Summary — HB 4940 (proposed substitute H‑2)
Title: Environmental protection — underground storage tanks; underground storage tank corrective action fund; modify (amends MCL 324.21502 et seq.; repeals MCL 324.21510c)
Status & procedural posture
- Introduced: Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, 09/11/2025.
- Reported with substitute (H‑2) and recommendation concurred in (11/12/2025); referred for consideration by the Committee on Rules.
- The bill (as reported) amends numerous sections of Part 215 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) governing the Underground Storage Tank (UST) Authority and the UST cleanup fund.
Purpose / intent
- To revise eligibility, definitions, limits, and claims procedures for corrective action and indemnification payments from the state underground storage tank cleanup fund; and to harmonize certain tribal eligibility provisions with federal requirements.
Key provisions and changes
- Definitions
- Adds/clarifies key terms including “confirmed release” (a release reported to LARA on a form designated as a confirmed release) and “closure” (EGLE-approved closure of a release covered by an approved claim).
- Defines “claimant” as the person to whom an approved claim is assigned or transferred.
Eligibility and reporting
- Requires that a release be a “confirmed release” to be eligible for fund payment.
- Maintains a 24‑hour reporting requirement but links it to reporting a confirmed release.
- Adds that federally recognized tribes must comply with equivalent federal UST rules and financial responsibility requirements to be eligible; the fund administrator may waive certain tribal requirements if a tank was previously unknown to the tribe.
- The administrator and board may consider “substantial compliance” in eligibility determinations.
Filing deadlines and prohibitions
- A claim must be filed within 24 months after the confirmed release is reported.
- The authority may not approve claims for releases that were expected/intended or caused by intentional/noncompliant conduct, for releases arising from aircraft/automobile/watercraft loading or unloading, for losses due to war/hostilities/terrorism/riots, or for claims filed more than two calendar years after the confirmed release was reported.
Claim and aggregate limits
- Per‑release claims limit set at $1,000,000.
- Claim period aggregate limit standardized to $2,000,000 per claimant (removes the prior tiered limits based on number of tanks).
- Removes an existing requirement that total expenditures (including the deductible) not exceed the claim limit (text removes that line).
Deductibles and claimant responsibility (from companion changes reflected in HB 5115)
- Deductible responsibility is tied to the “claimant” (assignee/transferee) rather than strictly the owner/operator.
- Deductible amounts unchanged in reported text: generally $2,000 per claim for those owning/operating fewer than eight refined petroleum USTs and $10,000 per claim for eight or more — applied on a per‑claimant basis.
Multiple releases and claims at one location
- An approved claim must cover corrective actions related to the release that formed the basis for approval.
- If a subsequent release is discovered before closure of an approved claim, additional coverage can be requested and, if approved, will be considered part of the most recently approved claim (subject to that claim’s deductible and limits).
- A new/additional claim may be approved for a location only after the previously approved claim achieves closure; new claims are subject to the same eligibility, deductible, and limits.
Who is affected
- UST owners and operators (including contractors/affiliates), assignees/claimants who receive transferred claims, the Underground Storage Tank Authority and its board/administrator, EGLE and LARA (reporting/forms), and federally recognized tribes that operate USTs.
Potential impacts
- Tightens and clarifies eligibility and documentation requirements (confirmed release/form-based reporting).
- Standardizes aggregate exposure for claimants at $2 million per claim period (potentially increasing or decreasing limits for some owners/operators depending on prior tank-count tiers).
- Shifts some financial responsibility implications to claimants (not only original owners/operators) when claims are assigned.
- Creates clearer rules for handling subsequent releases discovered during active corrective actions.
- Introduces new disqualifying criteria (intentional acts, certain transport-related releases, war/terrorism events) and stricter deadlines for filing claims.
Sections amended / repealed (high level)
- Amends sections: 21502, 21503, 21506a, 21506b, 21510, 21510a, 21510d, 21515, 21516, 21518, 21519, 21519a, 21521, 21524, 21548.
- Repeals section 21510c.
For further detail
- The House Fiscal Agency analysis and the full substitute (H‑2) text (referenced in committee report) provide line‑by‑line changes and statutory language.
