July 20, 2016

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: 01-672 - Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry (DACF), Maine Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 10, Land Use Districts and Standards: Amendment to Appendix F, Expedited Wind Energy Development Area Designation
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2016-P090
BRIEF SUMMARY: The Land Use Planning Commission has received a petition to remove Milton Township from the expedited permitting area for wind energy development pursuant to Title 35-A  §3453-A. In the expedited area, wind energy development is an allowed use with a permit, and no subdistrict rezoning is required. In response to the petition, the agency has received a timely request for substantive review.
A public hearing will be held on the removal petition and the public is invited to testify at the hearing. The Commission requests, if possible, that those interested in testifying at the hearing bring a written copy of their testimony for filing in the hearing record.
The hearing will include a day session starting at 1:00 p.m. and an evening session starting at 5:30 p.m. At the beginning of the day session, time will be set aside for a presentation from those requesting substantive review of the removal petition and for a presentation from the removal petition circulators. The Commission will then receive testimony from the general public. For those members of the general public unable to attend the day session, there will be an opportunity to provide testimony in the evening session.
Written comments addressing the applicable statutory criteria and the removal petition, including data, views or arguments, may be submitted by US Postal Service Mail to “Stacie R. Beyer, LUPC, 106 Hogan Road, Suite 8, Bangor, ME 04401,” or by e-mail to Stacie.R.Beyer@Maine.gov (including in the subject line “Milton Removal Petition”). For consideration by the Commission, written comments must be submitted on or prior to August 22, 2016, and rebuttal must be submitted on or prior to August 29, 2016.
Additional information, including a longer, more detailed notice of the rule-making and the applicable statutory criteria, may be obtained by contacting Stacie Beyer or by visiting the Commission’s web site at: http://www.maine.gov/dacf/lupc/projects/wind_expedited_area/windexpedited_miltontwp_substantivereview.html .
DETAILED SUMMARY: The 123rd legislature enacted, “An Act to Implement Recommendations of the Governor’s Task Force on Wind Power Development,” Public Law 2007, Ch. 661 that became effective April 18, 2008. The Act established the expedited permitting area for wind energy development, encompassing all of the organized area of the State and a portion of the unorganized and deorganized areas now served by the Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC or Commission). As directed by that legislation, the Commission adopted through rule-making the description and map of the expedited permitting area located in the Commission’s rules as Appendix F to Ch. 10, Land Use Districts and Standards.
In 2015, the legislature enacted “An Act To Improve Regulatory Consistency within the Jurisdiction of the Maine Land Use Planning Commission,” Public Law 2015 ch. 265 that became effective January 1, 2016. The statutory change created a six month time window within which registered voters in a given town, township, or plantation within the Commission’s jurisdiction may petition to have a place removed from the expedited area. Title 35-A  §3453-A describes the mechanism by which the petition process is to take place, and provides the opportunity for any person to object to the removal of the specified place by requesting “substantive review” of the petition. When a substantive review is requested, certain criteria apply:
      3. Removal by petition with review. A person may, in writing, request substantive review of a petition for removal under subsection 1 by the Maine Land Use Planning Commission. Upon receipt of a timely filed request for substantive review, if the commission finds the requirements of subsection 1, paragraphs A and B are satisfied, the commission shall, by rule, remove a specified place in the unorganized and deorganized areas from the expedited permitting area if it finds the proposed removal:
      A. Will not have an unreasonable adverse effect on the State’s ability to meet the state goals for wind energy development in section 3404, subsection 2, paragraph C; and
      B. Is consistent with the principal values and the goals in the comprehensive land use plan adopted by the Maine Land Use Planning Commission pursuant to Title 12  §685-C.
In general, the effect of removing a place from the expedited area is to require, before a wind energy development may be permitted, one of two things to occur. The place must be added back into the expedited area pursuant to Title 35-A, section 3453, or rezoned to a Commission zoning subdistrict that allows wind power development pursuant to Title 12, section 685-A(8-A). These processes are different and if, successful, affect subsequent permitting differently. Notably, the criteria the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) must apply when evaluating visual impacts of a project differ depending on whether a project is proposed to be located in the expedited area or a Planned Development (D-PD) subdistrict as a result of Commission rezoning.
Because of the significance removing a place from the expedited permitting area may have on future wind power development proposals and the interest of residents, land owners, developers, and many other members of the public in the location of wind power development, the Commission has decided to hold public hearings for all substantive reviews of removal petitions.
PUBLIC HEARING: A public hearing will be held on the Milton Township removal petition and the public is invited to testify at the hearing. The Commission requests, if possible, that those interested in testifying at the hearing bring a written copy of their testimony for filing in the hearing record.
The hearing will be held on August 10, 2016 at the Bethel Inn, 21 Broad St., Bethel, ME and will include a day and an evening session (for those members of the general public unable to attend the day session). The schedule for the hearing will be as follows:
* 1:00 p.m. - Opening statements by the Presiding Officer and LUPC staff
* 1:15 to 2:30 - Presentation by the persons requesting substantive review (Requestors)
* 2:30 to 3:45 - Presentation by the petition Circulators
* 3:45 to 4:45 - Public testimony
* 4:45 to 5:30 - Break
* 5:30 p.m. - Opening statement for evening session
* 5:45 p.m. - Resume public testimony
* Closing statement by the Presiding Officer
All testimony should be pertinent to the statutory criteria (Criteria A and B, as provided above) established by the legislature for removal petitions.
Written comments addressing the statutory criteria and the removal petition, including data, views or arguments, may be submitted by US Postal Service Mail to “Stacie R. Beyer, LUPC, 106 Hogan Road, Suite 8, Bangor, ME 04401,” or by e-mail to Stacie.R.Beyer@Maine.gov (including in subject line “Milton Removal Petition”). For consideration by the Commission, written comments must be submitted on or prior to August 22, 2016, and rebuttal must be submitted on or prior to August 29, 2016.
Additional information may be obtained by contacting Stacie Beyer or by visiting the Commission’s web site at: http://www.maine.gov/dacf/lupc/projects/wind_expedited_area/windexpedited_miltontwp_substantivereview.html .
PUBLIC HEARING: August 10, 2016, Bethel Inn Resort, South Dining Hall, Bethel. Day session starting at 1:00 p.m. Evening session starting at 5:30 p.m.
COMMENT DEADLINE: Written comments must be submitted on or prior to August 22, 2016; written rebuttal comments must be submitted on or prior to August 29, 2016.
CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS INFORMATION: Stacie Beyer, Land Use Planning Commission, 106 Hogan Road, Suite 8, Bangor, ME 04401. Telephone: (207) 941-4593. E-mail: Stacie.R.Beyer@Maine.gov .
FINANCIAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: None
STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THIS RULE: 35-A MRS  §3453-A; 12 MRS  §685-C(5)(A)
SUBSTANTIVE STATE OR FEDERAL LAW BEING IMPLEMENTED: Pl 2015 c. 265
AGENCY WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/dacf/lupc/index.shtml .
LUPC RULE-MAKING LIAISON: Samantha.Horn-Olsen@Maine.gov .

