Amend the amendment in section 1 by striking out all of subsections 2 to 4 (page 2, lines 10 to 38 in amendment) and inserting the following:
‘2. The department must deposit all funds received for the purposes of this resolve into the Maine Environmental Protection Fund established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 351, and those funds must be segregated from other funds in that account and may be used only for these purposes.
3. On or before August 15, 2019, the department shall submit the final report prepared by the consultant under subsection 1 to the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. At least 7 days before submitting the report to the committee, the department shall post the report on the department's publicly accessible website. Within that period of time, a person may submit to the department written comments regarding the report. The department shall submit all comments received to the committee with the report.
4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the department may not issue a permit, license or other approval relating to the NECEC project until at least 45 days after the department submits the final report prepared by the consultant in accordance with subsection 3, except that this subsection does not apply if the department, by August 15, 2019, fails to submit the final report to the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources in accordance with subsection 3.’
Amend the amendment by adding after section 1 the following:
‘Sec.
2. Appropriations and allocations. Resolved: That the following appropriations and allocations are made.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF
Maine Environmental Protection Fund 0421
Initiative: Provides an allocation for a study regarding the potential effect of the New England Clean Energy Connect project on total greenhouse gas emissions across all jurisdictions interconnected with electricity generation and distribution systems operated by the Hydro-Quebec company.
| OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS |
2019-20 |
2020-21 |
|
All Other
|
$150,000 |
$0 |
|
 |
|
| OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL |
$150,000 |
$0 |
’
SUMMARY
This amendment removes a requirement in the bill that the Department of Environmental Protection obtain outside funding to complete a study regarding the potential effect of the New England Clean Energy Connect project and instead transfers $150,000 from the Public Utilities Commission Reimbursement Fund within the Public Utilities Commission to the Maine Environmental Protection Fund within the department to fund the cost of the study. The amendment includes a one-time $150,000 allocation in fiscal year 2019-20 to allow for the expenditure of the transferred funds.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)