Traffic control: driver license; reference to fire protection fund in the natural resources and environmental protection act; remove. Amends sec. 52706 of 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.52706).
Summary
Senate Bill 26 amends Section 52706 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, which governs the sale and later conveyance of certain state-owned lands sold to public agencies for forestry or recreational use. The bill preserves the existing framework allowing the state to sell homestead, tax, swamp, or primary school land to public agencies for those purposes, and it continues to require that prime land remain dedicated to forestry or recreation and revert to the state if that use ends.
The bill also keeps the rules for municipal forestland that was previously sold to a public agency and is subject to a state reversionary interest. In those cases, the Department of Natural Resources must generally relinquish the reversionary interest on request for qualifying land, and any later sale to a third party must follow notice, hearing, approval, and accounting requirements. The bill defines key terms such as municipal forestland, prime land, public agency, basal area, and recreational purpose, and it takes effect 90 days after enactment.
Impact
The bill would amend Michigan law in MCL 324.52706 by updating the statutory rules for state land sales, reversionary interests, and subsequent conveyances of municipal forestland. It affects the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Treasury, local public agencies, and future purchasers of municipal forestland by preserving the accounting and revenue-distribution structure tied to fair-market-value sales, including the split of proceeds and the deposit of certain funds into the general fund and fire protection fund. It also maintains the special treatment for prime land and the procedural requirements for public hearings and notice before a public agency can sell covered land to a third party.
Sentiment
The available record shows no committee testimony, votes, or recorded debate, so there is no direct evidence of support or opposition in the provided materials. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears technical and administrative rather than controversial, focused on clarifying land-disposition procedures and preserving existing protections for public-use forestland. The caption indicates the bill would remove a reference to the fire protection fund in the act, suggesting a targeted statutory cleanup or conforming amendment.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided transcripts or voting history. The main policy issues inherent in the bill are the treatment of municipal forestland subject to reversionary interests, the requirement for public hearings before resale, and the distribution of proceeds from fair-market-value conveyances. Any disagreement would likely center on whether the state should continue to retain revenue-sharing and oversight authority over these lands, and whether the reference to the fire protection fund should remain in the statute or be removed as the bill caption suggests.