CHAPTER 610
S.P. 624 - L.D. 1692
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §5248, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. NNN, §2, is amended to read:
1. Notice and hearing. Before designating a Pine Tree Development Zone or adopting a development plan, the legislative body municipal officers of each applicant unit of local government or the legislative body's municipal officers' designee must hold at least one public hearing. Notice of the hearing must be published at least 10 days before the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation within the unit of serving the area of the State in which the local government is located.
2. Vote of unit of local government legislative body. Each applicant unit of local government must designate that portion of the Pine Tree Development Zone contained within its boundaries and take all actions required to satisfy the requirements of section 5247, subsection 2 by majority vote of its municipal officers or legislative body.
3. Effective date. The establishment of a Pine Tree Development Zone is effective upon designation by the commissioner.
4. Administration of zone. The participating units of local government may create an contract or otherwise arrange with a public or private organization, designate an existing department or agency or enter into a contractual arrangement with a private entity including a regional council as described in section 2302, to administer activities authorized under this subchapter. The organization may act as the lead entity for the purpose of applying for and administering the Pine Tree Development Zone.
5. Amendments. A participating unit of local government may amend the designation of that portion of The designation, size, location, number and configuration of the parcels in a Pine Tree Development Zone contained within its boundaries or an adopted or the terms of a development plan only after meeting the requirements of this section for designation of a Pine Tree Development Zone or adoption of a development plan and with the concurrence of may be amended by an affirmative vote of all other the participating units of local government as evidenced by a majority vote of the municipal officers or legislative body of each unit of local government. A participating unit of local government may not amend the designation of a Pine Tree Development Zone if the amendment would An amendment may not result in the zone's being out of compliance with any of the requirements in section 5247.
Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §3210-B is enacted to read:
§3210-B. Electric utility and conservation benefits
1. Discount rates. Transmission and distribution utilities may offer discounted rates to qualified Pine Tree Development Zone businesses established under Title 30-A. If a transmission and distribution utility requires approval prior to offering any such rate, the transmission and distribution utility shall apply to the commission in accordance with applicable provisions of this Title, and the commission may approve the rate if it finds it to be in accord with applicable requirements of this Title, except that the commission may take into account the overall benefits to ratepayers resulting from state efforts to promote economic development within Pine Tree Development Zones.
2. Line extensions. When approving or authorizing line extension terms and conditions for qualified Pine Tree Development Zone businesses established under Title 30-A, the commission may take into account the overall benefits to ratepayers resulting from state efforts to promote economic development within Pine Tree Development Zones established pursuant to Title 30-A.
3. Conservation programs. In designing and implementing conservation programs pursuant to section 3211-A, the commission may make available to qualified Pine Tree Development Zone businesses established under Title 30-A special programs of enhanced value to aid state efforts to promote economic development within Pine Tree Development Zones. A program made available pursuant to this subsection must be cost-effective as defined by the commission by rule or order pursuant to section 3211-A.
4. Electricity sales. Notwithstanding section 3210, the sale of electricity by a competitive electricity provider to a qualified Pine Tree Development Zone business established under Title 30-A is exempt from the requirements of that section and, at the request of the competitive electricity provider, sales to qualified Pine Tree Development Zone businesses must be excluded from any calculation by the commission to determine compliance with that section.
5. Repeal. This section is repealed December 31, 2009.
Effective July 30, 2004, unless otherwise indicated.
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