2003 House Bill 4257 ↩

Senate Roll Call 144: Passed

To allow a waterfront property owner to perform "beach maintenance activities" until November 1, 2007 without a wetland permit in Great Lakes riparian lands that were a beach before water levels dropped. Allowable activities include manual or mechanized leveling of sand, mowing of vegetation not to exceed the width of the property or 100 feet, manual and minimal removal of vegetation, grooming of soil, and construction and maintenance of a path to the water not wider than six feet. The Department of Environmental Quality would also identify two areas near Grand Traverse Bay and Saginaw Bay where landowners could use machinery to remove all vegetation up to 100 feet or 50 percent of the property if the area had ever been a beach since 1997. Landowners and local governments in other areas could apply for a permit to do the same.