the administration of this act, the

department shall consult with and consider recommendations provided

to them it by the commission.

     (3) After the enactment of the amendatory act that added this

subsection, the department shall promulgate rules to implement this

act as amended by that amendatory act. Before the promulgation of

rules under this subsection, the department may continue to

administer this act under previously promulgated rules to the

extent that the rules do not conflict with this act as amended by

that amendatory act.

     Sec. 17a. If a county is aggrieved by a decision of the

department that affects the county made under this act or the rules

promulgated under this act, the county may contest the decision of

the department as a contested case under the administrative

procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328.