FY 2008-09 ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY BUDGET S.B. 1097 (S-1): FLOOR SUMMARY


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Senate Bill 1097 (S-1 as reported) Throughout this document Senate means Appropriations Committee.
Committee: Appropriations

Changes from FY 2007-08 Year-to-Date:
  1. Fund Shift to General Fund. To offset a shortfall in permit fee revenue to restricted funds, the Governor recommended increasing the General Fund appropriation by $2.5 million. This funding replaced an equal reduction in restricted fund appropriations. This is a continuation of the $11.0 million fund shift enacted in a supplemental appropriations act in FY 2008-09. The Senate concurred. 0
2. General Fund Reductions. The Senate removed $1,000 from 30 line items that have General Fund appropriations. (30,000)
3. Drinking Water Revolving Fund Reduction. The Senate removed a portion of General fund support for this program. (120,000)
4. Environmental Ombudsman. The Senate added funding from various restricted funds to support the position with an interdepartmental grant in the legislative budget. 170,000
5. Increase in Federal Funds. The Governor included additional Federal funding for coastal zone management activities. The Senate concurred. 100,000
6. Reduction in Federal Funds. The Governor removed Federal funding for the Revitalization Revolving Loan program and the indoor biowatch program that is no longer available. The Senate concurred. (1,327,600)
7. FTE Adjustments. On a statewide basis, the Governor adjusted the appropriation of full-time equated positions to match the number that can be supported by dollar appropriations and to more accurately reflect program effort. This was a reduction of 35.0 FTEs for the Department of Environmental Quality. The Senate concurred. 0
8. Human Resources Consolidation. The budget completed consolidation of human resources functions by transferring the funding and 13.0 FTEs to the Department of Management and Budget. (1,476,000)
9. DIT Reduction. The budget included a 5% reduction to information technology services. (8,200)
10. Economic Adjustments. The budget included economic adjustments for salaries and wages, retirement, worker's compensation, rent, and utilities. 639,800
11. Other Changes. The budget included changes to reduce appropriations to align with anticipated revenue, for internal audit consolidation, and for laboratory billing within the Department. The Senate did not concur with the recommendation to shift some central administrative costs to the Michigan Transportation Fund. The Senate unrolled the line items for unclassified salaries and air quality programs. (40,700)
Total Changes ($2,092,700)
  FY 2008-09 Senate Appropriations Committee Gross Appropriation $363,088,500
FY 2008-09 ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY BUDGET BOILERPLATE HIGHLIGHTS

Changes from FY 2007-08 Year to Date:
  1. Sections Removed. The Senate and Governor removed sections regarding the waiver of certain permit fees, cleanup site lists, Romulus deep injection well, stormwater permits, and restricted revenue shortfalls.
2. Sections Removed. The Senate removed sections included by the Governor regarding carryforward of settlement funds and contingency funds.
3. Sections Retained. The Senate retained sections removed by the Governor related to the retention of reports, MI Youth Conservation Council, a prohibition of disciplinary action, benchmarking, ozone attainment status, core samples research, cleanup site criteria, repayment to the Refined Petroleum Fund, draft memoranda, Hazardous Waste Site Review Board, and scrap tire suppression. (Sections 207, 212, 220, 222, 302, 501, 702, 704, 706, 801, and 1102)
4. Reports Retained. The Senate retained reporting requirements on restricted fund balances, grant and loan programs, fine and penalty collections, policy changes, air quality programs, the Great Lakes Water Quality Bond, and the NPDES Fund. (Sections 208, 209, 221, 223, 301, 402, and 901)
5. Restricted Funds Appropriation. The Governor amended a statement about the use of restricted funds for central administrative costs to remove a 2-year phase-in of a cost allocation plan and to remove the reporting requirement. The Senate retained the report. (Sec. 219)
6. Attendance at Training Seminars. The Senate added language prohibiting more than one departmental employee to attend the same training seminar, unless the travel is paid by private or Federal funds and required for more than one person. (Sec. 226)
7. Computer System Replacement. The Senate required a report on the replacement of failing or obsolete computer or database systems. (Sec. 227)
8. Unclassified Salaries. The Senate required that changes to unclassified salaries are posted to the Department website. (Sec. 228)
9. FOIA Requests. The Senate directed the Department to notify the subjects of FOIA requests at the same time as providing the information to the requestor. Provided a $5,000 fine for a violation of the notification requirement and a quarterly report on all FOIA requests. (Sec. 229)
10. Muskrat Lake. The Senate withheld $500,000 GF/GP in central operations funding until the level of Muskrat Lake is restored to 1975 water levels. (Sec. 230)
11. Reverse Vending Machines. The Senate appropriated $2.0 million dollars in unclaimed bottle deposit revenue to reimburse retailers for retrofitting RVMs to recognize Michigan-only returnable beverage containers. (Sect. 403)
12. Wetland Regulation. The Senate revised language to prohibit wetland regulation in counties with fewer than 100,000 people until the wetland inventory provides more detailed information. (Sec. 601)
13. LUST Workgroup. The Senate created a workgroup on the use and application of administrative rules and operation memoranda in the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Program. (Sec. 705)
14. Contaminated Lake and River Sediments. The Governor and Senate added a new section that would re-appropriate the unexpended portion of the Clean Michigan Initiative funding that was first appropriated in 2004 PA 309. (Sec. 902)
15. Real-time Water Quality Monitoring. The Senate designated funding in Part 1 as a grant for water quality monitoring in Macomb County. Required a report on a long-term funding plan. (Sec. 1103)

Date Completed: 5-22-08 Fiscal Analyst: Jessica Runnels Bill Analysis @ http://www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations. hideq_fs.doc