If a reasonable no-spray agreement is offered to a municipality and an agreement is not reached within 90 days after the date of the offer, the public utility or the Department of Transportation at its own option may apply pesticides in the its right-of-way under its jurisdiction or use other methods to control the vegetation. If the municipality agrees to perform vegetation control work, but does not perform it by the agreed- upon date, the public utility or the Department of Transportation, after 90 days days' written notice to the municipality, at its own option may apply pesticides in the its right-of-way under its jurisdiction, or use other methods to control the vegetation.

It is the intent of the Legislature that this section to make available to municipalities an alternative to right-of-way maintenance procedures which that use pesticides. This section does not affect municipal authority to enact ordinances nor the authority of public utilities or the Department of Transportation to maintain its right-of-way clear of unwanted vegetation in the absence of an agreement.

Sec. 25. Rules. Nothing in this Act repeals or is intended to repeal or substantively affect any rules of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, Board of Pesticides Control in effect on the effective date of this Act.

SUMMARY

This bill, which is submitted by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources pursuant to Public Law 2005, chapter 382, Part G, section 1, makes changes to the laws governing pesticide control. Many of the changes are technical or organizational changes to make the laws read more clearly or to update language. This bill also makes these substantive changes:

1. It repeals the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 7, section 607-A, which requires the Board of Pesticides Control to undertake a risk assessment for all pesticides used in the State; and

2. It modifies Title 7, section 609 relating to procedures for registering, canceling or suspending registrations to make the language consistent with the board's actual practices.