NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT
Act 451 of 1994
324.30701 Definitions.
Sec. 30701.
As used in this part:
(a) "Commissioner" means the county drain commissioner, or the board of county road commissioners in counties not having a drain commissioner. However, if more than 1 county is involved, commissioner means the drain commissioner or board of county road commissioners, as applicable, for each county.
(b) "County board" means the county board of commissioners. However, if more than 1 county is involved, county board means the county board of commissioners of each of those counties.
(c) "Court" means a circuit court. However, if more than 1 judicial circuit is involved, court means the circuit court designated by the county board or otherwise authorized by law to preside over an action.
(d) "Dam" means an artificial barrier, structure, or facility, and appurtenant works, used to regulate or maintain the level of an inland lake.
(e) "Delegated authority" means the county drain commissioner or any other person designated by the county board to perform duties required under this part.
(f) "Department" means the department of environment, Great Lakes, and energy.
(g) "Inland lake" means a natural or artificial lake, pond, impoundment, or a part of 1 of those bodies of water. Inland lake does not include the Great Lakes or Lake St. Clair.
(h) "Interested person" means the department and a person who has a record interest in the title to, a right of ingress to, or a reversionary right to land that would be affected by a permanent change in the natural or normal level of an inland lake.
(i) "Normal level" means the target level or levels of the water of an inland lake, around which actual levels may fluctuate, that provide the most benefit to the public; that best protect the public health, safety, and welfare; that best preserve the natural resources of this state; and that best preserve and protect the value of property around the inland lake. A normal level shall be measured and described as an elevation or elevations based on a geodetic vertical datum including ranges based on tolerance, operational or weather conditions, seasonality, or other similar natural and regional considerations. An inland lake shall be considered to be maintained at its normal level during temporary water level fluctuations resulting from weather or natural events, during construction activities authorized by the department, or if a county or its delegated authority operates lake level infrastructure in a manner that may affect water levels but is reasonably intended to maintain a normal level. The application of this definition includes, but is not limited to, all normal levels established before the effective date of the amendatory act of the 2023-2024 legislative session that amended this section.
(j) "Normal level project" means a project to establish or maintain a normal level.
History: Add. 1995, Act 59, Imd. Eff. May 24, 1995 ;-- Am. 2024, Act 112, Eff. Apr. 2, 2025
Compiler's Notes:
For transfer of authority, powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities of the Land and Water Management Division, with the exception of the farmland and open space preservation program, natural rivers program, and Michigan information resource inventory system, to the Director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, see E.R.O. No. 1995-16, compiled at MCL 324.99901 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.
PopularName Notes:
Act 451
PopularName Notes:
NREPA
Notes of Decisions
Yee v. Shiawassee Cnty. Bd. of Commissioners, 651 N.W.2d 756 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).
· cites it 3× “7 MCL 324.30701 et seq. The statutes governing establishment of “normal,” or legal, lake levels were included in the Inland Lake Level Act, MCL 281.”
Glen Lake-Crystal River Watershed Riparians v. Glen Lake Ass'n, 695 N.W.2d 508 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).
· cites it 4× “Defendant Glen Lake Association (GLA) appeals as of right the trial court order that modified the established normal level of Glen Lake under the inland lake levels part (ILLP) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, MCL 324.30701 et seq. We conclude that the…”
VanWulfen v. Montmorency Cnty., 345 F. Supp. 2d 730 (E.D. Mich. 2004).
· cites it 10× “The water level is regulated by the" county drain commissioner in accordance with procedures set forth in Michigan’s Inland Lake Levels Act, Mich. Comp. Laws § 324.30701 et seq. The plaintiff has filed a complaint in this Court alleging that the County has allowed *734 the lake…”
Martha Cares Olsen v. Chikaming Twp., 924 N.W.2d 889 (Mich. Ct. App. 2018).
“Rather, Glen Lake involved a dispute under the inland-lake-levels part of Michigan's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, MCL 324.30701. In that case, the Glen Lake Association, which earlier had been ordered by the trial *902 court to operate the dam in question…”
In Re Proj. Cost & Special Assessment Roll for Chappel Dam, 762 N.W.2d 192 (Mich. Ct. App. 2009).
