September 13, 2017

WEEKLY NOTICES OF STATE RULEMAKING
Public Input for Proposed and Adopted Rules

Notices are published each Wednesday to alert the public regarding state agency rulemaking. 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 rulemaking if the petition is signed by 150 or more registered voters, and may begin rulemaking 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 rulemaking liaisons, who are single points of contact for each agency.

PROPOSALS

AGENCY: 03-201 - Department of Corrections (DOC)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 15, Batterer Intervention Program Certification
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2017-P116
BRIEF SUMMARY: Repeal and replacement of rule Ch. 15, Batterer Intervention Program Certification, is sought to include recommendations resulting from a review of the Batterer Intervention Program Certification standards that the Maine Department of Corrections staff conducted in consultation with the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse.
DETAILED BASIS STATEMENT / SUMMARY: The Maine Department of Corrections staff, in consultation with the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse, reviewed Rule Ch. 15: Batterer Intervention Program Certification, and are proposing that the current Batterer Intervention Program Certification standards be repealed and replaced. Proposed revisions are listed below.
1. Includes the Wabanaki Women’s Coalition (WWC) as a domestic violence coalition that includes the five tribal domestic violence centers in Maine, in addition to the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence (MCEDV).
2. Changes the term domestic violence to domestic abuse to align terminology with statute.
3. Changes the terms family violence project and domestic violence project to domestic violence centers (DVC).
4. Changes the term facilitator to educator.
5. Allows an offender to accept federal, state, or charitable funding, if available.
6. Allows the program director to approve exceptions to accommodate special circumstances, including but not limited to, illness, vacation, weather, etc.
7. Eliminates references between excused and unexcused absences and raises the absences from three (3) to five (5) in a 48 week BIProgram.
8. Allows an offender to request a medical or other leave of absence for good cause.
9. Sets the limit of being discharged from a BIProgram for failing to pay for up to four (4) sessions of missed payments.
10. Changes in the notification requirements when an offender is discharged or leaves the BIProgram in that the victim does not have to be notified if doing so would jeopardize the safety of the offender or violate federal or state confidentiality laws.
11. Provides additional options for re-admission to the program after discharge.
12. Provides clarification on transfer of credits from one certified program to another certified program.
13. Record keeping is expanded.
14. Monitoring is amended to be provided at least quarterly.
15. Provides a procedure for a victim to file a complaint against a BIProgram.
16. Adds a requirement that the Maine Association of Batterer Intervention Programs, MCEDV and WWC develop criteria for third party monitors.
17. Eliminates a program in a jail and/or correctional facility for eligibility as a certified BIProgram because programs in institutional settings lack a coordinated community response.
18. Includes a section on waivers that aligns the waiver application process with the statute that all waivers for working agreements between the Batterer’s Intervention Program and the local Domestic Violence Center must be directed to the DOC’s Victims Services Coordinator and contain specific reasons for the waiver request. The rule also clarifies the waiver process when a waiver is allowed in the standards.
19. Adds duty to warn, mandatory reporting, and ethics requirements.
PUBLIC HEARING: October 5, 2017 – 10:00 a.m., Maine Department of Corrections, 25 Tyson Drive (Tyson Building) - 3rd Floor, Augusta, ME in the MDOC Board Room
COMMENT DEADLINE: October 15, 2017 at 5:00 p.m.
CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT STATEMENT / DOC RULEMAKING LIAISON: Mary Lucia, Department of Correction, 111 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333. Telephone: (207) 287-4681. (TTY) Maine Relay 711. Fax: (207) 287-4370. Email: Mary.A.Lucia@Maine.gov .
FINANCIAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: None
STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THIS RULE: Title 19-A  §4014
SUBSTANTIVE STATE OR FEDERAL LAW BEING IMPLEMENTED (if different):
DOC POLICY WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/corrections/PublicInterest/policies.shtml .
DOC WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/corrections/ .

AGENCY: 94-457 - Finance Authority of Maine (FAME)
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2017-P117
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 1, Bylaws and Administration of the Finance Authority of Maine
BRIEF SUMMARY: The amendment amends the Gift Policy portion of the Authority’s Code of Ethics, to clarify that compensation for services rendered by an employee or board member may be accepted without violation of the policy, provided however that such compensation will likely form the basis of a conflict of interest.
PUBLIC HEARING: None scheduled. One would be scheduled at the request of 5 or more persons.
COMMENT DEADLINE: October 13, 2017
CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT INFORMATION / FAME RULEMAKING LIAISON: Christopher H. Roney, Finance Authority of Maine, 5 Community Drive, Augusta, ME 04332. Telephone: (207) 620-3520. Email: croney@famemaine.com .
IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: The proposed rule amendment will not impose any costs on municipalities or counties.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THIS RULE: 10 MRS ch. 110  §969-A(6), (14), (16)
SUBSTANTIVE STATE OR FEDERAL LAW BEING IMPLEMENTED (if different):
FAME WEBSITE: www.famemaine.com .

