Sec. 1. 23 MRSA §61, sub-§2-A is enacted to read:

2-A.__Easements may be conveyed.__The Department of Transportation may grant or otherwise transfer easements over property taken or acquired for transportation purposes when the department in its sole discretion determines that the conveyance of such easements is appropriate and necessary.

Sec. 2. 23 MRSA §154-D, 2nd ¶, as amended by PL 1987, c. 395, Pt. A, §96, is further amended to read:

Any person displaced by a taking or acquisition who remains in occupancy after the date of acquisition shall may be required to pay rent compensation from the date of the acquisition. The consideration compensation paid by the tenant or displaced person shall may not exceed fair rental value of the property based on short-term occupancy. If the tenants or displaced person and the department cannot reach agreement as to equivalent of fair rental value for the initial 90-day period after acquisition, each may apply to the State Claims Commission in writing for such a determination as to the fair rental value. The State Claims Commission's jurisdiction to determine the fair rental value shall be is limited solely to the initial 90-day period. Any consideration compensation to be paid by the tenant or displaced person after the initial 90-day period shall must be determined solely by the department.

Sec. 3. 23 MRSA §156, as affected by PL 1997, c. 508, Pt. A, §3 and amended by Pt. B, §5, is further amended to read:

§156. Hearing before commission

The State Claims Commission shall immediately enter the petition of the department upon its docket and assign a date for hearing at the earliest possible date. The chairman chair of the board commission shall assign no more than 3 members of the board commission for hearings, one of whom shall must be an appraiser and one an attorney at law. Notice of the time and place for the hearing shall must be mailed by registered or certified forwarded by regular mail to the department and to the owner or owners of record and to the holders of any mortgage, tax lien or any other encumbrance on the property involved at least 14 days before the date of the hearing. In the event the notice required is returned to the State Claims Commission marked "refused" or "unclaimed" by the United States post office, the State Claims Commission may, at its option, reschedule the hearing by giving the notice required in this paragraph, or it may cause the matter to be heard on the day originally scheduled by causing service to be