SENATE BILL No. 529

 

 

June 28, 2011, Introduced by Senators BOOHER, PROOS, KOWALL, PAPPAGEORGE and WALKER and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, Environment and Great Lakes.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled

 

"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"

 

by amending sections 21502 and 21541 (MCL 324.21502 and 324.21541),

 

section 21502 as amended by 2006 PA 318.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 21502. As used in this part:

 

     (a) "Administrator" means the fund administrator provided for

 

in section 21513.

 

     (b) "Advisory board" means the temporary reimbursement program

 

advisory board established under section 21562.

 

     (c) "Approved claim" means a claim that is approved pursuant

 

to section 21515.

 

     (d) "Authority" means the Michigan underground storage tank

 

financial assurance authority created in section 21523.

 


     (e) "Board" means the Michigan underground storage tank

 

financial assurance policy board created in section 21541.

 

     (f) "Board of directors" means the board of directors of the

 

authority.

 

     (g) "Bond proceeds account" means the account or fund to which

 

proceeds of bonds or notes issued under this part have been

 

credited.

 

     (h) "Bonds or notes" means the bonds, notes, commercial paper,

 

other obligations of indebtedness, or any combination of these,

 

issued by the authority pursuant to this part.

 

     (i) "Claim" means the submission by the owner or operator or

 

his or her representative of documentation on an application

 

requesting payment from the fund. A claim shall include, at a

 

minimum, a completed and signed claim form and the name, address,

 

telephone number, and federal tax identification number of the

 

consultant retained by the owner or operator to carry out

 

responsibilities pursuant to part 213.

 

     (j) "Class 1 site" means a site posing the highest degree of

 

threat to the public and environment as determined by the

 

department, based on the classification system developed by the

 

department pursuant to section 21314a.

 

     (k) "Class 2 site" means a site posing the second highest

 

degree of threat to the public and environment as determined by the

 

department, based on the classification system developed by the

 

department pursuant to section 21314a.

 

     (l) "Consultant" means a person on the list of qualified

 

underground storage tank consultants prepared pursuant to section

 


21542.

 

     (m) "Co-pay amount" means the co-pay amount provided for in

 

section 21514.

 

     (n) "Corrective action" means the investigation, assessment,

 

cleanup, removal, containment, isolation, treatment, or monitoring

 

of regulated substances released into the environment or the taking

 

of such other actions as may be necessary to prevent, minimize, or

 

mitigate injury to the public health, safety, or welfare, the

 

environment, or natural resources.

 

     (o) "Department" means the department of environmental

 

quality.

 

     (p) "Eligible person" means an owner or operator who meets the

 

eligibility requirements in section 21556 or 21557 and received

 

approval of his or her precertification application by the

 

department.

 

     (q) "Financial responsibility requirements" means the

 

financial responsibility for taking corrective action and for

 

compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage

 

caused by a release from an underground storage tank system that

 

the owner or operator of an underground storage tank system must

 

demonstrate under part 211 and the rules promulgated under that

 

part.

 

     (r) "Fund" means the Michigan underground storage tank

 

financial assurance fund created in section 21506.

 

     (s) "Heating oil" means petroleum that is No. 1, No. 2, No. 4—

 

light, No. 4—heavy, No. 5—light, No. 5—heavy, and No. 6 technical

 

grades of fuel oil; other residual fuel oils including navy special

 


fuel oil and bunker C; and other fuels when used as substitutes for

 

1 of these fuel oils.

 

     (t) "Indemnification" means indemnification of an owner or

 

operator for a legally enforceable judgment entered against the

 

owner or operator by a third party, or a legally enforceable

 

settlement entered between the owner or operator and a third party,

 

compensating that third party for bodily injury or property damage,

 

or both, caused by an accidental release as those terms are defined

 

in R 29.2163 of the Michigan administrative code.

 

     (u) "Location" means a facility or parcel of property where

 

petroleum underground storage tank systems are registered pursuant

 

to part 211.

 

     (v) "Operator" means a person who was, at the time of

 

discovery of a release, in control of or responsible for the

 

operation of a petroleum underground storage tank system or a

 

person to whom an approved claim has been assigned or transferred.

 

     (w) "Owner" means a person, other than a regulated financial

 

institution, who, at the time of discovery of a release, held a

 

legal, equitable, or possessory interest of any kind in an

 

underground storage tank system or in the property on which an

 

underground storage tank system is located, including, but not

 

limited to, a trust, vendor, vendee, lessor, or lessee. Owner

 

includes a person to whom an approved claim is assigned or

 

transferred. Owner does not include a person or a regulated

 

financial institution who, without participating in the management

 

of an underground storage tank system and without being otherwise

 

engaged in petroleum production, refining, or marketing relating to

 


the underground storage tank system, is acting in a fiduciary

 

capacity or who holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect the

 

person's or the regulated financial institution's security interest

 

in the underground storage tank system or the property on which it

 

is located. This exclusion does not apply to a grantor,

 

beneficiary, remainderman, or other person who could directly or

 

indirectly benefit financially from the exclusion other than by the

 

receipt of payment for fees and expenses related to the

 

administration of a trust.

