An Act To Amend the Laws Governing the Issuance of Burn Permits
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,
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §9321, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 545, §3, is amended to read:
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 pursuant to this section, 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:
§ 9327. Private party burn permit software
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.
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.