September 18, 2008, Introduced by Senators SCHAUER, JACOBS, THOMAS, GLEASON, SWITALSKI and PRUSI and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs.
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 a person
to
hunt and take waterfowl on a public hunting area managed and
developed for waterfowl.
(3)
Except as provided in subsection (4) Subject to
subsections (4) and (5) and section 502a, 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) The department shall not enter into a lease for the taking
of oil or gas from state owned lands with a person who is a lessee
under 1 or more existing state oil or gas leases or who controls,
is controlled by, or is under common ownership with such a lessee
unless the person certifies that, for each such existing lease, the
lessee is producing, or has diligently developed the leased state
lands to produce, oil or gas. Within 1 year after the effective
date of the amendatory act that added this subsection, the
department shall promulgate rules pursuant to the administrative
procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328, that do
all of the following:
(a) Define "diligently developed" for the purposes of this
subsection. The definition shall include benchmarks to help ensure
that a lessee under an oil and gas lease of state owned lands
produces oil and gas from the lease within the original lease term.
(b) Require a lessee under an oil and gas lease of state owned
lands to submit to the department a diligent development plan
showing how the lessee will meet the benchmarks described under
subdivision (a).
(6) A lease for the taking of oil or gas from state owned
lands entered into after the effective date of the amendatory act
that added this subsection shall have an original lease term of not
more than 5 years.
(7) A person who intentionally makes or causes to be made a
false certificate under subsection (5) is guilty of a felony
punishable by imprisonment for not more than 3 years or a fine of
not more than $3,000.00, or both.
(8) (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.