SCHOOL DISTRICT DEED

RESTRICTION



House Bill 5636

Sponsor: Rep. Rick Johnson

Committee: Conservation and Outdoor Recreation


Complete to 5-5-00



A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 5636 AS INTRODUCED 4-18-00


A provision of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act allows the Department of Natural Resources, the auditor general, or other state officer having charge of state land to sell land to municipalities for forestry purposes. The provision requires that such land be used solely for a forestry purpose, and provides that in the event that the land was no longer used for a forestry purpose, it is to revert to the state.


House Bill 5636 would amend the provision to make an exception to the reverter clause, under certain circumstances. Under the bill, a school district that has received land under the provision described above could petition the department for a change in deed restrictions that would remove the department's reversionary interest in the land. The department would be required to grant the petition within 30 days of receipt unless the department determined that the land was of significant environmental interest to the state. The bill would require the department to convey the property or the state's interest in the property to the school district without deed restrictions within 60 days after approval of a petition.


If the department denied a petition under this provision, it would have to notify the petitioner, provide the specific reasons for the denial, and inform the petitioner of its right to a contested case hearing under the Administrative Procedures Act before the Natural Resources Commission.


MCL 324.52706











Analyst: D. Martens



This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.