June 5, 2012, Introduced by Senators CASPERSON, BOOHER, HILDENBRAND, BRANDENBURG, EMMONS, GREEN and MEEKHOF 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 section 502 (MCL 324.502), as amended by 2004 PA 587.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 502. (1) The commission may promulgate rules, not
inconsistent with law, governing its organization and procedure.
(2) The department may do 1 or more of the following:
(a) Promulgate and enforce reasonable rules concerning the use
and occupancy of lands and property under its control in accordance
with section 504.
(b) Provide and develop facilities for outdoor recreation.
(c) Conduct investigations it considers necessary for the
proper administration of this part.
(d) Remove and dispose of forest products as required for the
protection, reforestation, and proper development and conservation
of the lands and property under the control of the department.
(e) Require the payment of a fee as provided by law for a
daily permit or other authorization that allows the person to hunt
and take waterfowl on a public hunting area managed and developed
for waterfowl.
(3)
Except as provided in subsection (4), subsections (4) and
(5), the department may enter into contracts for the taking of
coal, oil, gas, and other mineral products from state owned lands,
upon a royalty basis or upon another basis, and upon the terms the
department considers just and equitable subject to section 502a.
This contract power includes authorization to enter into contracts
for the storage of gas or other mineral products in or upon state
owned lands, if the consent of the state agency having jurisdiction
and control of the state owned land is first obtained. A contract
permitted under this section for the taking of coal, oil, gas, or
metallic mineral products, or for the storage of gas or other
mineral products, is not valid unless the contract is approved by
the state administrative board. Money received from a contract for
the storage of gas or other mineral products in or upon state lands
shall be transmitted to the state treasurer for deposit in the
general fund of the state to be used for the purpose of defraying
the expenses incurred in the administration of this act and other
purposes provided by law. Other money received from a contract
permitted under this subsection, except money received from lands
acquired with money from the former game and fish protection fund
or the game and fish protection account of the Michigan
conservation and recreation legacy fund provided for in section
2010, shall be transmitted to the state treasurer for deposit in
the Michigan natural resources trust fund created in section 35 of
article IX of the state constitution of 1963 and provided for in
part 19. However, the money received from the payment of service
charges by a person using areas managed for waterfowl shall be
credited to the game and fish protection account of the Michigan
conservation and recreation legacy fund provided for in section
2010 and used only for the purposes provided by law. Money received
from bonuses, rentals, delayed rentals, royalties, and the direct
sale of resources, including forest resources, from lands acquired
with money from the former game and fish protection fund or the
game and fish protection account of the Michigan conservation and
recreation legacy fund provided for in section 2010 shall be
credited to the Michigan game and fish protection trust fund
established in section 41 of article IX of the state constitution
of 1963 and provided for in part 437, except as otherwise provided
by law.
(4) The department shall not enter into a contract that allows
drilling operations beneath the lake bottomlands of the Great
Lakes, the connected bays or harbors of the Great Lakes, or the
connecting waterways as defined in section 32301, for the
exploration or production of oil or gas.
(5) A county road commission may request the department to
enter an agreement authorizing the county road commission to
extract, process, and remove nonmetallic minerals such as
construction sand, gravel, cobbles, boulders, and clay from lands
specified by the county road commission if the nonmetallic mineral
rights are owned by this state and under the jurisdiction and
control of the department, to be used exclusively on county road
commission projects, and to build a roadway, if necessary, to
access the nonmetallic mineral mining site. The request shall be
made on a form provided by the department and accompanied by a
processing fee. The department shall establish the processing fee
to generate revenue that does not exceed the reasonable costs
actually incurred by the department in processing requests under
this subsection. The department shall enter into an agreement
within 30 days after receiving a complete request form and the
processing fee. The agreement may require the road commission to
erect and maintain reasonable signage, fencing, and gates. The
agreement shall include a reclamation plan as proposed by the road
commission. Except as provided in this subsection, the department
shall not charge a royalty, rental, timber consideration fee, or
other fee under the agreement. This subsection does not waive any
other applicable requirements under this act.
(6) (5)
This section does not permit a
contract for the taking
of gravel, sand, coal, oil, gas, or other metallic mineral products
that does not comply with applicable local ordinances and state
law.