AGENCY: 94-270 - Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 1, Procedures
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2016-P091
BRIEF SUMMARY: The proposed rule amendment clarifies how the exception from the definitions of contribution (21-A MRS  §1012(2)(B)(2)) will apply to the costs of food, beverages and invitations paid by volunteers in support of a candidate for state, county or municipal office (the “house party exception”).
PUBLIC HEARING: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 @ 9:00 a.m., Commission Office, 45 Memorial Circle, Second Floor, Augusta, Maine
COMMENT DEADLINE: 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August 22, 2016
CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS INFORMATION: Lorrie Brann, Commission Assistant, Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, 135 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333. Telephone: (207) 287-4179. E-mail: Lorrie.Brann@Maine.gov .
FINANCIAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: No impact
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: 1 MRS  §1003(1)
SUBSTANTIVE STATE OR FEDERAL LAW BEING IMPLEMENTED: None
AGENCY WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/ethics .
COMMISSION RULE-MAKING LIAISON: Jonathan.Wayne@Maine.gov .

ADOPTIONS

AGENCY: 99-420 - Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 2, Regulations for Installation of Logo Signs on the Maine Turnpike (amendment)
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2016-121
CONCISE SUMMARY: The rule amendment allows locations that can only be accessed through interchanges on the interstate highway beyond the southern or northern limits of the Maine Turnpike to qualify for a logo sign on the Maine Turnpike if those locations would otherwise meet the requirements of the MTA logo rule. The amended rule also allows logos for off-turnpike locations selling food and gas on the northbound side of the turnpike north of mile marker 106 and the southbound side of the turnpike south of mile marker six.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 18, 2016
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON / MTA RULE-MAKING LIAISON: Jonathan Arey, Maine Turnpike Authority, 2360 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04210. Telephone: (207) 632-4386. E-mail: JArey@MaineTurnpike.com .
MTA WEBSITE: http://www.maineturnpike.com/ .

AGENCIES: 02: Department of Professional and Financial Regulation (affiliated boards): 02-373 - Board of Licensure in Medicine; 02-383 - Board of Osteopathic Licensure
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 2, Joint Rule Regarding Physician Assistants
ADOPTED RULE NUMBERS: 2016-122, 123
CONCISE SUMMARY In this rule-making, the Board of Licensure in Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Licensure adopted a joint rule regarding physician assistants as authorized and required by PL 2015 c. 242, as amended, "An Act to Eliminate the Dual Licensing of Physician Assistants"
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 18, 2016
AGENCY CONTACT PERSONS:
Dennis E. Smith, Executive Director, Board of Licensure in Medicine, 137 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333. Telephone: (207) 287-3605. E-mail: Dennis.E.Smith@Maine.gov .
Susan E. Strout, Executive Secretary, Board of Osteopathic Licensure, 142 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333. Telephone: (207) 287-2480. E-mail: Susan.E.Strout@Maine.gov .
WEBSITES: http://www.maine.gov/md/ . http://www.maine.gov/osteo/ .