 

     (x) "Oxygenate" means an organic compound containing oxygen

 

and having properties as a fuel that are compatible with petroleum,

 

including, but not limited to, ethanol, methanol, or methyl

 

tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).

 

     Sec. 21541. (1) The Michigan underground storage tank

 

financial assurance policy board is created in the department. of

 

natural resources.

 

     (2) The board shall consist of the following:

 

     (a) The director of the department of management and budget or

 

his or her designee.

 

     (a) (b) The director of the department of natural resources or

 

his or her designee.

 

     (c) The director of the department of state police or his or

 

her designee.

 

     (d) The state treasurer or his or her designee.

 

     (b) (e) Eight Seven individuals appointed by the governor with

 

the advice and consent of the senate, as follows:

 

     (i) One individual representing an independent petroleum

 


wholesale distributor-marketer trade association.

 

     (ii) One individual representing a petroleum refiner-supplier

 

trade association.

 

     (iii) One individual representing a service station dealers'

 

trade association.

 

     (iv) One individual representing a truck stop operators trade

 

association.

 

     (iv) (v) One individual representing an environmental public

 

interest organization who is not associated with any of the

 

organizations listed in subparagraphs (i) to (iv).(iii).

 

     (v) (vi) Two individuals representing the general public who

 

are not associated with any of the organizations listed in

 

subparagraphs (i) to (iv).(iii) and who are certified professionals

 

experienced in the RBCA process.

 

     (vi) (vii) One individual representing local government.

 

     (3) An individual appointed to the board shall serve for a

 

term of 2 4 years.

 

     (4) A vacancy on the board shall be filled in the same manner

 

as the original appointment.

 

     (5) The first meeting of the board shall be called by the

 

department. At its first meeting, the board shall elect from among

 

its members a chairperson and other officers as it considers

 

necessary. After the first meeting, a meeting of the board shall be

 

called by the chairperson on his or her own initiative or by the

 

chairperson on petition of 3 or more members. Upon receipt of a

 

petition of 3 or more members, a meeting shall be called for a date

 

no later than 14 days after the date of receipt of the petition.

 


     (6) The business that the board may perform shall be conducted

 

at a public meeting of the board held in compliance with the open

 

meetings act, Act No. 267 of the Public Acts of 1976, being

 

sections 15.261 to 15.275 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.1976 PA

 

267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275.

 

     (7) A majority of the members of the board constitutes a

 

quorum for the transaction of business at a meeting of the board.

 

Action by the board shall be by a majority of the votes cast.

 

     (8) The board shall advise the department and the

 

administrator on all matters related to the implementation of this

 

part.

 

     (9) The administrator or the department may submit to the

 

board, for its review and evaluation, the competitive bidding

 

process employed by a consultant pursuant to section 21517. In

 

conducting this review and evaluation, the board may convene a peer

 

review panel. Following completion of its review and evaluation,

 

the board shall forward a copy of its findings to the department,

 

the administrator, and the consultant. If the board finds the

 

practices employed by a consultant to be inappropriate, the board

 

may recommend that the department remove the consultant from the

 

list of qualified consultants.

 

     (10) Upon request of the administrator or the department, the

 

board shall make a recommendation to the department on whether a

 

consultant should be removed from the list of qualified

 

consultants. Prior to making this recommendation, the board may

 

convene a peer review panel to evaluate the conduct of the

 

consultant with regard to compliance with this part.

 


     (9) The board shall conduct hearings on petitions to resolve

 

disputes between either an owner, an operator, a certified

 

underground storage tank professional, or a qualified underground

 

storage tank consultant and the department regarding the following:

 

     (a) The department's refusal to place a person on the list of

 

qualified underground storage tank consultants.

 

     (b) The department's refusal to certify an individual as a

 

qualified underground storage tank professional.

 

     (c) The attempt to remove a qualified underground storage tank

 

consultant from the approved list.

 

     (d) The attempt to suspend or revoke the certification of a

 

certified underground storage tank professional.

 

     (e) Corrective action undertaken pursuant to part 213.

 

     (f) The imposition of penalties pursuant to section 21313a of

 

part 213.

 

     (g) The results of any audit performed under section 21315 of

 

part 213.

 

     (h) The placement or removal of placards on an underground

 

storage tank system pursuant to section 21316a of part 213.

 

     (i) The issuance of an administrative order pursuant to

 

section 21319a of part 213.

 

     (j) The request for information by the department pursuant to

 

section 21326 of part 213.

 

     (10) Hearings related to subsection (9)(c) and (d) of this

 

section shall be conducted pursuant to chapter 5 of the

 

administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.291 to

 

24.301.

 


     (11) Hearings related to subsection (9)(a), (b), and (e) to

 

(j) shall be conducted pursuant to chapter 4 of the administrative

 

procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.271 to 24.287.

 

     (12) (11) A member of the board shall abstain from voting on

 

any matter in which that member has a conflict of interest.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect

 

unless all of the following bills of the 96th Legislature are

 

enacted into law:

 

     (a) Senate Bill No. 528.                                    

 

          

 

     (b) Senate Bill No. 531.                                    

 

          

 

     (c) Senate Bill No. 533.                                     

 

          

 

     (d) Senate Bill No. 530.                                      

 

             

 

     (e) Senate Bill No. 532.