‘Sec. 3. Registry for notification of outdoor agricultural application of pesticides. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, Board of Pesticides Control, referred to in this section as "the board," shall develop and maintain a registry of the properties of residents, lessees and property owners in the State who request that their properties be placed on a registry in order that the residents, lessees and owners receive advance notification of the outdoor agricultural application of pesticides by aircraft or air-carrier equipment. This registry must be the only registry or system used by the board to form the basis of a mandatory notification system for outdoor agricultural applications of pesticides by aerial or air-carrier equipment. The registry developed by the board must conform to the following requirements.

1. Development of registry. The board shall solicit participation in the registry through newspaper articles, public notices distributed to municipal offices and a notice posted on the board's publicly accessible website. For a property to be placed on the registry, a person must submit to the board, using a form provided on the board's publicly accessible website or a paper copy provided by the board upon request, the following information:

2. Fees; duration of inclusion; renewal; removal. Any resident, owner or lessee of property in the State is entitled to have that property placed on the registry. The board shall either require a fee of $20 to initially register or implement another method designed to minimize arbitrary registration. An annual renewal registration fee may not be charged. Registered property remains on the registry for a period of up to one year. A registrant shall update or confirm the registrant's contact information annually with the board. The effective period of the registry must be from March 1st to February 28th of the following year. Individuals must submit their request for inclusion on the next effective registry by December 31st. All submissions received after that date must be included on the following year's registry. Individuals may notify the board at any time of changes in their listed registry residence; however, changes to the registry do not take effect until the following year's registry. An individual may not be considered officially included on the registry unless the individual's name appears on the current effective registry. The property of a registrant that has not updated or confirmed all of the registrant's contact information by the date set by the board must be removed from the registry.

3. Obligation to provide information to persons on registry. A certified applicator intending to conduct an outdoor application of pesticides using aircraft or air-carrier equipment shall access the registry to identify any person entitled to notification and shall provide that person with notification or cause that person to be notified no later than the day before and no earlier than 7 days before the day of the application. The notification must include:

Upon the request of a person receiving notification under this subsection, a certified applicator or the applicator's agent shall provide the material safety data sheets for the pesticides being used or copies of the pesticides labels. A certified applicator is not required to postpone an application pending delivery of the requested information.

4. Criteria requiring notification. Pesticides applications meeting the following criteria require notification to persons listed on the registry:

5. Means of notification. A certified applicator conducting or contracting for an outdoor application of pesticides using aircraft or air-carrier equipment shall make a good faith effort to notify or cause to be notified a person entitled to the information. The certified applicator or agent must keep a record of the time and date of the notification. The preferred method of notification is electronic mailing of board-approved notification forms, if electronic mail is available, regularly used and acceptable for primary notification purposes. If electronic mail is not available in a specific instance, acceptable means of notification include:

6. Rulemaking. The board shall adopt rules to implement this section. The rules may provide additional means of identifying property registered and alternate means of providing notification. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 7, section 610, subsection 6, paragraph B, rules adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

7. Development of mapping tool program. The board, within existing resources and in partnership with the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Office of Information Technology, Maine Office of GIS, shall develop a notification registry mapping tool program based on ongoing collaborative programming by February 1, 2013. The mapping tool program must include a geographic information system that, when queried by the registrant or certified applicator, will be able to locate any registrant's physical address within requested distance parameters of a given proposed application area.

Sec. 4. Board of Pesticides Control to amend rules. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, Board of Pesticides Control, referred to in this section as "the board," shall:

1. Notification. Amend Rule Chapter 28, Section 2 to require notification to persons listed on the Maine Pesticide Notification Registry of:

2. Registration. Develop a method, other than the imposition of registration fees, designed to minimize the likelihood of arbitrary registration on the Maine Pesticide Notification Registry. The board may amend its rules to eliminate or reduce fees for registration under the Maine Pesticide Notification Registry and instead implement the alternative method.

Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 7, section 610, subsection 6, paragraph B, the amendment to Rule Chapter 28 under this section is routine technical rulemaking as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.’