2.__Invasive aquatic plant.__"Invasive aquatic plant" means a species of aquatic plant described in section 410-N or identified by the department through rulemaking pursuant to that section.

3.__Nuisance species.__"Nuisance species" means a nonindigenous species that threatens the diversity or abundance of native species, the ecological stability of infested waters or commercial, agricultural, aquacultural or recreational activity dependent on such waters as identified by the department through rulemaking.

Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A.

§1853.__Great Ponds Protection Council

The Great Ponds Protection Council, as established in Title 5, section 12004-D, subsection 6 and referred to in this chapter as the "council," is established.

1.__Membership.__The council consists of the commissioner, the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Commissioner of Conservation and the Director of the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission or their designees and 5 members of the public who are residents of the State and at least 21 years of age, appointed by the Governor, each representing the interests of one of the following:

A.__The State's lake associations;

B.__The State's nonprofit environmental community;

C. The State's freshwater fishing interests;

D.__The recreational boating industry; and

E.__Public drinking water utilities.

2.__Terms.__Public members of the council appointed pursuant to subsection 1 serve terms for 3 years and may be reappointed.

3.__Duties.__The council shall coordinate the State's effort to prevent the spread of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species and the State's development of a comprehensive state aquatic nuisance management plan that meets

the requirements of Section 1204 of the federal National Invasive Species Act of 1996.__The plan must:

A__Identify the management practices and measures that are necessary to prevent infestation of the State's lakes and other waters by milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species;

B.__Identify and recommend state and local programs for cost-effective environmentally sound prevention and control of invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species;

C.__Identify and recommend federal actions that may be needed for cost-effective environmentally sound prevention and control of invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species and describe the manner in which those actions should be coordinated with state and local government activities;

D.__Identify any additional authority from the Legislature that the State may need to protect public health, property and the environment from harm by invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species;

E.__Establish a schedule for implementing the plan; and

F.__Include the following:

(1)__A model municipal ordinance for preventing infestation of lakes by milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species;

(2)__Recommendations for protecting lakes located partially in the unorganized territory and partially in one or more municipalities;

(3)__Recommendations for protecting lakes located on the border between Maine and New Hampshire and on the border between Maine and Canada;

(4)__A cost-effective program for inspecting boats and trailers entering the State on the Maine Turnpike, at customs check points on the border with Canada and, to the extent practical, at other locations;

(5)__Proposed rules applicable to live bait dealers, pet supply dealers, seaplane operators and others to prevent the introduction and spread of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species into the State's lakes; and

(6)__A program of research on the prevention, eradication and containment of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species, including research into environmentally sound biological and genetic control strategies.

4.__Plan completion; revision.__The plan must be completed by November 1, 2001 and be submitted to the federal Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force for approval by January 1, 2002.__The plan must be updated and revised annually.

5.__Regional cooperation.__The council shall work with representatives from federal, state and local agencies and private environmental and commercial interests in the northeastern United States to form a northeastern regional panel to establish priorities and coordinate activities to prevent the spread of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species in the northeast.

6.__Staffing; contracts.__The council may employ such personnel and enter into such contracts as may be necessary to carry out the council's responsibilities under this Act.

§1854.__Emergency action plan to protect State's lakes

The council shall adopt an emergency action plan that includes the following elements to protect the State's lakes.

1.__Identification of lakes already known to be infested.__By June 30, 2001, the commissioner, with the advice of the council, shall identify the great ponds in the State that are known to be infested with milfoil or other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species.

2.__Vulnerability assessment.__By June 30, 2001, with the advice of the council, the commissioner shall complete a preliminary vulnerability assessment of the State's largest lakes.__The preliminary vulnerability assessment shall identify the large lakes in the State most at risk of infestation by invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species due to the close proximity to other infested waters, a location near major transportation routes, the presence of public boat launch sites, heavy use by transient boaters, the number of lakefront property owners and other factors as the commissioner may determine to be appropriate.__The commissioner shall also identify the most probable vectors or pathways of introduction of invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species and shall identify those inspection locations most likely to result in identification and prevention of new introductions.__The designated inspection locations must include at a minimum the entrance to the Maine Turnpike in

Kittery and the public boat launches on the large lakes identified as most at risk of immediate infestation.

