February 26, 2014

WEEKLY NOTICES OF STATE RULE-MAKING
Public Input for Proposed and Adopted Rules

Notices are published each Wednesday to alert the public regarding state agency rule-making. You may obtain a copy of any rule by notifying the agency contact person. You may also comment on the rule, and/or attend the public hearing. If no hearing is scheduled, you may request one -- the agency may then schedule a hearing, and must do so if 5 or more persons request it. If you are disabled or need special services to attend a hearing, please notify the agency contact person at least 7 days prior to it. Petitions: you can petition an agency to adopt, amend, or repeal any rule; the agency must provide you with petition forms, and must respond to your petition within 60 days. The agency must enter rule-making if the petition is signed by 150 or more registered voters, and may begin rule-making if there are fewer. You can also petition the Legislature to review a rule; the Executive Director of the Legislative Council (115 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333, phone 207/287-1615) will provide you with the necessary petition forms. The appropriate legislative committee will review a rule upon receipt of a petition from 100 or more registered voters, or from "...any person who may be directly, substantially and adversely affected by the application of a rule..." (Title 5 Section 11112). World-Wide Web: Copies of the weekly notices and the full texts of adopted rule chapters may be found on the internet at: http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/rules. There is also a list of rule-making liaisons, who are single points of contact for each agency.

PROPOSALS

AGENCY: 09-137 – Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 4, Hunting and Trapping: 4.05, Moose hunting
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2014-P029
BRIEF SUMMARY: The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is proposing to adopt a rule establishing the number of moose hunting permits to be issued for the 2014 season. Permits will be issued for bulls, antlerless and any-moose. Permits are allocated according to Wildlife Management District as follows:
WMD 1 275 bulls / 275 antlerless
WMD 2 425 bulls /350 antlerless
WMD 3 180 bulls / 300 antlerless
WMD 4 400 bulls / 400 antlerless
WMD 5 125 bulls / 50 antlerless
WMD 6 150 bulls
WMD 7 125 bulls / 60 antlerless
WMD 8 175 bulls / 75 antlerless
WMD 9 - 75 bulls / 25 antlerless
WMD 10 60 bulls
WMD 11 50 bulls
WMD 12 35 bulls / 20 antlerless
WMD 13 35 bulls / 10 antlerless
WMD 14 35 bulls
WMD 15 25 any-moose
WMD 16 20 any-moose
WMD 17 20 bulls
WMD 18 40 bulls
WMD 19 100 bulls/50 antlerless
WMD 22 10 any-moose
WMD 23 25 any-moose
WMD 25 25 any-moose
WMD 26 25 any-moose
WMD 27 15 bulls
WMD 28 20 bulls
TOTAL: 2340 bulls /1615 antlerless / 130 any-moose
The Department is also making a clarification to the rule to specify that hunter orange is required when moose hunting with a firearm in any Wildlife Management District open to moose hunting during the open season on moose.
PUBLIC HEARING: None scheduled – one may be requested.
COMMENT DEADLINE: March 28, 2014
CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS INFORMATION / IFW RULE-MAKING LIAISON: Becky Orff, Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, 284 State Street, #41 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333. Telephone: (207) 287-5202. E-mail: Becky.Orff@Maine.gov .
IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: No fiscal impact anticipated.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THIS RULE: 12 MRSA §11551
SUBSTANTIVE STATE OR FEDERAL LAW BEING IMPLEMENTED (if different):
WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/


AGENCY: 09-137 – Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 15, Interstate Wildlife Violators Compact
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2014-P030
BRIEF SUMMARY: The Department, in accordance with 12 MRSA §10103-2, is initiating rule-making to enter into an Interstate Wildlife Violators Compact (WVC) to promote compliance with Maine’s fish and wildlife laws. The WVC will ensure that non-residents from member states receive the same penalties as a resident for certain mandatory violations. Procedures of the compact ensure that non-residents of a WVC state that fail to comply with the terms of their citations face the possibility of suspension of his/her license privileges in their home state until the terms of their citation(s) are met. This reciprocal recognition of license suspensions by participating states is based on whether the violation in a member state would also dictate a mandatory license suspension pursuant to statues of the home state. Participation in the compact is voluntary and a member state can withdraw at any time.
For a full copy of the proposed rule please contact the agency rule-making contact person listed above.
PUBLIC HEARING: None scheduled – one may be requested.
COMMENT DEADLINE: March 28, 2014
CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS INFORMATION / IFW RULE-MAKING LIAISON: Becky Orff, Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, 284 State Street, #41 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333. E-mail: Becky.Orff@Maine.gov .
IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: No fiscal impact anticipated.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THIS RULE: 12 MRSA §10103-2
SUBSTANTIVE STATE OR FEDERAL LAW BEING IMPLEMENTED (if different):
WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/


