April 19, 2016, Introduced by Reps. Cole, Iden, Hughes and Kelly and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
by amending sections 3109e, 3112a, 3122, 3122a, 3123, and 3124 (MCL
324.3109e, 324.3112a, 324.3122, 324.3122a, 324.3123, and 324.3124),
section 3109e as added by 2013 PA 180, section 3112a as amended by
2004 PA 72, section 3122 as amended by 2015 PA 247, section 3122a
as added by 2004 PA 114, and sections 3123 and 3124 as added by
2004 PA 90.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 3109e. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision in this
act or the rules promulgated under this act, the department shall
not establish or enforce a limitation for sodium or chloride in a
groundwater
wastewater discharge permit that is more restrictive
than the following:
(a) 400 milligrams of sodium per liter.
(b) 500 milligrams of chloride per liter.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act or the
rules promulgated under this act, the department shall not
establish or enforce a limitation for sodium or chloride in
groundwater that is more restrictive than the following:
(a) 230 milligrams of sodium per liter.
(b) 250 milligrams of chloride per liter.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part or rules
promulgated under this part, if a permittee discharges sodium or
chloride, or both, into groundwater that migrates off of the
property on which the discharge was made and that discharge
directly causes the groundwater concentration of sodium or
chloride, or both, to exceed the levels provided under subsection
(2), the permittee shall do all of the following:
(a) Initiate a sampling program approved by the department to
monitor downgradient water supply wells for the levels of sodium or
chloride, or both, in the water supply.
(b) If the concentration of sodium in a downgradient water
supply exceeds the level provided under subsection (2), the
permittee shall provide and maintain, for each affected
downgradient water supply, free of charge, a point-of-use treatment
system approved by the department that will remove sodium from the
water supply so as to be in compliance with the level provided
under subsection (2).
(c) If the concentration of chloride in a downgradient water
supply exceeds the level provided under subsection (2), provide to
each affected water supply owner a notice of aesthetic impact with
respect to chloride levels.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, a
permittee subject to the requirements of subsection (3) that
complies with the requirements of subsection (3) is not subject to
response activities under part 201 with respect to a discharge of
sodium or chloride, or both, that is in compliance with the
discharge level under subsection (1).
Sec. 3112a. (1) Except for sewer systems described in
subsection (8), if untreated sewage or partially treated sewage is
directly or indirectly discharged from a sewer system onto land or
into the waters of the state, the person responsible for the sewer
system shall immediately, but not more than 24 hours after the
discharge begins, notify the department; local health departments
as defined in section 1105 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368,
MCL 333.1105; a daily newspaper of general circulation in the
county or counties in which a municipality notified pursuant to
subsection (4) is located; and a daily newspaper of general
circulation in the county in which the discharge occurred or is
occurring of all of the following:
(a) Promptly after the discharge starts, by telephone or in
another manner required by the department, that the discharge is
occurring.
(b) At the conclusion of the discharge, in writing or in
another manner required by the department, all of the following:
(i) The volume and quality of the discharge as measured
pursuant to procedures and analytical methods approved by the
department.
(ii) The reason for the discharge.
(iii) The waters or land area, or both, receiving the
discharge.
(iv) The time the discharge began and ended as measured
pursuant to procedures approved by the department.
(v) Verification of the person's compliance status with the
requirements of its national pollutant discharge elimination system
permit
or groundwater wastewater discharge permit and applicable
state and federal statutes, rules, and orders.
(2) Upon being notified of a discharge under subsection (1),
the department shall promptly post the notification on its website.
(3) Each time a discharge to surface waters occurs under
subsection (1), the person responsible for the sewer system shall
test the affected waters for E. coli to assess the risk to the
public health as a result of the discharge and shall provide the
test results to the affected local county health departments and to
the department. The testing shall be done at locations specified by
each affected local county health department but shall not exceed
10 tests for each separate discharge event. The requirement for
this testing may be waived by the affected local county health
department if the affected local county health department
determines that such testing is not needed to assess the risk to
the public health as a result of the discharge event.