AGENCY: 13-188 - Department of Marine Resources (DMR)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 10, Clams and Quahogs: 10.05, Taking of Quahogs in the Sub-tidal Waters of New Meadows Lakes, Brunswick and West Bath
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2017-P118
BRIEF SUMMARY: This proposed rule would establish weekend closed periods and a seasonal closed period for the taking of quahogs in the New Meadows Lakes. Harvesters would be prohibited from fishing or taking quahogs in the New Meadows Lakes during weekends, and winter months from sunset on December 31 through sunrise on April 1. The winter closed period sunsets April 1, 2019. Recent surveys of the New Meadows Lakes conducted by the Maine Department of Marine Resources indicate a decline in the quahog population. These particular effort control measures were proposed at meetings with industry members held in the spring of 2017, and are intended to reduce fishing pressure on the quahog resource, and to minimize the mortality associated with winter fishing.
PUBLIC HEARING: October 4, 2017, 6 p.m., Bath Parks and Recreation Center, Bath, ME. Hearing facilities: If you require accommodations due to disability, please contact Amanda Beckwith, at (207) 287-7578.
COMMENT DEADLINE: October 16, 2017
CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS INFORMATION: Amanda Ellis (telephone: 207-624-6573). Mail Written Comments to: Department of Marine Resources, attn. Rulemaking, 21 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0021. Fax: (207) 624-6024. TTY: (207) 624-6500 (Deaf/Hard of Hearing). Email: dmr.rulemaking@maine.gov . DMR Rulemaking Website: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/laws-regulations/proposed-rulemaking.html .
FINANCIAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: none
STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THIS RULE: 12 MRS  §6171-A
SUBSTANTIVE STATE OR FEDERAL LAW BEING IMPLEMENTED:: same
DMR WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/ .
DMR RULEMAKING LIAISON: Deirdre.Gilbert@Maine.gov .

AGENCY: 13-188 - Department of Marine Resources (DMR)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 115, Vibrio parahaemolyticus Control Plan
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2017-P119
BRIEF SUMMARY: This proposed rule incorporates the New Meadows River, north of Bath/State Rd in Brunswick and West Bath, into the existing Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) control plan. The addition of the New Meadows River is intended to reduce the likelihood that American and European oysters (Crassostrea virginica and Ostrea edulis) and hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) harvested from the New Meadows River will cause Vp infections in consumers. Independent, biological sampling of hard clams (quahogs) in the New Meadows River has shown positive results for total Vp, so the organism is known to be present in the growing area. The Maine Department of Marine Resources recognizes that the New Meadows River has the environmental characteristics (primarily water and air temperature and salinity) that potentially pose a threat to public health with regard to Vp infections. Research indicates that the most reliable way to minimize potential Vp illnesses is to utilize time and temperature controls.
PUBLIC HEARING: October 4, 2017, 5 p.m., Bath Parks and Recreation Center, Bath ME. Hearing facilities: If you require accommodations due to disability, please contact Amanda Beckwith, at (207) 287-7578.
COMMENT DEADLINE: October 16, 2017
CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS INFORMATION: Amanda Ellis (telephone: 207-624-6573). Mail Written Comments to: Department of Marine Resources, attn. Rulemaking, 21 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0021. Fax: (207) 624-6024. TTY: (207) 624-6500 (Deaf/Hard of Hearing). Email: dmr.rulemaking@maine.gov . DMR Rulemaking Website: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/laws-regulations/proposed-rulemaking.html .
FINANCIAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: none
STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THIS RULE: 12 MRS  §6171-A
SUBSTANTIVE STATE OR FEDERAL LAW BEING IMPLEMENTED: same
DMR WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/ .
DMR RULEMAKING LIAISON: Deirdre.Gilbert@Maine.gov .

ADOPTIONS

AGENCY: 05-071 - Department of Education (DOE)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 81 (Repeal and replace), School Transportation Safety
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2017-139
CONCISE SUMMARY: These regulations provide minimum transportation safety regulations.
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 82 (New), School Bus Driver Fitness Determination
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2017-140
CONCISE SUMMARY: These regulations provide the criteria for the Commissioner of Education to certify to the Secretary of State that school bus drivers have met the fitness requirements to operate a school bus.
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 83 (New), School Transportation Operations Program
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2017-141
CONCISE SUMMARY: These regulations establish criteria for determining eligibility for, and procedures for access to, the School Transportation Operations Program software.
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 84 (New), School Bus Refurbishment Program
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2017-142
CONCISE SUMMARY: These regulations establish procedures for school administrative units (SAUs) to contract for school bus refurbishment services through the Maine School Bus Refurbishment Program.
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 85 (New), School Bus Purchase Program
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2017-143
CONCISE SUMMARY: These regulations establish procedures for school administrative units (SAUs) to request purchase of new school buses and receive subsidy through the Maine School Bus Purchase Program.
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 86 (New), Maine Uniform School Bus Specifications
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2017-144
CONCISE SUMMARY: These regulations establish uniform school bus specifications for the State of Maine.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 16, 2017
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Pat Hinckley, Department of Education, 23 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333. Telephone: (207) 624-6886. Email: Pat.Hinckley@Maine.gov .
DOE WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/doe/ .
DOE RULEMAKING LIAISON: Jaci.Holmes@Maine.gov .