***** 324.41403 THIS SECTION IS REPEALED BY ACT 286 OF 2011 EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 21, 2015 *****
Sec. 41403.
The legislature finds all of the following:
(a) The waters of the Great Lakes basin are precious public natural resources shared and held in trust by the Great Lakes states and provinces.
(b) The waters of the Great Lakes basin are interconnected and part of a single hydrologic system.
(c) The Great Lakes basin can concurrently serve multiple uses, such as municipal, public, industrial, commercial, agriculture, mining, navigation, energy development and production, recreation, fishing, tourism, the subsistence, economic and cultural activities of native peoples, water quality maintenance, and the maintenance of fish and wildlife habitat and a balanced ecosystem.
(d) The Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces have a shared duty to protect, conserve, restore, improve, and manage the Great Lakes for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of all their citizens, including generations yet to come. The most effective means of protecting, conserving, restoring, improving, and managing the Great Lakes is through the joint pursuit of unified and cooperative principles, policies, and programs mutually agreed upon, enacted, and adhered to by the Great Lakes states and by the Great Lakes Canadian provinces.
(e) AIS are a threat to public health and safety, the environment and natural resources, and the economy. AIS are a serious threat to the ecological integrity and uses of the Great Lakes.
(f) Over 180 AIS have become established in the Great Lakes, not including microbes. Ballast water discharge has been a major source of introduction of AIS.
(g) Forms of trade have been identified as potential vectors of AIS introduction and spread, through purposeful or incidental buying, selling, and transport. The overall goal of this state's AIS prevention efforts is to close the open pathways for AIS.
(h) This state's aquatic invasive species management plan provides a strategy to prevent and control AIS in waters of this state, including the Great Lakes. The plan, last updated in 2002, is being updated by the departments of environmental quality, natural resources, and agriculture and rural development to ensure that it provides a comprehensive approach to AIS including ballast water treatment standards and other AIS prevention, AIS monitoring, and AIS control and eradication, including rapid response to new AIS infestations.
(i) This state can effectively address the threat posed by AIS by updating and implementing a comprehensive AIS management plan, developing and adopting model programs to address AIS, and working cooperatively with other Great Lakes states and provinces to ensure a coordinated and consistent response to AIS.
History: Add. 2011, Act 285, Imd. Eff. Dec. 21, 2011
Popular Name: Act 451
Popular Name: NREPA
Last modified: October 10, 2016