Terms Used In Michigan Laws 324.21310a

  • Commission: means the commission of natural resources. See Michigan Laws 324.301
  • contaminated: means the presence of a regulated substance in soil, surface water, or groundwater or air that has been released from an underground storage tank system at a concentration exceeding the level set forth in the RCBA tier I screening levels established under section 20120a(1)(a) and (b). See Michigan Laws 324.21302
  • Corrective action: means the investigation, assessment, cleanup, removal, containment, isolation, treatment, or monitoring of regulated substances released into the environment from an underground storage tank system that is necessary under this part to prevent, minimize, or mitigate injury to the public health, safety, or welfare, the environment, or natural resources. See Michigan Laws 324.21302
  • Department: means the director of the department of natural resources or his or her designee to whom the director delegates a power or duty by written instrument. See Michigan Laws 324.301
  • Groundwater: means water below the land surface in the zone of saturation and capillary fringe. See Michigan Laws 324.21302
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • local unit: means a municipality or county. See Michigan Laws 324.301
  • Local unit of government: means a city, village, township, county, fire department, or local health department as defined in section 1105 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333. See Michigan Laws 324.21302
  • NAPL: means a nonaqueous-phase liquid or a nonaqueous-phase liquid solution composed of 1 or more organic compounds that are immiscible or sparingly soluble in water. See Michigan Laws 324.21303
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Operator: means a person who is presently, or was at the time of a release, in control of, or responsible for, the operation of an underground storage tank system. See Michigan Laws 324.21303
  • Owner: means a person who holds, or at the time of a release who held, a legal, equitable, or possessory interest of any kind in an underground storage tank system or in the property on which an underground storage tank system is or was located including, but not limited to, a trust, vendor, vendee, lessor, or lessee. See Michigan Laws 324.21303
  • Person: means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, governmental entity, or other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 324.301
  • Property: means real estate that is contaminated by a release from an underground storage tank system. See Michigan Laws 324.21303
  • Public highway: means a road or highway under the jurisdiction of the state transportation department, a county road commission, or a local unit of government. See Michigan Laws 324.21303
  • RBSL: means the unrestricted residential and nonresidential generic cleanup criteria developed by the department pursuant to part 201. See Michigan Laws 324.21303
  • Release: means any spilling, leaking, emitting, discharging, escaping, or leaching from an underground storage tank system into groundwater, surface water, or subsurface soils. See Michigan Laws 324.21303
  • Rule: means a rule promulgated pursuant to the administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24. See Michigan Laws 324.301
  • shall not apply: means that the pertinent provision is not operative as to certain persons or things or in conjunction with a particular date or dates. See Michigan Laws 8.4c
  • Site: means a location where a release has occurred or a threat of release exists from an underground storage tank system, excluding any location where corrective action was completed which satisfies the applicable RBSL or SSTL. See Michigan Laws 324.21303
  • SSTL: means an RBCA risk-based remedial action target level for contamination developed for a site under RBCA tier II and tier III evaluations. See Michigan Laws 324.21303
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
  • Underground storage tank system: means a tank or combination of tanks, including underground pipes connected to the tank or tanks, which is, was, or may have been used to contain an accumulation of regulated substances, and the volume of which, including the volume of the underground pipes connected to the tank or tanks, is 10% or more beneath the surface of the ground. See Michigan Laws 324.21303
  (1) If the corrective action activities at a site result in a final remedy that relies on a nonresidential RBSL or an SSTL, institutional controls shall be implemented as provided in this subsection. A notice of corrective action shall be recorded with the register of deeds for the county in which the site is located prior to submittal of a closure report under section 21312a. A notice shall be filed under this subsection only by the person that owns the property or with the express written permission of the person that owns the property. A notice of corrective action recorded under this subsection shall state the land use that was the basis of the corrective action. The notice shall state that if there is a proposed change in the land use at any time in the future, that change may necessitate further evaluation of potential risks to the public health, safety, and welfare and to the environment and that the department shall be contacted regarding any proposed change in the land use. Additional requirements for monitoring or operation and maintenance shall not apply if contamination levels do not exceed the levels established in the tier I evaluation.
  (2) If corrective action activities at a site rely on institutional controls other than as provided in subsection (1), the institutional controls shall be implemented as provided in this subsection. The restrictive covenant shall be recorded with the register of deeds for the county in which the property is located within 30 days from submittal of the final assessment report pursuant to section 21311a, unless otherwise agreed to by the department. The restrictive covenant shall be filed only by the person that owns the property or with the express written permission of the person that owns the property. The restrictions shall run with the land and be binding on the owner‘s successors, assigns, and lessees. The restrictions shall apply until regulated substances no longer present an unacceptable risk to the public health, safety, or welfare or to the environment. The restrictive covenant shall include a survey and property description which define the areas addressed by the corrective action plan and the scope of any land use or resource use limitations. The form and content of the restrictive covenant shall include provisions to accomplish all of the following:
  (a) Restrict activities at the site that may interfere with corrective action, operation and maintenance, monitoring, or other measures necessary to assure the effectiveness and integrity of the corrective action.
  (b) Restrict activities that may result in exposure to regulated substances above levels established in the corrective action plan.
