House Bills 4163 and 4164
Sponsor: Rep. William Callahan
Committee: Great Lakes and Tourism
Complete to 3-25-99
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILLS 4163 AND 4164 AS INTRODUCED 2-3-99
House Bills 4163 and 4164 would amend the Michigan Vehicle Code (MCL 257.811d) and the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) (MCL 324.30113), respectively, to provide for the sale of environmental license plates, and to specify that service fees collected from the sales of the plates be credited to the Land and Water Management Permit Fee Fund and spent on cleaning up Lake St. Clair, as follows:
House Bill 4163. The bill would amend the Michigan Vehicle Code to require that the secretary of state develop and issue an environmental registration plate (defined under the bill to mean a registration plate containing a specialized design pertaining to the environment of the state) for use on passenger motor vehicles, pickup trucks, vans, motor homes, hearses, buses, trailer coaches, or trailers for which the plate was issued, instead of a standard registration plate. The plates would be designed by, and bear letters and numbers prescribed by, the secretary of state. The word "Michigan" would have to appear on each plate. The bills are tie-barred to each other.
Application for Environmental Registration Plate. An application for an environmental registration plate would be submitted according to the procedures prescribed under the code. The following service fees would be charged for an original or renewal environmental registration plate, in addition to the regular vehicle registration tax:
For an original plate, $3.00 for the first month, and $2.00 per month for each additional month of the registration period.
For a renewal plate, $10.00.
An environmental registration plate would expire as specified under the code. The secretary of state could issue a tab or tabs designating the month and year of expiration when issuing or renewing a plate.
Temporary Registration Permit. The secretary of state could issue a temporary registration permit if an applicant's current vehicle registration was due to expire before he or she received an environmental registration plate. The temporary registration would expire upon receipt of an environmental registration plate, or 60 days after it was issued, whichever occurred first. The temporary permit would be issued without a separate fee.
Allocation of Fees. Fees collected under the provisions of the bill would be identified and segregated by the secretary of state into a separate account. After deducting its manufacturing and administrative costs -- including the administrative costs associated with issuing, replacing, and substituting plates -- the secretary of state would transfer the balance, on a quarterly basis, to the state treasurer for credit to the Land and Water Management Permit Fee Fund and for use in cleaning up Lake St. Clair and other inland lakes in the state.
House Bill 4164. House Bill 4164 would amend Part 301 of the NREPA, which regulates inland lakes and streams, to conform to the provisions of House Bill 4163. In addition, the bill would specify that money expended from the fund would first have to be expended to clean up Lake St. Clair.
Analyst: R. Young