Amend the bill by inserting after the title and before the enacting clause the following:
‘Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, under current law, anyone performing out-of-door burning is required to obtain a permit from the town forest fire warden or from the forest ranger having jurisdiction over the location where the fire is to be set; and
Whereas, until recently, as a convenience to the residents of the State, burn permits were available online and at no charge through a 3rd-party provider; and
Whereas, due to a change in interpretation of policy by the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, residents of the State are no longer able to get free online burn permits; and
Whereas, the burn permits issued online by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry cost $7 per permit; and
Whereas, in order to restore to the residents of the State the convenience of obtaining burn permits online and at no charge, it is necessary that this legislation take effect as soon as possible; and
Whereas, it is necessary for public safety that all burn permits are validly issued pursuant to statutory criteria in order to prevent wildfires, damage to property and harm to persons; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,’
Amend the bill in section 1 in subsection 3 in the 4th line by striking out the following: " purchased" and inserting the following: ' acquired'
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §9321-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1997, c. 512, §3, is further amended to read:
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §9326, last ¶, as amended by PL 2013, c. 35, §1, is further amended to read:
A person may apply for a permit to burn using the Internet or as otherwise provided in this article. When a person applies for and is issued a permit electronically using the Internet, a fee of $7 must be paid. From the $7 fee, $4 must be deposited in the General Fund, $2 must be transferred to the municipality in which the permit is issued and the remainder of $1 must be used to cover administrative costs. For a permit issued in the unorganized and deorganized areas, from the $7 fee, $6 must be deposited in the General Fund and the remainder of $1 must be used to cover administrative costs.
Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §9327 is enacted to read:
The Director of the Bureau of Forestry shall allow a municipality to use burn permit software acquired from a private party to establish a publicly accessible online system to issue a permit to burn pursuant to section 9325 if the issuance of a permit to burn using the private party burn permit software is in accordance with the criteria in section 9321.
Sec. 5. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY, DEPARTMENT OF
Division of Forest Protection Z232
Initiative: Provides funding for an online burn permit system from InforME.
| GENERAL FUND |
2017-18 |
2018-19 |
|
All Other
|
$0 |
$9,600 |
|
 |
|
| GENERAL FUND TOTAL |
$0 |
$9,600 |
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.’
SUMMARY
This amendment requires the Director of the Bureau of Forestry within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to allow municipalities to use burn permit software acquired from a private party to issue a permit to burn if issuance of the permit using the private party burn permit software meets certain statutory requirements, and it limits to 2 the number of private party burn permit software programs that may be approved and in operation in the State. The amendment provides that the vendor or owner of the private party burn permit software must submit a request for review to the director. The director must approve or deny approval of the software within 10 business days. If the director denies approval of the software, the director must notify the vendor or owner of the reasons why in writing.
The amendment adds an emergency preamble and emergency clause and an appropriations and allocations section to the bill.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)