Natural resources: Great Lakes; regulations regarding crib docks in the Les Cheneaux Islands; prohibit Amends 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.101 - 324.90106) by adding secs. 32509a & 32509b & provides for a referendum.
Key claim: HB6143 would amend Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to prohibit crib docks in the Les Cheneaux Islands and provide for a public referendum on the measure.
Abstract
(HB6143 · 103rd Legislature) Natural resources: Great Lakes; regulations regarding crib docks in the Les Cheneaux Islands; prohibit Amends 1994 PA 451 (MCL 324.101 - 324.90106) by adding secs. 32509a & 32509b & provides for a referendum. Latest action (2026-07-01): Bill Electronically Reproduced 06/30/2026
Why this matters
The bill introduces a narrowly targeted, place-specific restriction on shoreline structures in the ecologically sensitive Les Cheneaux Islands and unusually routes the decision through a public referendum rather than agency rulemaking. For waterfront property owners, contractors, and local governments in that region, it would foreclose a traditional dock construction method, while at the statewide level it signals a legislative willingness to embed geographically specific prohibitions directly into NREPA.