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HB-5936, As Passed House, June 25, 2026
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SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 5936
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
by amending section 1307 (MCL 324.1307), as amended by 2018 PA 631.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1307. (1) By the processing deadline, the department 1
shall approve or deny an application for a permit. 2
(2) If requested by the permit applicant, the department shall 3
extend the processing period for a permit by not more than 120 4
days, as specified by the applicant. If requested by the permit 5
applicant, the department may extend the processing period beyond 6
the additional 120 days. However, a processing period shall must 7
not be extended under this subsection to a date later than 1 year 8
after the application period ends. 9
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(3) A processing period is tolled from the date that a permit 1
applicant submits a petition under section 1315(1) until the date 2
that a decision of the director is made under section 1315(6). If a 3
permit applicant submits a petition under section 1315(1), the 4
department shall not approve or deny the application for the permit 5
under subsection (1) until after the director issues a decision 6
under section 1315(6). 7
(4) The approval or denial of department shall approve or deny 8
an application for a permit shall be in writing. and shall The 9
approval or denial must be based upon on evidence that would meet 10
the standards in section 75 of the administrative procedures act of 11
1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.275, and the department shall cite to the 12
applicable statutory basis for the determination. 13
(5) Approval of an application for a permit may be granted 14
with conditions or modifications necessary to achieve compliance 15
with the part or parts of this act under which the permit is 16
issued. 17
(6) A denial of If an application for a permit is denied or, 18
for a permit under part 301 or 303, an approval the application for 19
the permit is approved with modification, of an application for a 20
permit shall the denial or approval with modification must 21
document, and any review upholding the denial or modification shall 22
must determine, to the extent practical, all of the following: 23
(a) That the decision is based on specifically cited 24
provisions of this act or rules promulgated under this act. 25
(b) That the decision is based upon on sufficient facts or 26
data , which that are recorded in the file. 27
(c) To the extent applicable, all both of the following: 28
(i) That the decision is the product of reliable scientific 29
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principles and methods. 1
(ii) That the decision has applied the principles and methods 2
reliably to the facts. 3
(d) In the case of denial of an application for a permit under 4
part 301 or 303, suggestions on changes to allow the permit to be 5
approved. 6
(7) Except for permits described in subsection (8), if the 7
department fails to satisfy the requirements of subsection (1) with 8
respect to an application for a permit, the department shall pay 9
the applicant an amount equal to 15% of the greater of the 10
following, as applicable: 11
(a) The total amount of the application fee for that permit. 12
(b) If an assessment or other fee is charged on an annual or 13
other periodic basis by the department to a person holding that 14
holds the permit for which the application was submitted, the total 15
amount of the first periodic charge of that assessment or other fee 16
for that permit. 17
(8) If the department fails to satisfy the requirements of 18
subsection (1) with respect to a permit required by section 11509, 19
11512, 30304, or 32603, the application shall be is considered to 20
be approved and the department shall be is considered to have made 21
any determination required for approval. 22
(9) The failure of the department to satisfy the requirements 23
of subsection (1) or the fact that the department is required to 24
make a payment under subsection (7) or is considered to have 25
approved a permit under subsection (8) shall must not be used by 26
the department as the basis for discriminating against the 27
applicant. If the department is required to make a payment under 28
subsection (7), the application shall must be processed in sequence 29
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Final Page
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with other applications for the same type of permit, based on the 1
date on which the processing period began, unless the director 2
determines on an application-by-application basis that the public 3
interest is best served by processing in a different order. 4
(10) If the department fails to satisfy the requirements of 5
subsection (1) with respect to 10% or more of the applications for 6
a particular type of permit received during a quarter of the state 7
fiscal year, the department shall immediately devote resources from 8
that program to eliminate any backlog and satisfy the requirements 9
of subsection (1) with respect to new applications for that type of 10
permit within the next fiscal quarter. 11
(11) If the department fails to satisfy the requirements of 12
subsection (1), the director shall notify the appropriations 13
committees of the senate and house of representatives of the 14
failure. The notification shall must be in writing and shall 15
include both of the following: 16
(a) An explanation of the reason for the failure. 17
(b) A statement of the amount the department was required to 18
pay the applicant under subsection (7) or a statement that the 19
department was required to consider the application to be approved 20
under subsection (8), as applicable. 21
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect 22
unless all of the following bills of the 103rd Legislature are 23
enacted into law: 24
(a) House Bill No. 5937. 25
(b) House Bill No. 5938. 26
(c) House Bill No. 6038. 27