October 19, 2016, Introduced by Reps. Cochran, Poleski, Irwin, Hovey-Wright, Lane, Greig, Wittenberg and Darany and referred to the Committee on Agriculture.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 412, entitled
"An act to provide for the suppression of serious diseases among
bees; to prescribe certain powers and duties of the director of the
department of agriculture; and to repeal certain acts and parts of
acts,"
(MCL 286.801 to 286.821) by amending the title, as amended by 1993
PA 108, and by adding section 3.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
TITLE
An act to provide for the suppression of serious diseases
among bees and other pollinators; to provide for a protection plan
for pollinators; to prescribe certain powers and duties of the
director of the department of agriculture and rural development;
and
to repeal certain acts and parts of acts.
Sec. 3. (1) The department shall develop and implement a
pollinator protection plan to do both of the following:
(a) Promote the health of and mitigate the risks to all
pollinator species.
(b) Ensure a robust agriculture economy and industry for
honeybees and other pollinators.
(2) In developing the pollinator protection plan, the
department shall seek the assistance of the department of natural
resources and the department of environmental quality. The
department shall establish an advisory group to advise it in
developing the plan. The advisory group shall be appointed by the
department and include representatives of affected groups, such as
beekeepers, agricultural producers, commercial pesticide
applicators, private pesticide applicators, pesticide
manufacturers, retailers, lawn and turf service providers,
agribusiness and farmer organizations, conservation interests,
public universities, and agricultural extension services. To aid it
in arriving at its recommendations, the advisory group may
establish subgroups to focus on particular areas such as habitat
loss for all pollinators, pesticide use as it affects all
pollinators, and honeybee and other pollinator health and disease
research.
(3) The pollinator protection plan shall include practices for
the protection of pollinators that provide voluntary best
management practices for pesticide users, beekeepers, landowners,
and agricultural producers. The pollinator protection plan shall
support all of the following:
(a) Communication between beekeepers and applicators.
(b) Reduction of the risk to pollinators from pesticides.
(c) Increases in pollinator habitat.
(d) Maintenance of existing compliance with state pesticide
use requirements.
(e) Identification of needs for further research to promote
robust agriculture and apiary industries.
(f) Identification of additional opportunities for education
and outreach on pollinators.
(4) By 1 year after the effective date of this section, the
department shall provide a report on its proposed plan to the
senate and house committees on agriculture and on natural resources
and to the governor and shall, upon completion of the plan but not
later than 2 years after the effective date of this section, report
on the implementation of the plan to those committees and the
governor.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.