HB 5802 Summary

• Amends the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to define and regulate prohibited and restricted species in Michigan.

• Establishes definitions for "genetically engineered," "introduce," "prohibited species," "restricted species," and "recombinant nucleic acid techniques."

• Prohibits introduction of specified invasive species including aquatic plants (hydrilla, water chestnut, fanwort), fish (bighead carp, grass carp, snakehead), birds (Eurasian collared dove), crustaceans (rusty crayfish), insects (Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer), mammals (nutria), and mollusks (various snail species).

• Restricts certain aquatic plants (curly leaf pondweed, Eurasian watermilfoil, purple loosestrife), terrestrial plants (autumn olive), and mollusks (zebra mussel, quagga mussel) with exemptions for approved sterile cultivars.

• Clarifies that possession of prohibited or restricted organisms is not unlawful when organisms occur naturally on owned land, are collected from the environment and kept at collection site, or are being destroyed.