AGENCY: 09-137 – Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 1, Open Water and Ice Fishing Regulations (Pond in the Water, Upton, Oxford County)
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2014-P031
BRIEF SUMMARY: The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been petitioned to consider the following amendment to the current fishing regulation:
Pond in the River, Township C, C Surplus Twp., Upton. CI. S-5, S-13, S-24; Use of barbed hooks prohibited; All trout caught must be released alive at once. Closed to all fishing during July and August is that portion of Pond in the River delineated by red markers located approximately 1/2 mile above the remnants of Lower Dam, and red markers located about 200 yards below the inlet of the Rapid River.
PUBLIC HEARING: March 18, 2014 @ 6:30 p.m. – Rumford Public Library, Public Room, 56 Rumford Avenue, Rumford, ME 04276
COMMENT DEADLINE: March 28, 2014
CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS INFORMATION / IFW RULE-MAKING LIAISON: Becky Orff, Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, 284 State Street, #41 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333. E-mail: Becky.Orff@Maine.gov .
IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: None anticipated
STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THIS RULE: 12 MRSA §10104
SUBSTANTIVE STATE OR FEDERAL LAW BEING IMPLEMENTED (if different):
WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/


AGENCY: 13-188 - Department of Marine Resources (DMR)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 25, Lobster and Crab: 25.65, Lobster and Crab Closure in Penobscot River (Concurrent regular rule-making)
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2014-P032
CONCISE SUMMARY: This proposed regular rule-making would make permanent the emergency rule-making effective February 22, 2014 that was necessary in order to protect public health due to the risk of mercury contamination in lobsters and crabs found in the mouth of the Penobscot River above a line starting at the most northwestern point of Wilson Point (near the end of Wilson Point Road) in the Town of Castine continuing in a northwesterly direction to the Fort Point Lighthouse on Cape Jellison in the Town of Stockton Springs.
The justification for the chosen boundary of the closed area was based on recent data provided to the Department that indicates that lobsters in this area may have mercury levels above the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (MECDC) action level. State health agencies use action levels as a guide to determine whether they should issue a consumption advisory warning consumers to limit meals of fish from certain waters. Action levels are defined as concentrations of a contaminant in fish or shellfish tissue below which there should be negligible risk of deleterious health effects, at a consumption rate of one meal per week. An action level takes into account exposure level for a human population, including sensitive subpopulations such as pregnant women and children, body weight, and fish consumption rate.
For monitoring contaminants in Maine lobster, the State relies on data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA) Program, which last assessed contaminants in lobster in 2010. Data from the 2010 NCCA revealed that mercury levels in Maine lobster were below the Maine CDC action level that would warrant a consumption advisory for sensitive populations. However, the Department recently received additional data which were collected as a result of court-ordered study stemming from a federal lawsuit (Maine People’s Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council v. Mallinckrodt, Inc.). The Department requested analysis of the data by State Toxicologist Dr. Andrew Smith and Department of Environmental Protection staff. Based on this analysis, DMR determined that a consumption advisory would be warranted for lobster taken from the designated area. Because this is a very discrete area and in order to be health protective, DMR instead took immediate action to close the area as a precautionary measure. DMR anticipates that the closure will be in place a minimum of two years while the State continues to collect more information from the area to inform future management and public health actions.
While there was significantly less data available for crabs in the study, the DMR believes that there is adequate reason to be concerned that crabs could have similar contamination levels to lobster in the closure area. Because DMR has limited data from this area, a precautionary approach is being taken by also closing the area to crab harvest until additional samples can be taken and analyzed.
THIS RULE WILL NOT HAVE A FISCAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: 12 M.R.S. §6171-A(4-A)
PUBLIC HEARINGS: March 17, 2014. Bucksport Middle School Performing Arts Center. 100 Miles Lane, Bucksport, Maine. 6:00 p.m. Snow date: March 18. Same time and location.
DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS: March 28, 2014. To ensure consideration, comments must include your name and the organization you represent, if any. Please be aware that any risk of non-delivery associated with submissions by fax or e-mail is on the sender.
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Meredith Mendelson, Deputy Commissioner
MAIL WRITTEN COMMENTS TO: Department of Marine Resources, Attn: Kevin Rousseau (DMR Rule-making Liaison), 21 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0021. Telephone: (207) 624-6550. Fax: (207) 624-6024. TTY: (888) 577-6690 (Deaf/Hard of Hearing). E-mail: dmr.rulemaking@maine.gov . DMR rule-making website: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/rulemaking/ .
DMR RULE-MAKING LIAISON: Kevin.Rousseau@Maine.gov .
DMR WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/ .

