HB 5699

HOUSE BILL NO. 5699
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection
act,"
(MCL 324.101 to 324.90106) by adding section 3116a.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 3116a. (1) A
person may discharge cooling water, wash water, or other wastewater from a
process used to produce, process, or create a farm product without a permit
granted under this part if all of the following requirements are met:
(a) Not more than 100,000 gallons of cooling water, wash
water, or other wastewater are discharged per year.
(b) The
cooling water, wash water, or other wastewater does not contain hazardous waste,
as that term is defined in R 299.9203 of the Michigan Administrative Code.
(c) The
discharge does not result in the creation of a facility, as that term is
defined in section 20101.
(d) The cooling water, wash water, or other wastewater is not discharged
into surface water.
(e) The
discharge does not, or is not likely to, cause damage to or change the
conditions of background groundwater quality in a manner that causes or may
cause groundwater to no longer be fit for a protected use. As used in this
subdivision, "protected use" means any of the following uses:
(i) Public health, safety, and welfare.
(ii) Domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural,
recreational, or another use for which groundwater may be used.
(iii) The value or utility of riparian lands.
(iv) Livestock, wild animals, birds, fish, and aquatic life or
plants or the growth or propagation of, and the value in, livestock, wild
animals, birds, fish, and aquatic life or plants.
(f) The
discharge is applied not more than 180 days per calendar year.
(g) Except
as otherwise provided under subsection (2), the discharge does not contain
sanitary sewage, as that term is defined in R 323.2203 of the Michigan
Administrative Code.
(h) The cooling
water, wash water, or other wastewater is stored in a manner that meets the
following requirements:
(i) Is watertight or stored in a vessel that meets the
conservation practice standard published by the United States Department of
Agriculture entitled "Pond Sealing or Lining, Geomembrane or Geosynthetic
Clay Liner, Code 521".
(ii) Is accommodating of periods when the cooling water, wash
water, or other wastewater cannot be applied to the land because of a
precipitation event or the land is flooded, saturated, frozen, or snow-covered.
(iii) Is maintained in manner to prevent leakage.
(i) If a
discharge is applied to land, both of the following apply:
(i) The discharge is applied over vegetated land.
(ii) The discharge does not cause runoff to, ponding on, or
flooding of an adjacent property, does not cause erosion, and does not cause
nuisance conditions.
(j) The cooling
water, wash water, or other wastewater is not discharged or land applied in the
same location repeatedly. The discharge or land application area must be
rotated according to soil conditions and the nutrient needs of a farm product
to which the cooling water, wash water, or other wastewater is being applied.
(k) The
discharge is not applied to land approved for the land application of concentrated
animal feeding operation waste.
(l) The discharge is not applied during a precipitation event
or to flooded, saturated, frozen, or snow-covered ground.
(m) The
cooling water, wash water, or other wastewater is discharged not less than 100
feet inside a property boundary and not less than 75 feet away from a water
supply well.
(2) A
discharge under subsection (1) may include sanitary sewage, as that term is defined
in R 323.2203 of the Michigan Administrative Code, if the discharge is applied
through a subsurface system permitted by a local health department that is
built for the intended use in accordance with the publication entitled "Michigan
Criteria for Subsurface Sewage Disposal".
(3) A
person that discharges cooling water, wash water, or other wastewater under
subsection (1) shall maintain records that contain the following information
regarding each discharge:
(a) The
date of the discharge.
(b) The
volume discharged in gallons.
(c) The
location of the discharge, including a field name or address.
(4) As used in this section:
(a) "Cooling water" means water used for reducing the
temperature or to chill fruit, vegetables, or other farm products.
(b) "Farm product" means that term as it is defined in section
2 of the Michigan right to farm act, 1981 PA 93, MCL 286.472.
(c) "Nuisance conditions" mean conditions that cause a
substantial, unreasonable interference with another person's use or enjoyment
of the person's property, including, but not limited to, interference caused by
any of the following:
(i) Odors.
(ii) Vectors.
(iii) Noise.
(iv) Pathogens.
(d) "Wash water" means water that was used to wash or clean a
farm product and may contain dirt or other substances removed from the farm
product.
(e) "Wastewater" means water that contains materials from
processes used to process, modify, or otherwise change the state of a farm
product.
Enacting section 1.
This amendatory act does not take effect unless House Bill No. 5698 (request
no. H04381'25) of the 103rd Legislature is enacted into law.