HOUSE BILL NO. 5824
     June 18, 2024, Introduced by Reps. Prestin and Markkanen and referred to the Committee on
        Agriculture.
          A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
    "Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
    by amending section 502 (MCL 324.502), as amended by 2004 PA 587.
                     THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1         Sec. 502. (1) The commission may promulgate rules, not
2   inconsistent with law, governing its the commission's organization
3   and procedure.
4         (2) The department may do 1 or more of the following:
5         (a) Promulgate and enforce reasonable rules concerning the use
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 1   and occupancy of lands and property under its the department's
 2   control in accordance with section 504.
 3         (b) Provide and develop facilities for outdoor recreation.
 4         (c) Conduct investigations it the department considers
 5   necessary for the proper administration of this part.
 6         (d) Remove and dispose of forest products as required for the
 7   protection, reforestation, and proper development and conservation
 8   of the lands and property under the control of the department.
 9         (e) Require the payment of a fee as provided by law for a
10   daily permit or other authorization that allows the person
11   individual to hunt and take waterfowl on a public hunting area
12   managed and developed for waterfowl.
13         (3) Except as provided in subsection (4), the department may
14   enter into contracts for the taking of coal, oil, gas, and other
15   mineral products from state owned lands, upon a royalty basis or
16   upon another basis, and upon the terms the department considers
17   just and equitable subject to section 502a. This contract power
18   includes authorization to enter into contracts for the storage of
19   gas or other mineral products in or upon state owned lands, if the
20   consent of the state agency having jurisdiction and control of the
21   state owned land is first obtained. A contract permitted under this
22   section for the taking of coal, oil, gas, or metallic mineral
23   products, or for the storage of gas or other mineral products, is
24   not valid unless the contract is approved by the state
25   administrative board. Money received from a contract for the
26   storage of gas or other mineral products in or upon state lands
27   shall must be transmitted to the state treasurer for deposit in the
28   general fund of the this state to be used for the purpose of
29   defraying the expenses incurred in the administration of this act
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 1   and other purposes provided by law. Other money received from a
 2   contract permitted under this subsection, except money received
 3   from lands acquired with money from the former game and fish
 4   protection fund or the game and fish protection account of the
 5   Michigan conservation and recreation legacy fund provided for in
 6   section 2010, shall must be transmitted to the state treasurer for
 7   deposit in the Michigan natural resources trust fund created in
 8   section 35 of article IX of the state constitution of 1963 and
 9   provided for in part 19. However, the money received from the
10   payment of service charges by a person an individual using areas
11   managed for waterfowl shall must be credited to the game and fish
12   protection account of the Michigan conservation and recreation
13   legacy fund provided for in section 2010 and used only for the
14   purposes provided by law. Money received from bonuses, rentals,
15   delayed rentals, royalties, and the direct sale of resources,
16   including forest resources, from lands acquired with money from the
17   former game and fish protection fund or the game and fish
18   protection account of the Michigan conservation and recreation
19   legacy fund provided for in section 2010 shall must be credited to
20   the Michigan game and fish protection trust fund established in
21   section 41 of article IX of the state constitution of 1963 and
22   provided for in part 437, except as otherwise provided by law.
23         (4) The department shall not enter into a contract that allows
24   drilling operations beneath the lake bottomlands of the Great
25   Lakes, the connected bays or harbors of the Great Lakes, or the
26   connecting waterways as defined in section 32301, for the
27   exploration or production of oil or gas.
28         (5) This section does not permit a contract for the taking of
29   gravel, sand, coal, oil, gas, or other metallic mineral products
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1   that does not comply with applicable local ordinances and state
2   law.
3          (6) The department shall not expend state funds to manage the
4   wolf population in this state unless all of the following have
5   occurred:
6          (a) Wolves have been removed from the federal list of
7   endangered species in this state.
8          (b) The commission has established a wolf hunting season for
9   the public harvest of wolves.
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Statutes affected: House Introduced Bill: 324.502