Bill > SB0327

This bill amends Michigan's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to establish strict guidelines for using farmland with existing development rights agreements for commercial solar facilities. The bill defines key terms like "solar facility" (a solar photovoltaic electricity generation site owned by an electric provider), "landowner" (the person with a freehold estate in the land), and "deferment period" (the time between solar facility construction and removal). Under the proposed law, a solar facility can be a permitted use on farmland only if specific conditions are met, including: the land was previously under a development rights agreement, the site may be subdivided, the existing agreement is amended to extend beyond its original termination date, at least 60 days have passed since the original agreement, the solar site uses pollinator-friendly groundcover, a bond is maintained for facility decommissioning, and the land can be returned to agricultural use after the deferment period (which cannot exceed 90 years minus the remaining term of the original agreement). The bill also prohibits landowners from claiming tax credits during the deferment period and, significantly, adds a provision that after the bill's effective date, development rights agreements cannot be amended to allow solar facilities as a permissible use.

Government Affairs

https://legislature.mi.gov/Bills/Bill?ObjectName=2025-SB-0327