0277: REVISED COMMITTEE SUMMARY (Date Completed: 5-4-11)

NREPA: PEER REVIEW OF PROGRAMS S.B. 277: REVISED COMMITTEE SUMMARY
[Please see the PDF version of this analysis, if available, to view this image.]

Senate Bill 277 (as introduced 3-17-11)
Sponsor: Senator Dave Hildenbrand
Committee: Economic Development

Date Completed: 5-4-11

CONTENT The bill would add Part 27 (Program Review) to the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) to do all of the following:

-- Require State departments that administered programs under the Act to arrange for external peer review of those programs.
-- Require each State department to complete two program peer reviews by February 1, 2012, and then one each year until all programs were reviewed.
-- Require the peer review of programs to be prioritized based on measures published on the State's website.
-- Specify factors that would have to be included in a peer review.

Specifically, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Environmental Quality, and any other State department that administered a program under NREPA would have to arrange for an independent, external peer review of each program. The peer review would have to evaluate the program's efficiency and effectiveness as well as how it compared to similar programs in other states.

Each State department would have to complete two program peer reviews by February 1, 2012, and one each year after that until all programs administered under NREPA by that department had been reviewed. Programs would have to be prioritized for peer review based on their effect on performance measures published on the MiDashboard website (http://www.michigan.gov/midashboard), with those programs having the greatest effect being reviewed first.

At a minimum, a peer review would have to include all of the following, as applicable:

-- A calculation of the cost to administer the program per permit or license processed.
-- A review of the timeliness of the process from receipt of a permit or license application to approval or denial of a permit or license application.
-- A review of customer service practices.
-- A review of measurable environmental impacts.
-- A comparison of the program performance to that of similar programs in other Great Lakes states.

Proposed MCL 324.2701 Legislative Analyst: Patrick Affholter

FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would require departments that administer programs under NREPA to arrange peer reviews of those programs comparing them to similar programs in other states. This would likely result in increased administrative costs, primarily for the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Natural Resources. At this time, the cost of a typical peer review as described by the bill is unavailable.

Fiscal Analyst: Josh Sefton

Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. sb277/1112