HOUSE BILL NO. 4314

April 16, 2025, Introduced by Reps. St. Germaine, Harris, Schuette, DeBoyer, Pavlov, Thompson, Linting, Rigas, Beson, Mueller, Slagh, Andrews, Roth, Maddock, Wilson, Borton, Martin, Kunse, Neyer, Aragona, Johnsen, Morgan, Cavitt, Robinson, Fairbairn, Alexander and VanderWall and referred to Committee on Natural Resources and Tourism.

A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled

"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"

by amending section 32512 (MCL 324.32512), as amended by 2012 PA 247.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 32512. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), unless a permit has been granted is issued by the department pursuant to in accordance with part 13 or authorization has been is granted by the legislature, or except as to boat wells and slips facilitating private, noncommercial, recreational boat use, not exceeding 50 feet in length where the spoil is not disposed of below the ordinary high-water mark of the body of water to which it is connected, a person shall not do any of the following:

(a) Construct, dredge, commence, or do any work with respect to an artificial canal, channel, ditch, lagoon, pond, lake, or similar waterway where the purpose is ultimate connection of the waterway with any of the Great Lakes , including or Lake St. Clair.

(b) Connect any natural or artificially constructed waterway, canal, channel, ditch, lagoon, pond, lake, or similar waterway with any of the Great Lakes , including or Lake St. Clair, for navigation or any other purpose.

(c) Dredge or place spoil or other material on bottomland.

(d) Construct a marina.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3), the The following activities are not subject to regulation under this part and do not require a permit:

(a) Leveling of sand, removal of removing vegetation, grooming of soil, or removal of removing debris, in an area of unconsolidated material predominantly composed of sand, rock, or pebbles, located between the ordinary high-water mark and the water's edge.

(b) Mowing of vegetation between the ordinary high-water mark and the water's edge.

(c) Removing debris, including vegetation that is free-floating or otherwise washed up or uprooted, between the ordinary high-water mark and the water's edge by mechanical or manual means. For purposes of this subdivision, removal by mechanical or manual means is not considered dredging and includes the use of a device or machine that can remove free-floating vegetation or debris without impacting the lakebed.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to lands included in the survey of the delta of the St. Clair River, otherwise referred to as the St. Clair flats, located within Clay township, St. Clair county, as provided for in 1899 PA 175.