AGENCY: 10-144 - Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Office of MaineCare Services (OMS) – Division of Policy
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 101, MaineCare Benefits Manual (MBM): Ch. II Section 90, Physician Services
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2016-124
CONCISE SUMMARY: This rule-making includes the following changes:
* Allows for coverage of comprehensive tobacco cessation treatment without limitations, including individual and group counseling and products for all members. These change are effective retroactive to August 1, 2014 for members who are eighteen (18) years and older or who are pregnant. Members under the age of eighteen (18) had already been receiving these benefits at no cost. The amended rule adoption language from the proposal reminds providers of existing legal requirements for the submission of any retroactive claims.
* Adds coverage for Oral Evaluations by a medical provider for children under the age of three (3) and amends coverage of topical application of fluoride varnish to align with MBM, Ch. II and III Section 25, “Dental Services”.
* Removes current limits for outpatient Psychiatric Services on the number of allowable services in any consecutive seven (7) day period and on the number of emergency therapy visits. This rule-making also removes the requirement that providers delivering psychiatric services within their scope of licensure and state law must be under direct supervision of a board-eligible or certified psychiatrist.
* Amends the anesthesia time unit used for billing anesthesia services to one (1) minute intervals, rather than fifteen (15) minutes, in order to comply with HIPAA Version 5010. The rule adoption clarifies the start and end times of anesthesia services in line with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rules. This rule-making also clarifies the components of anesthesiology services and more closely aligns MaineCare policy to CMS regulations regarding medically-directed and medically-supervised anesthesia services.
* The time periods indicated in surgical services for post-operative treatment have been amended to comply with the CMS standard fee schedule for durational global surgical periods of 0, 10, or 90 days. The rule adoption also clarifies what services are included in the global surgical package in accordance with CMS standards.
* Aligns with current MBM Section 94, “Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment Services” (EPSDT) practice and reimbursement policies so that providers are no longer required to submit Well Child Visit (“Bright Futures”) forms in order to receive MaineCare reimbursement for services.
* Amends provider qualifications for obstetrical services to ensure that any appropriately licensed or certified, qualified professional working within their scope of licensure or certification may deliver obstetrical services to MaineCare members. Providers are expected to engage in collaborative management of individual members with appropriate consultation, referrals and transfers of care including, but not limited to, transfer of care for the purpose of specialized treatment and admission to an approved MaineCare hospital, with such treatment including maternity services.
* Updates the methods the Department uses to set rates in the MaineCare Fee Schedule to include an option to obtain an average from other state Medicaid agencies when a code is not priced by Medicare.
* The rule-making also incorporates the Primary Care Increased Payment initiative, effective January 1, 2015. This initiative replaces expiring funds provided through the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), Pub. L. 111-148 and Pub. L. 111-152, that have been extended through the State’s biennial budget, PL 2015 ch. 267 Part A. Providers who were enrolled prior to January 1, 2015 have continued to receive the increased reimbursement and new providers have been eligible to enroll through completing a self-attestation form since January 1, 2015. Eligible providers are physicians practicing with a specialty designation of family medicine, internal medicine, or pediatric medicine or with a subspecialty within these three primary care categories that is recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Board of Physician Specialties, or the American Osteopathic Association. Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and Physician Assistants who work under the direct supervision of an eligible physician are also eligible. Hospital-based physicians and physicians in Federally Qualified Health Centers or Rural Health Clinics remain ineligible.
* Clarifies Section 90.09-3, “Reimbursement Rate for Drugs Administered by Other than Oral Methods”, without any change in coverage, reimbursement, or procedures.
* Deletes the separate Computerized Axial Tomography Scan subsection under Covered Services and includes the same information in Medical Imaging Services subsection.
* States that audiologists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists must follow the expectations and limitations in their applicable sections of policy when rendering services in a physician’s practice.
* Removes language referencing “provinces” and “provincial law” for consistency with MBM, Ch. I Section 1.03-2, which provides that MaineCare will not provide payment to any entity outside the United States, and as required by Section 6505 of the ACA, Pub. L. 111-148.
* Makes a number of non-substantive technical changes to the rule as a result of public comments and further review by the Department and the Office of the Attorney General.
See http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/oms/rules/index.shtml for rules and related rule-making documents.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 20, 2016
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Olivia Alford, Social Services Program Manager, Division of Policy, 242 State Street, 11 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0011. Telephone: (207) 624-4059. Fax: (207) 287-1864. TTY users call Maine relay 711. Email: Olivia.Alford@Maine.gov .
OMS WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/oms/ .
DHHS RULE-MAKING LIAISON: Kevin.Wells@Maine.gov .