SEWAGE DISCHARGE REPORTING H.B. 4929 (S-1): FLOOR ANALYSIS
House Bill 4929 (Substitute S-1 as reported)
Sponsor: Representative Chris Ward
House Committee: Land Use and Environment
Senate Committee: Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs
CONTENT
The bill would amend Part 31 (Water Resources Protection) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to require any person responsible for a public or privately owned sewer system (rather than just a municipality) to report the discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage onto land or into water, subject to certain exceptions.
Under Part 31, if untreated or partially treated sewage is discharged from a sewer system onto land or into the waters of the State, the municipality responsible for the discharge must immediately notify the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), local health departments, and daily newspapers. At the conclusion of the discharge, the municipality must report information on the discharge, including its volume, the reasons for its occurrence, and waters and/or land receiving it. Under the bill, the reporting requirements would apply to any person responsible for the sewer system from which untreated sewage or partially treated sewage was directly or indirectly discharged.
Currently, each time a discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage occurs, the permittee must test the affected waters for E. coli and give the test results to the affected local county health department and the DEQ. Under the bill, the person responsible for the sewer system would have to meet these testing and notice requirements.
The bill would make an exception to the reporting and testing requirements for a sewer system that discharges to the groundwater via a subsurface disposal system and does not have a groundwater discharge permit issued by the DEQ, for a discharge that was not to surface waters. In this case, the person responsible for the sewer system would have to give the required notice only to the local health department.
MCL 324.3112a Legislative Analyst: Claire Layman
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.
Date Completed: 3-25-04
Fiscal Analyst: Jessica Runnels
floor\hb4929 (S-1) Analysis available @ http://www.michiganlegislature.org
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. hb4929/0304