‘An Act To Reduce Unnecessary Reporting Requirements Related to Natural Resources’

‘Sec. 5. 38 MRSA §470-C, sub-§§8 and 9,  as enacted by PL 2001, c. 619, §1, are amended to read:

Sec. 6. 38 MRSA §470-C, sub-§10  is enacted to read:

Sec. 7. 38 MRSA §470-D, 2nd ¶,  as enacted by PL 2001, c. 619, §1 and amended by PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §§6 and 7, is further amended to read:

Water withdrawal reports must be submitted to either the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, the Commissioner of Conservation , or the Commissioner of Health and Human Services or the Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources in a form or manner prescribed by that commissioner. No later than January 1, 2003, those commissioners shall jointly publish a list indicating which classes of users are to report to which department. The form and manner of reporting must be determined by each commissioner , provided except that the required information is must be collected from each user above the threshold and in a manner that allows that data to be combined with data collected by the other commissioners. The reports must include information on actual and anticipated water use, the identification of the water source, the location of the withdrawal including the distance of each groundwater withdrawal from the nearest surface water source, the volume of the withdrawals that might be reasonably anticipated under maximum high-demand conditions and the number of days those withdrawals may occur each month and the location and volume of each point of discharge. The reporting may allow volumes to be reported in ranges established by the commissioners and reported volumes may be calculated estimates of volumes. The board, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, the Department of Conservation and the Department of Health and Human Services may adopt routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A 2-A as necessary to implement the reporting provisions of this article.’