RULEMAKING

Public Input for Proposed 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 §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 (http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/rules/liaisons.html), 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. 13, Metallic Mineral Exploration, Advanced Exploration and Mining. and Ch. 10, Land Use Districts and Standards PROPOSED RULE NUMBERS: 2018-P004, P005 (3rd publication; hearing re-scheduled) BRIEF SUMMARY: The Land Use Planning Commission is seeking public comment on proposed rule changes to comply with PL 2017 ch. 142, 128th Legislature. Specifically, §12 of Ch. 142 requires the Commission, by July 1, 2018, to "adopt rules related to commission certification of metallic mineral mining permit applications in accordance with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38 section 490-NN subsection 2." Also, the section requires that, "Rules adopted pursuant to this section must include any additional provisions necessary to ensure consistency with the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act and rules related to the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act adopted by the Department of Environmental Protection." Proposed changes include a repeal and replacement of the Commission's Ch. 13 rule, renaming Ch. 13 to Metallic Mineral Exploration and Mining Certifications, updating provisions for metallic mineral exploration, adding provisions for mining certifications, and amending the Commission's Ch. 10 rule to ensure consistency with Ch. 13 and clarify the relationship between the two chapters. PUBLIC HEARING POSTPONED TO: April 11, 2018, 1:00 p.m., Spectacular Events, 395 Griffin Road, Bangor COMMENT DEADLINE: written comments must be submitted on or prior to April 23, 2018. Written rebuttal comments must be submitted on or prior to April 30, 2018. CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT INFORMATION: Stacie R. Beyer, Maine Land Use Planning Commission, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, 22 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0022. Telephone: (207) 557-2535. TTY: (888) 577-6690. Email: Stacie.R.Beyer@Maine.gov . FINANCIAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: N/A AGENCY: 02-032 - Department of Professional and Financial Regulation (PFR), Office of Securities CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 527, Federal Regulation Crowdfunding Notice Filing and Fees PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2018-P031 BRIEF SUMMARY: The proposed rule would require federal Regulation Crowdfunding issuers to submit a notice filing and a fee when the issuer's principal place of business is in Maine or when 50 percent or more of an offering is sold to Maine residents. The text of the proposed rule and the notice of rulemaking may be found at the Office's website: www.investors.maine.gov PUBLIC HEARING: None scheduled. COMMENT DEADLINE: Written comments must be received no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 30, 2018 and should be addressed to: Judith M. Shaw, Securities Administrator, 121 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333. SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT STATEMENT: The small business impact statement may be found on the Office's website: www.investors.maine.gov . CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING: Judith M. Shaw, Administrator, Maine Office of Securities, 121 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0121. Telephone: (207) 624-8551. Email: Judith.M.Shaw@Maine.gov . IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: None. AGENCY: 09-137 - Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 4, Hunting and Trapping: 4.05, Moose Hunting Season PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2018-032 BRIEF SUMMARY: The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has scheduled a public hearing to discuss its proposal allocating the number of moose hunting permits to be issued for the 2018 moose hunting season. Permits will be issued for bulls, antlerless and any-moose. The Department is proposing a minor change to open WMDs 10, 18, 27 and 28 to the September season. Bull only permits allocated would be split evenly between the September and October season in those WMDs. The Department is also proposing to allow those selected in WMDs 27 or 28 to hunt in either WMD during the designated open season. Proposed permit allocations according to Wildlife Management District are as follows: WMD 1 - 300 bulls / 100 antlerless WMD 2 - 250 bulls / 100 antlerless WMD 3 - 150 bulls / 75 antlerless WMD 4 - 250 bulls / 100 antlerless WMD 5 - 150 bulls / 50 antlerless WMD 6 - 150 bulls / 25 antlerless WMD 7 - 125 bulls WMD 8 - 175 bulls WMD 9 - 75 bulls WMD 10 - 60 bulls WMD 11 - 50 bulls WMD 12 - 35 bulls WMD 13 - 35 bulls WMD 14 - 35 bulls WMD 15 - 25 any-moose WMD 16 - 20 any-moose WMD 17 - 20 bulls WMD 18 - 40 bulls WMD 19 - 75 bulls WMD 27 & 28 (combined) - 30 bulls TOTAL: 2,005 bulls / 450 antlerless / 45 any-moose PUBLIC HEARING: Wednesday, April 11, 2018 @ 6:00 p.m. - Augusta Armory, Room 209A, 179 Western Avenue, Augusta COMMENT DEADLINE: April 23, 2018 CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT INFORMATION / IFW RULEMAKING LIAISON: Becky Orff, Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 284 State Street41 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333. Telephone: (207) 287-5202. Fax: (207) 287-6395. Email: Becky.Orff@Maine.gov . FINANCIAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: No fiscal impact anticipated. AGENCY: 06-096 - Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 2, Rules Concerning the Processing of Applications and Other Administrative Matters PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2018-P033 BRIEF SUMMARY: The proposed amendments to Ch. 2 incorporate statutory changes and clarify other provisions of the existing rule. PUBLIC HEARING: No public hearing is scheduled. The rule will be posted to a 30 day written comment period. A public hearing will be held if requested before the end of the comment period. Written comments may be submitted by mail, email or fax to the contact person before the end of the comment period. To ensure the comments are considered, they must include your name and the organization you represent, if any. COMMENT DEADLINE: April 20, 2018 CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT INFORMATION: Mark Margerum, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, 17 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0017. Telephone: (207) 287-7842. Fax: (207) 287-7826. Email: Mark.T.Margerum@Maine.gov . FINANCIAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: None anticipated.  