Section 324.20105 - Duties of department; notification of inclusion on list; removal of site from list; “list” defined.
NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 451 of 1994
324.20105 Duties of department; notification of inclusion on list; removal of site from list; “list” defined.
Sec. 20105.
(1) The department shall do all of the following:
(a) Upon discovery of a site, identify and evaluate the site for the purpose of assigning to the site a priority score for response activities. Upon assignment to the site of a priority score for response activity, the site shall retain the same score assignment unless a substantial body of data is provided to or available to the department indicating to the department that a substantial change in the score is warranted, and a person requests rescoring for a site during the annual public comment period following the publication of the list, or the department determines that rescoring is appropriate.
(b) Develop 1 or more numerical risk assessment models for assessing the relative present and potential hazards posed to the public health, safety, or welfare, or to the environment by each site identified pursuant to subdivision (a). The model, or models if more than 1 is developed, shall provide a fair and objective site specific numerical score designating the relative risk posed to the public health, safety, or welfare, or to the environment of each site.
(c) Include in rules promulgated under this part the numerical risk assessment model or models if more than 1 is developed. The numerical risk assessment model or models shall be reviewed annually by the department to identify potential improvements.
(d) Except as provided in subsection (9), submit to the legislature in November of each fourth year a list strictly derived from the numerical risk assessment model or models provided for in this section that does all of the following:
(i) Includes all sites.
(ii) Categorizes sites according to the response activity at the site at the time of listing and according to categories established by rules.
(iii) Indicates whether the owner of a site is the federal government, the state, or a local unit of government.
(iv) Indicates a change in the status of a site since the last previously prepared list.
(e) Maintain and make available to the public upon request records regarding sites where remedial actions have been completed, including sites where land use restrictions have been imposed, if the records are not otherwise protected from disclosure by law.
(f) Submit the list for public hearings geographically dispersed throughout the state. These hearings shall be completed at least 30 days before the governor's annual budget recommendations to the legislature.
(g) Report to the legislature and the governor those sites that have been removed from the list pursuant to this section and rules promulgated under this part and the source of the funds used to undertake the response activity at each of the sites.
(h) Publish a notice each fourth year in the Michigan register of the availability of, and submit to the standing committees of the senate and the house of representatives that primarily consider issues pertaining to the protection of natural resources and the environment, a report describing the response activity that is undertaken at each site where response activity is or has occurred during the reporting period and the nature of the contamination that resulted in the necessity for that response activity.
(2) Following July 1, 1991, if the department has information identifying the owner of property that may be listed as a site, the department shall make reasonable efforts to notify in writing the owner of the property and the local health department and the municipality in which the site is located prior to including the site on the list. This subsection does not provide a defense to liability.
(3) A site shall be removed from the list when the department's review of a site shows that the site does not meet the criteria specified in rules promulgated under this part. A site shall not be removed from this list until any necessary response activity that meets the standards specified in rules promulgated under this part is complete.
(4) A person may request that a site be removed from the list by submitting a petition to the department. A petition shall include all of the following information:
(a) A description and history of the site.
(b) A description of the nature and extent of the environmental contamination that existed at the site at the time the site was included on the list.
(c) A description of the response activity undertaken to remedy the release or threat of a release, consistent with rules promulgated under this part, or a description of the investigation conducted that supports the person's petition that the site should be removed from the list without further response activity.
(d) An analysis of the effectiveness of the response activity undertaken to remediate the release or threat of release. The analysis shall include site specific analytical data that documents the effectiveness of the response activity.
(e) Other site-specific information required by the department.
(5) A person seeking the removal of a site from the list shall prepare and submit to the department the documentation required by subsection (4). If response activities have been conducted by the department at the site, the department shall prepare the documentation required by subsection (4).
(6) Within 30 days after receipt of the petition, the department shall determine whether a petition submitted under subsection (4) is administratively complete. Within 60 days after a determination that a petition is administratively complete, the petitioner shall be notified by the department of the department's intent to remove the site from the list, or the petitioner shall be notified that the petition for removal of the site from the list does not meet the criteria for removal of the site from the list as determined by rule. Removal of sites from the list shall be accomplished as part of the process described in rules promulgated under this part. However, if the department concludes pursuant to subsection (3) that the circumstances warrant removal of the site from the list before or at the next regularly scheduled hearing to be held in accordance with rules promulgated under this part, the department shall prepare a notice of intent to remove the site from the list. A notice of intent shall include information considered appropriate by the department and shall be published in at least 1 newspaper of general circulation that serves the area of the site and the notice of intent shall be provided to the local health department and the municipality in which the site is located. Public comment on the notice of intent to remove the site from the site list shall be accepted for a period of not less than 30 days from the date of publication. The department may hold a public hearing on the proposed action.
(7) The department shall make a final determination whether to include the site on the next list. The department shall consider any comments received in response to the notice described in subsection (6).
(8) The department shall notify the person that requested that the site be removed from the list, the local health department, and the municipality in which the site is located of the decision within 45 days of the end of the public comment period provided for in the notice published pursuant to subsection (6).
(9) If the department provides the information required to be included on the list prepared under this section on a computer data base that is accessible through public access computer terminals in each county in the state, the department need not prepare a printed copy of the list.
(10) As used in this section, “list” means the list described in subsection (1)(d).
History: 1994, Act 451, Eff. Mar. 30, 1995 ;-- Am. 1995, Act 71, Imd. Eff. June 5, 1995
Compiler's Notes: For transfer of authority, powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities of the Environmental Response Division to the Director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, see E.R.O. No. 1995-16, compiled at MCL 324.99901 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.
Popular Name: Act 451
Popular Name: Environmental Remediation
Popular Name: Environmental Response Act
Popular Name: NREPA