April 11, 2018

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: 29-250 - Secretary of State (SOS), Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 159, Rules Governing the Administration of the Permanent, Semipermanent Semitrailer Registration Programs
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2018-P044
BRIEF SUMMARY: This rule is being amended to allow for the renewal of certain long term trailer registrations, with the retention of the same plate; and to allow plates to be retained and used by a new registrant.
DETAILED SUMMARY: This rule is being amended to allow for the renewal of certain long term trailer registrations, with the retention of the same plate. With the permission of the Secretary of State, a registrant in the 25 year permanent, 20 year semi-permanent, or long term trailer program may be allowed to renew an expiring registration for three to twelve years at the long term trailer fee of $12/year. There would be no limit to the number of times a registration could be renewed. The registrant would be allowed to retain the same registration plate and number assigned to the trailer. Registrations could be transferred subject the current transfer rules.
With permission of the Secretary of State, a plate assigned to a registered trailer could be retained and used by a new registrant. This would be a new registration subject to all new registration requirements.
PUBLIC HEARING: none planned
COMMENT DEADLINE: May 11, 2018
CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT INFORMATION: Garry Hinkley, Director, BMV Vehicle Services, 29 State House Station, Augusta, ME 043333-0029. Telephone: (207) 624-9055. Fax: (207) 624-9204. Email: Garry.Hinkley@Maine.gov .
FINANCIAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: none
STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THIS RULE: 29-A MRS §512
SUBSTANTIVE STATE OR FEDERAL LAW BEING IMPLEMENTED (if different):
BMV WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/sos/bmv/ .
BMV RULEMAKING LIAISON: Leslie.Soares@Maine.gov .

ADOPTIONS

AGENCY: 65-407 - Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 324, Small Generator Interconnection Procedures
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2018-049
CONCISE SUMMARY: The Public Utilities Commission adopts amendments to the Commission’s Small Generator Interconnection Procedures rule (Ch. 324). The amendments include changes based on comments received in a prior, though uncompleted, Ch. 324 rulemaking (Docket 2016-00268).
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 8, 2018
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT INFORMATION / PUC RULEMAKING LIAISON: Jamie Waterbury, Public Utilities Commission, 18 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333. Telephone: (207) 287-1360, Email: Jamie.A.Waterbury@Maine.gov .
PUC WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/mpuc/ .

AGENCY: 99-346 - Maine State Housing Authority (MaineHousing)
CHAPTER NUMBERS AND TITLES:
Ch. 2, Cooperation with Local Governments (Repeal)
Ch. 13, Allocation of State Ceiling for Housing-Related Bonds (Repeal)
Ch. 17, Natural Disaster Home Assistance Program (Repeal)
Ch. 21, Land Acquisition/Improvement and Housing Opportunity Zones Program (Repeal)
ADOPTED RULE NUMBERS:
Ch. 2: 2018-050
Ch. 13: 2018-051
Ch. 17: 2018-052
Ch. 21: 2018-053
CONCISE SUMMARY (Ch. 2, 17, 21): Recent changes to the Maine Housing Authorities Act eliminated the requirements and programs which these rules addressed and rendered the rules obsolete.
CONCISE SUMMARY (Ch. 13): Repeal of rule, which is unnecessary and obsolete since the state ceiling for issuing tax exempt bonds is plentiful and Maine State Housing Authority has not been asked to allocate bond cap to a local issuer since the 1980's.
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 8, 2018
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON / RULEMAKING LIAISON: Linda Uhl, Chief Counsel, Maine State Housing Authority, 353 Water Street, Augusta, Maine 04330-4633. Telephone: (207) 626-4600, or Maine Relay 711. Email: LUhl@MaineHousing.org .
AGENCY WEBSITE: http://www.mainehousing.org/ .

AGENCY: 05-071 – Department of Education (DOE)
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 45, Rule for Vision and Hearing Screening in Maine Schools
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2018-054
CONCISE SUMMARY: This rule outlines the standards and processes for periodic vision and hearing screenings. The purpose of a screening is to identify potential hearing or vision deficits among school age children and refer for further care. Updates to the rule reflect current national recommendations for hearing and vision screenings. The rule clarifies techniques and acceptable research-based tools for schools to use.
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 10, 2018
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT INFORMATION / DOE RULEMAKING LIAISON: Jaci Holmes, Maine Department of Education, 23 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333. Telephone: (207) 624-6669. Email: Jaci.Holmes@Maine.gov .
DOE WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/doe/ .

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. I Section 4, Telehealth Services
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2018-055
CONCISE SUMMARY: The Department is adopting the following changes to Ch. I Section 4, “Telehealth Services”. First, in Section 4.07-2, Paragraph B(5), the Department formally changed the provision in order to allow Telehealth Services to be included in the scope of practice of a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), Rural Health Clinic (RHC), or Indian Health Center (IHC), as approved by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the State. These facilities will now be able to serve as the provider site and bill under their encounter rate. The Department is adopting this change retroactive to April, 16, 2016. Second, pursuant to PL 2017 ch. 307, which enacted 22 MRS §3173-H, the Department removed the telemonitoring requirement that members have had two or more hospitalizations or Emergency Department visits in the past year; instead, for telemonitoring services, a member’s record must only reflect a risk of hospitalization or admission to an emergency room.
Finally, as a result of public comments and further review by the Department and the Office of the Attorney General, there were two terms removed and replaced in the rule for clarity. Also, there were additional technical changes, formatting updates, and changes to language in the rule. The Summary of Public Comments and Department Responses document identifies changes that were made to the final rule.
See http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/oms/rules/index.shtml for rules and related rulemaking documents.
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 9, 2018
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Thomas Leet, Comprehensive Health Planner, Division of Policy, 242 State Street - 11 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0011. Telephone: (207) 624-4068. Fax: (207) 287-1864. TTY users call Maine relay 711. Email: Thomas.Leet@Maine.gov .
OMS WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/oms/ .
DHHS RULEMAKING LIAISON: Kevin.Wells@Maine.gov .

AGENCY: 05-071 – Department of Education (DOE)
CHAPTER NUMBERS AND TITLES:
Ch. 51, Child Nutrition Programs in Public (Repeal)
Ch. 129, Rights and Responsibilities of Educators and Pupils (Repeal)
Ch. 250, School Approval for Nontraditional Limited Purpose Schools (Repeal)
ADOPTED RULE NUMBERS: 2018-056, 057, 058
CONCISE SUMMARIES:
Ch. 51: The federal regulations articulate the responsibilities for the SAUs to follow, so the Department is repealing the regulation.
Ch. 129: Repeal of the rule as the underlying authority in statute no longer exists.
Ch. 250: Repeal of this rule as the statute covers the language exactly.
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 10, 2018
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON / DOE RULEMAKING LIAISON: Jaci Holmes, Maine Department of Education, 23 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333. Telephone: (207) 624-6669. Email: Jaci.Holmes@Maine.gov .
DOE WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/doe/ .