CONTACT YOUR SENATOR ON 4323
The 5-0 supporting vote for HB 4323 on June 11th of the Senate Committee of Natural
Resources and Environmental Affairs paved the way for a Senate floor vote on
the bill. We now expect the Senate vote to happen within the next two weeks and
on for a signature of Governor Jennifer M. Granholm within 20 days thereafter.
Now is the time for you to put in your final efforts by sending an e-mail of
support of HB 4323 to your State Senator. Their address can be found by going
to www.amad14.org, looking in the legislative
section from the bar on the left, follow the steps and send your Senator an e-mail
in support of HB 4323.
To contact the Governor, go to www.michigan.gov look
to the bar on the right, to Governor, you will see an e-mail icon at the top
of the page to e-mail the Governor’s office. You can then express your
support of HB 4323 to the Governor.
We are now in the final two steps of a nine step process that has taken over
two years to complete. With your support, we will see several counties open 70%
or more of their roadways to ORV use in the next few months.
Your voice has never been as important as it is now in Lansing for the passage
of HB 4323, send your e-mail of support immediately!
Here is the information on what the bill would cover:
The bill would amend Part 811 (Off-Road Recreation Vehicles) of the
Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to do the following:
- Allow specific counties in the Lower Peninsula, all of the counties
in the Upper Peninsula, and the townships, cities, and villages
in them to adopt ordinances authorizing the operation of ORVs on
the maintained portion of streets and roads.
- Allow the board of county road commissioners to close up to 30%
of the linear miles of roads located within the county or township
to ORV operation to protect the environment or if the operation
of ORVs posed a particular and demonstrable threat to public safety.
- Allow a township board to adopt an ordinance to close a road
to the operation of ORVs under a county ordinance.
- Delete existing provisions that allow local units to adopt ordinances
authorizing access routes along streets and roads.
- Specify that the local ordinance provisions and any ordinance
adopted under them would apply until five years after the bill's
effective date.
- Require a person younger than 18 to possess a driver license
and ORV safety certificate and operate under the direct supervision
of a parent or guardian in order to operate an ORV under a local
ordinance
- Prohibit a person under the age of 12 from operating an ORV
under a local ordinance.
- Designate a violation of a local ordinance as a municipal civil
infraction, and subject a violator to a civil fine and the costs
of repairing any damage he or she caused.
- Require the fine revenue and damages to be deposited into a local
unit's "ORV Fund", and allocate half to the local law
enforcement unit, and half to the entity responsible for street
and road maintenance.
- Increase the minimum fine for certain misdemeanor violations.
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