(4) A person responsible for a sewer system that may discharge
untreated sewage or partially treated sewage into the waters of the
state shall annually contact each municipality whose jurisdiction
contains waters that may be affected by the discharge. If those
contacted municipalities wish to be notified in the same manner as
provided in subsection (1), the person responsible for the sewer
system shall provide that notification.
(5) A person who is responsible for a discharge of untreated
sewage or partially treated sewage from a sewer system into the
waters of the state shall comply with the requirements of its
national pollutant discharge elimination system permit or
groundwater
wastewater discharge permit and applicable state and
federal statutes, rules, and orders.
(6) This section does not authorize the discharge of untreated
sewage or partially treated sewage into the waters of the state or
limit the state from bringing legal action as otherwise authorized
by this part.
(7) The penalties and fines provided for in section 3115 apply
to a violation of this section.
(8) For sewer systems that discharge to the groundwater via a
subsurface
disposal system, that do not have a groundwater
wastewater discharge permit issued by the department, and the
discharge of untreated sewage or partially treated sewage is not to
surface waters, the person responsible for the sewer system shall
notify the local health department in accordance with subsection
(1)(a) and (b), but the requirements of subsections (2), (3), (4),
and (5) do not apply.
(9) As used in this section:
(a) "Partially treated sewage" means any sewage, sewage and
storm water, or sewage and wastewater, from domestic or industrial
sources that meets 1 or more of the following:
(i) Is not treated to national secondary treatment standards
for wastewater or that is treated to a level less than that
required by the person's national pollutant discharge elimination
system permit.
(ii) Is treated to a level less than that required by the
person's
groundwater wastewater discharge permit.
(iii) Is found on the ground surface.
(b) "Sewer system" means a public or privately owned sewer
system designed and used to convey or treat sanitary sewage or
sanitary sewage and storm water. Sewer system does not include an
on-site wastewater treatment system serving 1 residential unit or
duplex.
(c) "Surface water" means all of the following, but does not
include drainage ways and ponds used solely for wastewater
conveyance, treatment, or control:
(i) The Great Lakes and their connecting waters.
(ii) Inland lakes.
(iii) Rivers.
(iv) Streams.
(v) Impoundments.
(vi) Open drains.
(vii) Other surface bodies of water.
Sec. 3122. (1) Until September 30, 2019, the department may
levy
and collect an annual groundwater wastewater discharge permit
fee from facilities or municipalities that discharge wastewater to
the ground or groundwater of this state pursuant to section 3112.
The fee shall be as follows:
(a) For a group 1 facility, $3,650.00.
(b) For a group 2 facility or a municipality of 1,000 or fewer
residents, $1,500.00.
(c) For a group 2a facility, $250.00.
(d) For a group 3 facility, $200.00.
(2) Within 180 days after receipt of a complete application
for a permit to discharge wastewater to the ground or to
groundwater, the department shall either grant or deny a permit,
unless the applicant and the department agree to extend this time
period. If the department fails to make a decision on an
application within the time period specified or agreed to under
this
subsection, an applicant subject to an annual groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fee shall receive a 15% annual discount
on
the annual groundwater wastewater
discharge permit fee.
(3)
If the person required to pay the annual groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fee under subsection (1) is a
municipality,
the municipality may pass on the annual groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fee to each user of the municipal
facility.
(4) As used in this section, "group 1 facility", "group 2
facility", "group 2a facility", and "group 3 facility" do not
include a municipality with a population of 1,000 or fewer
residents or a campground that holds a campground license under
part 125 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.12501 to
333.12546.
