HB-4905, As Passed Senate, May 8, 2008

SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 4905

     A bill to amend 1982 PA 239, entitled

"An act to license and regulate animal food manufacturing plants,

transfer stations, dead animal dealers, rendering plants, and

certain vehicles; to regulate the disposal of dead animals and to

provide for poultry and livestock composting; to prescribe powers

and duties of certain state departments; to impose fees; to provide

for remedies and to prescribe penalties; and to repeal acts and

parts of acts,"

by amending sections 3 and 15 (MCL 287.653 and 287.665), as amended

by 2005 PA 66.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

     Sec. 3. (1) "Active composting" means the accelerated

decomposition of organic materials leading primarily to the

production of carbon dioxide, water, heat, and compost.

     (2) "Aeration" or "aerate" means the introduction of air into

compost by using porous bulking agents, agitating, turning, mixing,

forcing air through open ended perforated pipes embedded in

compost, or other method provided for by rule.

     (3) "Anaerobic digester" means a system designed to facilitate

the production of methane from anaerobic microbial digestion of

animal or food waste, including dead animals.

(4) (3) "Animal" means mollusks, crustaceans, and vertebrates

other than human beings.

(5) (4) "Animal food manufacturing plant" means an

establishment at which animal or pet food is produced through the

slaughtering, boning, grinding, cooking, canning, or freezing of

dead animals.

(6) (5) "Batch" means compost accumulated in a planned period

of time.

(7) (6) "Biofilter cap" means a layer of fresh bulking agent

placed over a pile.

(8) (7) "Bulking agent" means a material added to compost to

provide nutrients, decrease bulk density, promote aeration, and

remove heat.

(9) (8) "Compost leachate" means any liquid leaving compost by

running off of the surface of the pile or flowing downward through

the pores of the pile.

(10) (9) "Composting structure" means a structure designed and

built for the sole purpose of composting organic material and dead

animals.

(11) (10) "Curing" means the period of time after active

composting when further decomposition occurs at a slow rate.

(12) (11) "Dead animals" means restaurant grease and the

bodies, any part of the bodies, or any material produced from the

bodies of animals that have been slaughtered or have died from any

other cause and are not intended for human food. Dead animals do

not include a finished product that has been processed by an

approved method.

(13) (12) "Dead animal dealer" means a person that procures

and transports dead animals to or from a facility licensed under

this act.

(14) (13) "Decharacterize" means a procedure that renders dead

animals unfit for human consumption.

(15) (14) "Denature" means a procedure that imparts a

distinctive color, odor, or taste to dead animals so that the

bodies are unfit for human consumption or cannot be used for animal

or pet food unless properly rendered.

(16) (15) "Department" means the department of agriculture.

(17) (16) "Director" means the director of the department of

agriculture or his or her authorized representative.

(18) (17) "Effluent" means any liquid leaving compost by

running off the surface of the pile and flowing downward through

the pores of the pile.

(19) (18) "Facility" means any of the following:

     (a) An animal food manufacturing plant.

     (b) A rendering plant.

     (c) A transfer station.

(20) (19) "Fresh" means bulking agents of plant origin that

have not been mixed with any animal tissue, product, or excrement

and have limited odor-producing potential.

     Sec. 15. The department shall promulgate rules pursuant to the

administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to

24.328, regarding the following:

     (a) The construction and operation of a facility licensed

under this act.

     (b) Vehicles used for the transportation of dead animals.

     (c) Methodology for active composting to include, but not be

limited to, methodology regarding passively aerated static piles,

mechanically or forced aerated static piles, windrow piles, and

contained or in-vessel systems.

     (d) Conditions for active composting to include, but not be

limited to, recommended conditions regarding moisture content,

carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, bulking agent particle size, animal

tissue density, composting density, temperature ranges, and pH

ranges.

     (e) Parameters regarding grinding, including, but not limited

to, pile form and shape, pile slumping, and the presence of large

intact bones after composting.

     (f) Methods for effluent containment and prevention of its

movement into groundwater and surface water.

     (g) The accommodation of normal natural daily mortality and

system capacity for accommodation of both active composting and

curing.

     (h) Control of odor and pest or vermin infestation of piles

with biofilter caps or as otherwise provided by rule.

     (i) The generation of adequate records involving composting.

     (j) A system of annual nutrient-content analysis.

     (k) The final disposition of finished compost.

     (l) Methodology for the anaerobic digestion of organic

materials.