3.__Emergency boat inspection and public information program.__ By June 30, 2001 the commissioner shall establish an emergency boat inspection and public information program to inspect boats and trailers and provide information about milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species to boat and trailer owners:

A.__At the entrance to the Maine Turnpike;

B.__At public boat launch sites on the lakes that are already infested; and

C.__At public boat launch sites on the lakes that have been identified as most at risk of introduction of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species.

The commissioner may contract with a statewide volunteer lake monitoring program, lake associations and other public and private entities to carry out the emergency boat inspection and public information program.__Such contracting entities may use volunteers, the Maine Conservation Corps and others in carrying out boat inspection and public information activities.__The emergency boat inspection and public information program must be designed and implemented so that not less than 10,000 hours are devoted to boat inspection and public information activities between June 30, 2001 and October 1, 2001.

4.__Emergency lake monitoring program.__By June 30, 2001, the commissioner shall establish an emergency program to monitor lakes in the State for new introductions of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species.__The monitoring program may be carried out through a contract with a statewide volunteer lake monitoring program and may employ both paid staff and trained volunteers.__The emergency lake monitoring program must be designed so that the State's great ponds are periodically inspected for new introductions of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species, particularly in areas close to public boat launch facilities.__The emergency lake monitoring program must be implemented so that each lake in the State with a public boat launch is inspected for milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species at least once between June 30, 2001 and October 15, 2001.

5.__Emergency response program.__By June 30, 2001, the commissioner, in consultation with the council, shall establish an emergency response program to deal with new introductions of milfoil or other invasive aquatic nuisance species in lakes in

the State.__The emergency response program must provide for on- call personnel and equipment organized into emergency response teams that can be mobilized quickly to eradicate new introductions of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species in previously uninfested lakes in a cost- effective and environmentally sound manner before the infestations become well established.__To the extent practicable, the activities and methods of the emergency response teams must be reviewed and approved in advance by applicable regulatory authorities to avoid delays in responding to new introductions.__ The commissioner shall apply for blanket wastewater discharge permits on behalf of the department to permit emergency response eradication and control activities to be undertaken in an environmentally sound manner as soon as a new introduction is discovered.__Funds appropriated for the emergency response program must be held in a separate nonlapsing fund administered by the commissioner.

6.__Training and public information materials.__By June 30, 2001, the commissioner, with the advice of the council, shall distribute training materials and public information materials for use by lake monitors and persons authorized to inspect boats and personal watercraft for milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species.__These materials must be distributed in a manner so as to ensure that lake monitors and persons authorized to inspect boats are able to recognize milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species and that boat inspectors understand how to remove and dispose of invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species in a manner which avoids further introduction into lakes and other bodies of water.__The public information materials may include, but not be limited to, signs to be posted at public boat launches and brochures and wallet-size cards depicting milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species, that can be distributed to boat owners and lakefront property owners.

7.__Rules.__The department may adopt rules as necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.__Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A.

§1855.__Nuisance species containment areas

1.__Designation of invasive species containment areas.__The commissioner, with the approval of the council, may designate lakes and other bodies of water, or portions of lakes and other bodies of water, that are infested by invasive aquatic plants or nuisance species as invasive species containment areas.__Such invasive species containment areas may be marked by signs, buoys or other means as determined by the commissioner.__The

commissioner, with the approval of the council, shall adopt an eradication and containment plan for each invasive species containment area.__The commissioner may by rule regulate or prohibit the operation of sailboats, motorboats and personal watercraft and other activities within designated invasive species containment areas.__The commissioner may by rule regulate the transportation of watercraft to and from designated invasive species containment areas.