ADOPTIONS

AGENCY: 13-188 - Department of Marine Resources (DMR)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 11.22, Atlantic Sea Scallop Regulations and 2013-2014 Harvesting Season, Targeted Closures: (20) Machias Area, and (21) Lower Sheepscot River (Emergency regulations)
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2014-020 (Emergency)
CONCISE SUMMARY: The Commissioner adopts this emergency rule-making for the implementation of conservation closures located in the Machias Area Limited Access Area (LAA) and the Lower Sheepscot River in order to protect Maine’s scallop resource due to the risk of unusual damage and imminent depletion. Scallop populations throughout the state are at extremely low levels. The Department is concerned that unrestricted harvesting during the remainder of the 2013-14 fishing season in these areas may deplete a severely diminished resource beyond its ability to recover. Continued harvesting may damage sublegal scallops that could be caught during subsequent fishing seasons, as well as reducing the broodstock essential to a recovery. These immediate conservation closures are necessary to reduce the risk of unusual damage and imminent depletion. For these reasons, the Commissioner hereby adopts an emergency closure of Maine’s scallop fishery in the Machias Area Limited Access Area (LAA) and the Lower Sheepscot River as authorized by 12 M.R.S. §6171(3).
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 22, 2014
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Trish De Graaf (Telephone: (207) 624-6554), Department of Marine Resources, State House Station 21, Augusta, Maine 04333-0021. Fax: (207) 624-6024. TTY: (888) 577-6690 (Deaf/Hard of Hearing). E-mail: Trisha.DeGraaf@Maine.gov . DMR rule-making website: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/rulemaking/ .
DMR RULE-MAKING LIAISON: Kevin.Rousseau@Maine.gov .
DMR WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/ .


AGENCY: 13-188 - Department of Marine Resources (DMR)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 25, Lobster and Crab: 25.65, Lobster and Crab Closure in Penobscot River (Emergency regulations)
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2014-021 (Emergency)
CONCISE SUMMARY: The Commissioner adopts this emergency rule-making in order to protect public health due to the risk of mercury contamination in lobsters and crabs found in the mouth of the Penobscot River above a line starting at the most northwestern point of Wilson Point (near the end of Wilson Point Road) in the Town of Castine continuing in a northwesterly direction to the Fort Point Lighthouse on Cape Jellison in the Town of Stockton Springs. Recent data provided to the Department indicates that lobsters in this area may have mercury levels above the Maine CDC action level and would warrant a consumption advisory for the most sensitive populations. The Department believes immediate action is warranted as a precautionary measure, and is accordingly closing this area to the harvest of lobsters and crabs while the Department implements a monitoring program inside and beyond the closure to confirm and expand this dataset in order to inform future public health actions. For these reasons, the Commissioner hereby adopts an emergency closure to the taking of lobster and crab in this area as authorized by 12 M.R.S. §6171-A(4-A) and 12 M.R.S. §6192.
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 22, 2014
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Meredith Mendelson, Deputy Commissioner
AGENCY: Department of Marine Resources, 21 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0021. Telephone: (207) 624-6550. Fax: (207) 624-6024. TTY: (888) 577-6690 (Deaf/Hard of Hearing). E-mail: dmr.rulemaking@maine.gov . DMR rule-making website: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/rulemaking/ .
DMR RULE-MAKING LIAISON: Kevin.Rousseau@Maine.gov .
DMR WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/ .