2003 Senate Bill 560 ↩

House Roll Call 547: Failed

To authorize new annual groundwater discharge permit requirements and fees for some 1,400 facilities that discharge wastewater onto the ground or into groundwater, as opposed to the 950 previously required to have a permit. Previously, there was no fee. The bill would apply to facilities which discharge water, even if the water is clean or is only moved from one place to another. This bill is one of many authorizing fee increases proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to close a gap between state spending and expected revenue in the Fiscal Year 2003-2004 budget. The House version contains a requirement that 90 percent of any money remaining in the Groundwater Discharge Permit Fee Fund at the close of the fiscal year would be used to reduce fees in the next year, and a requirement that the DEQ and the governor must notify those required to apply for a groundwater discharge permit of the new and higher fees. It also streamlines the permit application process, and requires permit fees to be discounted if the state takes longer than a specified period of time to issue the permit.