LANSING – A local government would be able to adopt an ordinance to prevent, control or eradicate aquatic invasive species in waters within the its boundaries and impose fees if an aquatic invasive species were present in the waters under legislation discussion by the Michigan Senate Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday.

The fees collected – which could be for invasive species prevention, control or eradication; using a boat launch or boat washing station; or parking a motor vehicle and trailer used to haul a boat – would be required to be deposited in a restricted fund for expenditure on aquatic invasive species prevention, control and eradication.

And while most who testified on SB 104 were supportive of its provisions, the Department of Natural Resources took no position on the bill as written, stating that while it can appreciate the intent behind the bill, it does not want to discourage boaters from using any of Michigan’s numerous inland lakes.

The ordinance could not impose fees totaling more than $10 per boat per day or $45 per boat per year, a Senate Fiscal Agency analysis of the bill states. And the ordinance would have to exempt a pesticide applicator, lake management consultant, or other person engaged in aquatic invasive species management activities from payment of a fee, as well as a government entity or a nonprofit organization.

The DNR also had questions about how the bill would be enforced if it did in fact become law.

But members of the Michigan Waterfront Alliance and the Michigan Aquatic Managers Association said something needs to happen sooner rather than later.

“We’ve been concerned about the members of Michigan living around the lakes having to bear the brunt of the invasive species war,” said Bob Frye, president of the group. “It’s very challenging when you have a number of public launch sites at our different lakes and the public contributing to the problem, but the public not given a chance to confront the problem.”

Questions arose over how much of a fee would be appropriate and in what manner but to no consensus.

The Michigan Townships Association, Michigan Association of Counties and Michigan Municipal League were among supporters of the bill, as was the Michigan Environmental Council (though the latter said more needed to be done to figure out how to get more funds to the table to address the issue overall).

The committee did not report the bill.

LIQUID INDUSTRIAL BY-PRODUCT: The committee did, however, report three bills related to changing liquid industrial by-product laws to bring them up to speed with federal laws. S-1 substitutes making mostly technical changes were adopted to SB 400, SB 401 and SB 402.

The bills would refer to what is now liquid industrial waste instead as liquid industrial by-product instead, and exclude from the classification of such a material that is used or reused as an ingredient to make a product and meets certain criteria otherwise.

The bills also eliminate a requirement that a generator of liquid industrial by-product use a site identification number when necessary for transportation and pay the Department of Environmental Quality a $50 fee for deposit into the Environmental Pollution Prevention Fund for each number the generator uses.

SB 400, specifically, also allows required records and documents to be maintained in an electronic format and allows a transporter to dispose of septage waste or liquid industrial by-product on land if authorized by the DEQ.

The department, at the last committee hearing, was in support of the legislation, and the bills were reported Wednesday with unanimous approval.

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