HP0265, LD 359, item 1, An Act To Protect Maine Lakes and Ponds from Invasive Species

An Act To Protect Maine Lakes and Ponds from Invasive Species

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §10206, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2013, c. 580, §1, is further amended to read:

3. Watercraft revenues. Except as provided in subsection subsections 6 and 6-A, all revenues collected under the provisions of this Part relating to watercraft, including chapter 935, are disposed of as follows.

A. All fees collected for certificates, licenses and permits by the commissioner are paid daily to the Treasurer of State and accrue as undedicated revenue to the General Fund and as dedicated revenue to the Department of Marine Resources in accordance with paragraph C.

B. Each court shall pay all fines, forfeitures and penalties collected for violations of the provisions of this Part relating to watercraft, including chapter 935, and all officers' costs collected for either coastal wardens or game wardens to the Treasurer of State, monthly, and that money accrues as undedicated revenue to the General Fund, except that all fines, forfeitures and penalties collected as a result of the efforts of municipal law enforcement officers or harbor masters enforcing the provisions of this Part relating to watercraft, including chapter 935, in their respective jurisdictions are paid to that municipality for the local enforcement efforts. The department shall record as dedicated revenue to the Department of Marine Resources that portion of fines, forfeitures and penalties allocable to the Department of Marine Resources in accordance with paragraph C.

C. All revenues collected under the provisions of this Part relating to watercraft, including chapter 935, including fines, fees and other available money deposited with the Treasurer of State, must be distributed as undedicated revenue to the General Fund and the Department of Marine Resources according to a formula that is jointly agreed upon by the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Commissioner of Marine Resources biannually that pays to the department the administrative costs of the Division of Licensing and Registration. The Legislature shall appropriate to the department in each fiscal year an amount equal to the administrative costs incurred by the department in collecting revenue under this subsection. Those costs must be verified by the Department of Marine Resources and the Department of Administrative and Financial Services. The remainder of revenues after reduction for administrative costs and after allowing for any necessary year-end reconciliation and accounting distribution must be allocated 75% to the department and 25% to the Department of Marine Resources and approved by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of the Budget.

The fees outlined in section 13056, subsection 8, paragraphs A and B for watercraft operating on inland waters of the State each include a $10 fee for invasive species prevention and control. This fee is disposed of as follows:

(1) Eighty percent must be credited to the Invasive Aquatic Plant and Nuisance Species Fund; and

(2) Twenty percent must be credited to the Lake and River Protection Fund established within the department under section 10257.

Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §10206, sub-§6-A is enacted to read:

6-A. Invasive aquatic plant and nuisance species sticker revenues. All fees collected by the commissioner from the sale of stickers under section 13058-A, subsection 3 must be paid daily to the Treasurer of State. The Treasurer of State shall credit funds received under this subsection in accordance with the percentages stipulated in section 13058-A, subsection 3.

Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §13001, sub-§22-A is enacted to read:

22-A. Passive watercraft. "Passive watercraft" means any type of nonmotorized vessel, boat, canoe or craft capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. "Passive watercraft" does not include a nonmotorized vessel, boat, canoe or craft located and intended to be permanently docked in one location and not used as a means of transportation on water.

Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §13058-A is enacted to read:

§ 13058-A. Invasive aquatic plant and nuisance species sticker required

1. Prohibition. A person may not place or operate a passive watercraft on the inland waters of the State unless a valid invasive aquatic plant and nuisance species sticker, referred to in this section as an "invasives sticker," issued under subsection 3 is permanently affixed to each side of the bow of the passive watercraft above the waterline. For any passive watercraft for which a validation sticker is required under section 13056 or a lake and river protection sticker is required under section 13058, the invasives sticker must be affixed approximately 3 inches behind the sticker farthest from the bow of the passive watercraft.

The invasives sticker is nontransferable.

2. Violation. A person who violates subsection 1 is subject to the provisions of this subsection.

A. A person who violates subsection 1 commits a civil violation for which a fine of not less than $25 and not more than $100 per violation may be adjudged. A fine imposed under this subsection may not be suspended by the court.

B. A person who violates subsection 1 after having been adjudicated as having committed 3 or more civil violations under this Part within the previous 5-year period commits a Class E crime.

3. Issuance of passive watercraft invasives sticker; one-time fee. No later than January 1st of each year, the commissioner shall provide the agents authorized to register watercraft or issue licenses with a sufficient quantity of invasives stickers for passive watercraft for that boating season. The sticker must be in 2 parts so that one part of the sticker can be affixed to each side of the bow of a passive watercraft. The one-time fee for a sticker issued under this subsection is $5, 25¢ of which is retained by the agent who sold the sticker.

The remainder of the fee is disposed of as follows:

A. Eighty percent must be credited to the Invasive Aquatic Plant and Nuisance Species Fund established in the Department of Environmental Protection under Title 38, section 1863; and

B. Twenty percent must be credited to the Lake and River Protection Fund established within the department under section 10257.

A passive watercraft owned by the Federal Government, a state government agency or a municipality is exempt from the fee established in this subsection.

The Legislature shall appropriate to the department in each fiscal year an amount equal to the administrative costs incurred by the department in collecting revenues under this section.

summary

This bill requires that any passive watercraft placed or operated on the inland waters of the State have an invasive aquatic plant and nuisance species sticker affixed on its bow. This sticker may be purchased for a one-time fee of $5, and the fee revenues from the sale of the sticker will be credited to the Invasive Aquatic Plant and Nuisance Species Fund established in the Department of Environmental Protection under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 1863 and to the Lake and River Protection Fund established within the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife under Title 12, section 10257. These two funds, among other things, support invasive aquatic plant and nuisance species prevention, containment, eradication and management activities in the State.

HP0265 LD 359	Session - 128th Maine Legislature		LR 1241 Item 1
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