WETLAND MITIGATION NOT REQUIRED

WITH CERTAIN ROADWORK

House Bill 4303

Sponsor:  Rep. Ed McBroom

Committee:  Transportation

Complete to 5-10-11

A REVISED SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4303 AS INTRODUCED 2-17-11

The bill would amend the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to specify that the Department of Environmental Quality could not impose compensatory wetland mitigation as a condition on a permit for an activity undertaken in conjunction with road work without the consent of the entity with legal jurisdiction over the road, if both of the following requirements are met:

-- The road was in existence on the effective date of the bill.

-- The activity takes place within the road right-of-way. 

The bill would define "road" to mean a city or village street, county road, or state trunk line.  The bill would define "road work" to mean the maintenance, repair, improvement, or reconstruction of a road.  Road work would not include the construction of a road.

The bill also creates a specific subsection stating, "the department shall not impose compensatory wetland mitigation as a condition of a general permit."  Currently, the act says the department may impose a requirement for mitigation on any permit "other than a general permit."   (A general permit is defined in the act as a permit for activities that the DEQ determines will not negatively impact human health and will have no more than minimal short-term adverse impacts on the natural resources and environment.)

[According to the website of the Department of Environmental Quality, "the purpose of compensatory wetland mitigation, commonly referred to as wetland mitigation, is the replacement of unavoidably lost wetland resources with created or restored wetlands, with the goal of replacing as fully as possible the functions and public benefits of the lost wetland."  The statute refers to several methods of mitigation, including the restoration of previously existing wetland, the creation of new wetlands, the preservation of exceptional wetlands, and the acquisition of approved credits from a wetland mitigation bank.]

FISCAL IMPACT:

House Bill 4303 would have no fiscal impact to the State of Michigan.  Local units of government could experience savings in specific cases where the bill's provisions would no longer allow the Department of Environmental Quality to require locals to pay for compensatory wetland mitigation activities as under current law.  The amount of savings a local unit of government might realize would depend upon the road work project undertaken and the type of mitigation that the Department would have required.

We have been unable to identify instances in which county road commissions have been required by the DEQ to perform wetland mitigation in circumstances which would be exempt from wetland mitigation requirements under the bill.  As a result, we do not have a record of actual costs experienced by road commissions in the past and cannot provide a reasonable estimate of future costs.

                                                                                           Legislative Analyst:   E. Best

                                                                                                  Fiscal Analyst:   Viola Bay Wild

                                                                                                                           William E. Hamilton

■ 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.