Sec. 3122a. In any state fiscal year, if the department
collects more than $2,000,000.00 under section 3122 in annual
groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fees, the department shall
credit in the next fiscal year each permittee who paid a
groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fee a proportional amount
of the fees collected in excess of $2,000,000.00. However, if a
permit is no longer required by the permittee in the next fiscal
year, the department shall do the following:
(a) If the credited amount is $50.00 or more, the department
shall provide a refund to the permittee for the credited amount.
(b) If the credited amount is less than $50.00, the department
shall
provide a credit to the permittee for an annual groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fee that may be required in a
subsequent year.
Sec. 3123. (1) The department shall send invoices for the
groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fees under section 3122 to
all permit holders by January 15 of each year. Fees will be charged
for all facilities authorized as of December 15 of each calendar
year. Payment shall be postmarked no later than March 1 of each
year. Failure by the department to send an invoice by the deadline,
or failure of a person to receive an invoice, does not relieve that
person
of his or her obligation to pay the annual groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fee. If the department does not meet
the January 15 deadline for sending invoices, the annual
groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fee is due not later than
45 days after receiving an invoice. The department shall forward
money collected pursuant to this section to the state treasurer for
deposit
into the groundwater wastewater
discharge permit fund
established under section 3124.
(2) The department shall assess a penalty on all fee payments
submitted under this section after the due date. The penalty shall
be an amount equal to 0.75% of the payment due for each month or
portion of a month the payment remains past due. Failure to timely
pay a fee imposed by this section is a violation of this part and
is cause for revocation of a permit issued under this part and may
subject the discharger to additional penalties pursuant to section
3115.
(3) The attorney general may bring an action for the
collection
of the groundwater wastewater
discharge permit fees
imposed under this section.
Sec.
3124. (1) The groundwater wastewater
discharge permit
fund is created within the state treasury. The state treasurer may
receive money or other assets from any source for deposit into the
groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fund. The state treasurer
shall
direct the investment of the groundwater wastewater discharge
permit fund.
(2)
Money in the groundwater wastewater
discharge permit fund
at
the close of the fiscal year shall remain in the groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fund and shall not lapse to the general
fund.
(3)
The state treasurer shall credit to the groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fund the interest and earnings from
groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fund investments.
(4)
The department shall expend money from the groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fund, upon appropriation, only to
implement the department's groundwater discharge program under this
part. However, in any state fiscal year, the department shall not
expend more than $2,000,000.00 of money from the fund.
(5) By March 1 annually, the department shall prepare and
submit to the governor, the legislature, the chair of the standing
committees of the senate and house of representatives with primary
responsibility for issues related to natural resources and the
environment, and the chairs of the subcommittees of the senate and
house appropriations committees with primary responsibility for
appropriations to the department a report that details the
activities during the previous fiscal year in administering the
department's groundwater discharge program that were funded by the
groundwater
wastewater discharge permit fund. This report shall
include, at a minimum, all of the following as they relate to the
department:
(a) The number of full-time equated positions performing
groundwater
wastewater permitting, compliance, and enforcement
activities.
(b) The number of applications received by the department,
reported as the number of applications determined to be
administratively incomplete and the number determined to be
administratively complete.
(c)
The number of applications for groundwater wastewater
discharge permits determined to be administratively complete for
which a final action was taken by the department. The number of
final actions shall be reported as the number of applications
approved, the number of applications denied, and the number of
applications withdrawn by the applicant.
(d) The percentage and number of applications determined to be
administratively complete for which a final decision was made
within the statutory time frame.
(e) The number of inspections conducted at groundwater
facilities.
(f) The number of violation letters sent.
(g) The number of contested case hearings and civil actions
initiated and completed, the number of voluntary consent orders and
administrative orders entered or issued, and the amount of fines
and penalties collected through such actions or orders.
(h) For each enforcement action that includes a penalty, a
description of what corrective actions were required by the
enforcement action.
(i) The number of groundwater complaints received,
investigated, resolved, and not resolved by the department.
(j)
The amount of revenue in the groundwater wastewater
discharge permit fund at the end of the fiscal year.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.