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HB-5938, As Passed House, June 25, 2026
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SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 5938
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled
"Natural resources and environmental protection act,"
by amending section 30307 (MCL 324.30307), as amended by 2018 PA
631.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 30307. (1) Within 60 Not later than 30 days after receipt 1
of the completed application and fee, the department may hold a 2
hearing. If a hearing is held, it shall the hearing must be held in 3
the county where the wetland to which the permit is to apply is 4
located. Notice of the hearing shall must be given in the same 5
manner as for the promulgation of rules under the administrative 6
procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328. The 7
department may approve or disapprove a permit application without a 8
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public hearing unless a person requests a hearing in writing within 1
not later than 20 days after the mailing of notification of the 2
permit application as required by subsection (3) or unless the 3
department determines that the permit application is of significant 4
impact so as to warrant a public hearing. 5
(2) The action taken by the department on a permit application 6
under this part or part 13 may be appealed pursuant to in 7
accordance with the administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 8
306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328. A property owner may, after exhaustion 9
of administrative remedies, bring appropriate legal action in a 10
court. of competent jurisdiction. 11
(3) The department shall post on its the department's website, 12
and shall have a process to provide electronic mail email 13
notification of, all of the following under this part: 14
(a) A list of pending applications. 15
(b) Public notices. 16
(c) Public hearing schedules. 17
(4) A local unit of government may regulate wetland within its 18
the local unit of government's boundaries, by ordinance, only as 19
provided under this part. This subsection is supplemental to the 20
existing authority of a local unit of government. An ordinance 21
adopted by a local unit of government pursuant to under this 22
subsection shall must comply with all of the following: 23
(a) The ordinance shall must not provide a different 24
definition of wetland than is provided in this part, except that a 25
wetland ordinance may regulate wetland of less than 5 acres in 26
size. 27
(b) If the ordinance regulates wetland that is smaller than 2 28
acres in size, the ordinance shall must comply with section 30309. 29
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(c) The ordinance shall must comply with sections 30308 and 1
30310. 2
(d) The ordinance shall must not require a permit for uses 3
that are authorized without a permit under section 30305, and shall 4
must otherwise comply with this part. 5
(5) A local unit of government that adopts an ordinance 6
regulating wetlands wetland under subsection (4) shall notify the 7
department. 8
(6) A local unit of government that adopts an ordinance 9
regulating wetlands wetland shall use an application form supplied 10
by the department, and each person applying for a permit shall make 11
application directly to the local unit of government. Upon On 12
receipt, the local unit of government shall forward a copy of each 13
application along with any state fees that may have been submitted 14
under section 30306 to the department. The department shall begin 15
reviewing the application as provided in this part. The local unit 16
of government shall review the application pursuant to its in 17
accordance with the ordinance and shall modify, approve, or deny 18
the application within not later than 90 days after receipt. If a 19
local unit of government does not approve or disapprove the permit 20
application within the time period provided by this subsection, the 21
permit application shall be is considered approved, and the local 22
unit of government shall be is considered to have made the 23
determinations as listed in section 30311. The denial of a permit 24
shall must be accompanied by a written statement of all reasons for 25
denial. The failure to supply complete information with a permit 26
application may be reason for denial of a permit. If requested, the 27
department shall inform a person whether or not a local unit of 28
government has an ordinance regulating wetlands. wetland. If the 29
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department receives an application with respect to a wetland 1
located in a local unit of government that has an ordinance 2
regulating wetlands, wetland, the department immediately shall 3
forward the application to the local unit of government, which 4
shall modify, deny, or approve the application under this 5
subsection. The local unit of government shall notify the 6
department of its decision. The department shall proceed as 7
provided in this part. 8
(7) If a local unit of government does not have an ordinance 9
regulating wetlands, wetland, the department shall promptly send a 10
copy of the permit application to the local unit of government 11
where the wetland is located. The local unit of government may 12
review do any of the following: 13
(a) Review the application. ; may hold 14
(b) Hold a hearing on the application. ; may recommend 15
(c) Recommend approval, modification, or denial of the 16
application to the department. or may notify 17
(d) Notify the department that the local unit of government 18
declines to make a recommendation. The recommendation of the local 19
unit of government, if any, shall must be made and returned to the 20
department within not later than 45 days after the local unit of 21
government's receipt of the permit application. 22
(8) In addition to the requirements of subsection (7), the 23
department shall notify the local unit of government that the 24
department has issued granted a permit under this part pertaining 25
to wetland located within the jurisdiction of that local unit of 26
government within not later than 15 days of after the issuance of 27
the permit. The department shall enclose a copy of the permit with 28
the notice. 29
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(9) After a permit is granted under this section, the permit 1
holder may request to make changes to the permit and shall submit a 2
request to make changes on a form and in a manner prescribed by the 3
department. The department may authorize additional changes, other 4
than those changes requested by the permit holder, if the following 5
conditions are met: 6
(a) The department's additional changes do not provide for any 7
new or additional requirements that are unrelated to the changes 8
that the permit holder requested under this subsection. 9
(b) The department must not readdress any portion of the 10
permit that was previously examined or approved. 11
(c) The department must notify the permit holder of the 12
department's additional changes not later than 7 days after receipt 13
of the permit holder's request for changes. The department shall 14
not authorize any additional changes to a permit after the 15
expiration of the 7-day time period. 16
(10) A permit holder that requests to make changes to a permit 17
under subsection (9) does not restart the application process under 18
this part or part 13 for granting a permit. 19
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect 20
unless all of the following bills of the 103rd Legislature are 21
enacted into law: 22
(a) House Bill No. 5936. 23
(b) House Bill No. 5937. 24
(c) House Bill No. 6038. 25