AGENCY: 10-144 - Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Office for Family Independence (OFI) CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 332, MaineCare Eligibility Manual: Part 5, Children's Health Insurance (CHIP) Program - Cub Care. (MC Rule #288P (Cub Care)) PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2018-P034 BRIEF SUMMARY: This rule change aligns the MaineCare Eligibility Manual with the adopted State budget for fiscal year 2018. Children of State employees are now eligible to apply for Cub Care, where they were previously excluded from eligibility. There are also grammar and format changes throughout Part 5 to improve clarity in the proposed rule, but not in the emergency rule. The Department is filing this proposed rule at the same time as an emergency rule. This rule was delayed due to the need to submit a state plan amendment to CMS. See http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/ofi/rules/index.shtml for rules and related rulemaking documents. PUBLIC HEARING: None COMMENT DEADLINE: April 20, 2018 CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT INFORMATION: Esther Bullard, MaineCare Program Manager, Department of Health & Human Services, Office for Family Independence, 19 Union Street, Augusta, ME 04333-0011. Telephone: (207 624-4178. Fax: (207) 287-3455. TT Users Call Maine Relay- 711. Email: Esther.Bullard@Maine.gov . FINANCIAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: None anticipated. AGENCY: 18-125 - Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS), Bureau of Revenue Services (Maine Revenue Services - MRS) CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 202, Tree Growth Tax Law Valuations - 2018 PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2018-P035 BRIEF SUMMARY: MRS is proposing to repeal and replace Rule 202 ("Tree Growth Tax Law Valuations - 2018"). The rule is being replaced to provide updated valuation rates for each forest type by region. These updated rates will be used to value forest land enrolled in the Tree Growth Tax Law program under 36 MRS §§ 571 - 584-A. PUBLIC HEARING: none. COMMENT DEADLINE: April 20, 2018 CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT INFORMATION: Justin Poirier, Maine Revenue Services, P.O. Box 9106, Augusta, Maine 04332-9106. Telephone: (207) 624-5600. Email: Justin.L.Poirier@Maine.gov . IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: The rule has minimal impact on municipalities. The valuation amounts for the Tree Growth Tax Law program vary from year to year, which impacts the property tax assessed on land in the program. Fluctuations in local taxes due to valuation changes in this program are partially offset by reimbursement and state subsidy provisions. AGENCY: 18-125 - Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS), Bureau of Revenue Services (Maine Revenue Services - MRS) CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 205, Certification of Assessors PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2018-P036 PUBLIC HEARING: none. COMMENT DEADLINE: April 20, 2018 BRIEF SUMMARY: Rule 205 (Certification of Assessors) is being amended to clarify and streamline the procedures related to the previously expanded levels of assessor certification, to institute a formal procedure for revocation of certifications, and to make other, housekeeping, changes. Certification and the continuing education of property tax assessors in the State of Maine is the responsibility of the Bureau. This rule governs the nature and timing of the certification examinations as well as the enforcement of the continuing education requirements required under 36 MRS §311. CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT INFORMATION: Justin Poirier, Maine Revenue Services, P.O. Box 9106, Augusta, Maine 04332-9106. Telephone: (207) 624-5600. Email: Justin.L.Poirier@Maine.gov . IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: The rule has minimal impact on municipalities. The rule describes the certification process for municipal property tax assessors in Maine. AGENCY: 94-411 - Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MainePERS) CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 803, Participating Local District Consolidated Retirement Plan PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2018-P037 BRIEF SUMMARY: This rule governs the Consolidated Plan for Participating Local Districts. The proposed amendments to the rule are the recommendations of the Participating Local District Advisory Committee to further modernize the plan and improve future funding levels of the Plan by amending the provisions relating to earnable compensation, service credit, early retirement reduction, employer and member contributions, cost-of-living adjustments, retire/rehire and employer withdrawal liabilities. The proposed rule also includes non-substantive changes to the former rule to correct language format, eliminate obsolete language, and provide clarification. PUBLIC HEARING: April 12, 2018, 1:00 p.m. EDT, Maine Public Employees Retirement System, 96 Sewall Street, Augusta, Maine EMAIL FOR PUBLIC TO SUBMIT COMMENTS: rulemaking@mainepers.org . COMMENT DEADLINE: April 27, 2018, 5:00 p.m. EDT CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS FILING / SMALL BUSINESS IMPACT INFORMATION / MainePERS RULEMAKING LIAISON: Kathy J. Morin, Manager, Actuarial & Legislative Affairs, Maine Public Employees Retirement System, 46 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333. Telephone: 1-800-451-9800 or (207) 512-3190. Email: Kathy.Morin@mainepers.org . FINANCIAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES OR COUNTIES: none ADOPTIONS Pursuant to Ch. 380 of the Public Laws of 2011, notice of the adoption of rules will no longer be published in the newspaper rulemaking notices; our Wednesday web notices will continue to carry them, however. Information on rules adopted through the Maine Administrative Procedure Act as well as the full text of adopted rules is available on the internet at http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/rules .