  (c) Prevent a conveyance of title, an easement, or other interest in the property from being consummated by the person that owns the property without adequate and complete provision for compliance with the corrective action plan and prevention of exposure to regulated substances described in subdivision (b).
  (d) Grant to the department and its designated representatives the right to enter the property at reasonable times for the purpose of determining and monitoring compliance with the corrective action plan, including, but not limited to, the right to take samples, inspect the operation of the corrective action measures, and inspect records.
  (e) Allow this state to enforce restrictions set forth in the covenant by legal action in a court of appropriate jurisdiction.
  (f) Describe generally the uses of the property that are consistent with the corrective action plan.
  (3) If the owner or operator that is liable under section 21323a determines that exposure to regulated substances may be restricted by a means other than a restrictive covenant in a manner that protects against exposure to regulated substances as defined by the RBSLs and SSTLs, the owner or operator that is liable under section 21323a may select a corrective action plan that relies on alternative mechanisms. Mechanisms that may be considered under this subsection include, but are not limited to, any of the following:
   (a) Compliance with an ordinance, state law, or rule that limits or prohibits the use of contaminated groundwater above the RBSLs or SSTLs identified in the corrective action plan, prohibits the raising of livestock, prohibits development in certain locations, or restricts property to certain uses. An ordinance under this subdivision shall be filed with the register of deeds on the affected property or shall be filed as an ordinance affecting multiple properties. An ordinance adopted after the effective date of the 2016 amendatory act that amended this section shall include a requirement that the local unit of government notify the department 30 days before adopting a modification to the ordinance or the lapsing or revocation of the ordinance.
  (b) A license or license agreement with the state transportation department if regulated substances are proposed to be left in place within a public highway owned or controlled by the state transportation department. The license or license agreement may include a financial mechanism in an amount calculated to reflect the reasonably estimated increased cost of any activity anticipated to be performed as described in the most recently adopted state 5-year program, that has the potential to disturb or expose the environmental contamination left in place within the public highway, including, but not limited to, 1 of the following:
  (i) A bond executed by a surety authorized to do business in this state.
  (ii) Insurance coverage, as evidenced by a proof of insurance.
  (iii) Eligibility under the underground storage tank cleanup fund created in section 21506b.
  (iv) A letter of credit.
  (v) A corporate guarantee.
  (vi) Self-insurance meeting a financial test approved by the state transportation department.
  (c) If the state transportation department fails or refuses to grant a license or enter into a license agreement within 120 days after submission of a request to issue a license or enter into a license agreement, and for public highways owned or controlled by a county road commission or a local unit of government, reliance on the existence of a public highway, if the owner or operator that is liable under section 21323a does all of the following:
  (i) Provides the department and the person that owns or operates the public highway with the following information related to the release and site:
  (A) The site name, address, and facility identification number, and the name and contact information of the person relying on the alternative mechanism.
  (B) Identification of the department district office with jurisdiction over the site.
  (C) The name of the affected public highway and the nearest intersection.
  (D) Identification of known or suspected contaminants.
  (E) A statement that residual or mobile NAPL is or is not present at the affected public highway.
  (F) The media affected, including depth of contaminated soil, depth of groundwater, and predominate groundwater flow direction.
  (G) A scale drawing of the portion of the public highway subject to the alternate mechanism that depicts the area impacted by regulated substances and the location of utilities in the impacted area, including storm water systems and municipal separate storm water systems.
  (H) Identification of all ownership and possessory or use property interests related to the public highway and whether they are affected by the contamination and whether they have received notification of the existing conditions as part of a corrective action plan or pursuant to the due care requirements under section 21304c.
  (I) Identification of exposure risks from drinking water, direct contact, groundwater, soil excavation, or relocation.
  (ii) Confirms that there are no current plans to relocate, vacate, or abandon the public highway.
  (iii) Either provides a certification to the person that owns or operates the public highway that any contamination present as a result of the release from the underground storage tank system does not enter a storm sewer system or provides all information necessary to clearly identify the nature and extent of the contamination that enters or has the potential to enter the storm sewer system.
  (4) A person that applies for a permit issued by a county road commission or a local unit of government to excavate, bore, drill, or perform any other intrusive activity within a public highway or right-of-way of a public highway shall identify whether the proposed work will take place within an area being relied upon as an alternative institutional control.
  (5) Reliance on a public highway as an alternative mechanism under subsection (3)(b) does not affect an owner’s or operator’s liability under section 21323a or impose liability for corrective action or any other obligation on the state transportation department, a county road commission, or a local unit of government. Information provided pursuant to section 21310a(3) or (4) to the person that owns or operates a public highway does not create an estoppel, obligation, or liability on the person that owns or operates the public highway. The use of a public highway as an alternative mechanism does not limit or restrict any right or duty of the state transportation department, a county road commission, or a local unit of government to operate, maintain, repair, reconstruct, enlarge, relocate, abandon, vacate, or otherwise exercise its jurisdiction over any public highway or public highway right-of-way or any part thereof, or to permit any utilities or others to use any public highway or public highway right-of-way, or any part thereof.
  (6) A person that implements corrective action activities that relies on land use restrictions shall provide notice of the land use restrictions that are part of the corrective action plan to the local unit of government in which the site is located within 30 days of filing of the land use restrictions with the county register of deeds.

  Previous section
Next section  
 Part 213 Contents