· cites it 2× “After determining the apportionment, pursuant to the Inland Lake Level Act (ILIA), MCL 324.30701 et seq., the drain commissioner held a public hearing in which many property owners in the Chappel Dam assessment district protested the apportionment.”
Semack v. Roscommon, Cnty. of (E.D. Mich. 2025).
· cites it 5× “” Mich. Comp. Laws § 324.30701 , et seq. The process for determining the Normal Level for an inland lake can be initiated by either the county board or a petition to the county board consisting of two-thirds of the owners of land abutting the lake.”
Robert Price v. Cnty. of Gladwin (Mich. Ct. App. 2024).
· cites it 3× “” On May 28, 2019, Judge Carras entered an order in the Midland Circuit action setting the normal lake levels for the four lakes pursuant to Part 307 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, MCL 324.30701 et seq., and confirming the boundaries of the Four Lakes…”
Gregory Semack v. Roscommon Cnty., Mich. (6th Cir. 2026).
· cites it 3× “2022) (citing Mich. Comp. Laws § 324.30701 (h)). In determining the Normal Level, the state court must consider the following: (a) Past lake level records, including the ordinary high-water mark and seasonal fluctuations.”
20250106_C371649_54_371649.Opn.Pdf (Mich. Ct. App. 2025).
· cites it 2× “BACKGROUND This case concerns the procedures for maintaining normal inland lake levels and the associated funding through special assessments, as outlined in Part 307 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), MCL 324.30701 et seq. Part 307 of the NREPA…”
Martha Cares Olsen v. Chikaming Twp. (Mich. Ct. App. 2018).
“In that case, the Glen Lake Association, which earlier had been ordered by the trial court to operate the dam in question so as to maintain the water level of the lake at the ordered level, completely shut off the water flow into the Crystal River while constructing a new dam.”
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 324.30701(H) — 1 case
Glen Lake-Crystal River Watershed Riparians v. Glen Lake Ass'n, 695 N.W.2d 508 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).
“Defendant Glen Lake Association (GLA) appeals as of right the trial court order that modified the established normal level of Glen Lake under the inland lake levels part (ILLP) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, MCL 324.30701 et seq. We conclude that the…”
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 324.30701(c) — 2 cases
Robert Price v. Cnty. of Gladwin (Mich. Ct. App. 2024).
“” On May 28, 2019, Judge Carras entered an order in the Midland Circuit action setting the normal lake levels for the four lakes pursuant to Part 307 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, MCL 324.30701 et seq., and confirming the boundaries of the Four Lakes…”
20250106_C371649_54_371649.Opn.Pdf (Mich. Ct. App. 2025).
“BACKGROUND This case concerns the procedures for maintaining normal inland lake levels and the associated funding through special assessments, as outlined in Part 307 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), MCL 324.30701 et seq. Part 307 of the NREPA…”
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 324.30701(f) — 1 case
Yee v. Shiawassee Cnty. Bd. of Commissioners, 651 N.W.2d 756 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).
“7 MCL 324.30701 et seq. The statutes governing establishment of “normal,” or legal, lake levels were included in the Inland Lake Level Act, MCL 281.”
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 324.30701(g) — 2 cases
Glen Lake-Crystal River Watershed Riparians v. Glen Lake Ass'n, 695 N.W.2d 508 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).
“Defendant Glen Lake Association (GLA) appeals as of right the trial court order that modified the established normal level of Glen Lake under the inland lake levels part (ILLP) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, MCL 324.30701 et seq. We conclude that the…”
— Mich. Comp. Laws § 324.30701(h) — 2 cases
Glen Lake-Crystal River Watershed Riparians v. Glen Lake Ass'n, 695 N.W.2d 508 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).
“Defendant Glen Lake Association (GLA) appeals as of right the trial court order that modified the established normal level of Glen Lake under the inland lake levels part (ILLP) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, MCL 324.30701 et seq. We conclude that the…”
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