2.__Suspension of use of state boat ramps.__If the Commissioner of Environmental Protection determines that no other method of containment of invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species will be effective, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, with the approval of the council, may request the Commissioner of Conservation or the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to suspend the use of a state boat ramp under their respective jurisdictions.__Upon receipt of such a request, the Commissioner of Conservation and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife may suspend the use of state boat ramps under their respective jurisdictions on lakes and other bodies of water that have been designated as invasive species containment areas or that contain designated invasive species containment areas.__These suspensions may not exceed 2 years in duration, subject to renewal by the commissioners by following the same procedures as for an initial suspension.__The Commissioner of Conservation and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall establish by rule procedures for adopting such suspensions, including adequate notice to the public and a reasonable opportunity for public comment.__If the use of a state boat ramp is suspended under this subsection, the Commissioner of Conservation or the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, as applicable, shall seek alternate public access to the affected lake or body of water during the period of suspension to the extent consistent with containment of the infestation to be controlled.__Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A.

§1856.__Grants to localities

The commissioner shall establish a program of grants to municipalities and other local entities as follows.

1.__Prevention and containment grants.__By October 1, 2001, the commissioner, with the advice of the council, shall establish a program of grants and other forms of technical assistance to municipalities, watershed districts, lake associations and other public and private entities to develop and carry out:

A.__Plans to prevent the introduction of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species into lakes and bodies of water that have not been infested by milfoil or other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species; and

B.__Plans to eradicate and contain the spread of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species in lakes and bodies of water where new introductions occur.

2.__Sources of funds.__The grants may be funded from current appropriations, revenues from the boat trailer registration program, boat registration fees deposited in the Great Ponds Protection Fund established in section 1858, subsection 1 and federal money that may be provided to the State under the federal National Invasive Species Act of 1996.

3.__Rules.__The department may adopt rules as necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.__Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A.

§1857.__Municipal ordinances and plans

Municipalities have the following authority, which may not be construed as a limitation on their home rule authority.

1.__Municipal ordinances.__In order to prevent the spread of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species into lakes and other bodies of water where milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species have not been introduced and to eradicate or contain milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species in lakes where an introduction is found, a municipality has the following ordinance authority within the municipality's jurisdiction:

A.__To require inspection and removal of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species from watercraft before the boats and personal watercraft are launched into lakes and other bodies of water;

B.__To require inspection and removal of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species from watercraft used on lakes and other bodies of water where milfoil or other invasive aquatic plants have been introduced before the watercraft are transported to other bodies of water;

C.__To designate locations for inspecting sailboats, motorboats and personal watercraft transported on or

launched from trailers and for removing milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species;

D.__To regulate surface uses on lakes and other bodies of water infested by milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species__to prevent milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species from spreading further;

E.__To require sailboats, motorboats and personal watercraft transported on or launched from trailers to be launched at designated locations;

F.__To establish civil penalties for violations of the ordinances authorized by this chapter; and

G.__To authorize municipal code enforcement officers, harbor masters and seasonal wardens to enforce the ordinances authorized by this chapter and to collect civil penalties in the name of the municipality under Rule 80K of the Maine District Court Rules.

Municipal ordinances adopted pursuant to this subsection are subject to review and approval by the council.

2.__Municipal plans.__A municipality may adopt and implement local plans to prevent introduction of, and to eradicate or contain, milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species in lakes and other bodies of water within the municipality's jurisdiction.__These plans may include:

A.__Prevention plans for lakes and other bodies of water that are free of milfoil or other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species; and

B.__Eradication or containment plans for lakes and other bodies of water in which milfoil or other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species have been introduced.

§1858.__Boat trailer registration

The commissioner, in consultation and cooperation with the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, shall adopt rules establishing a nuisance species prevention boat trailer registration program.

1.__Boat trailer registration program.__The boat trailer registration program must include the following elements.

A.__All trailers used to transport boats to and from lakes and other bodies of fresh water in the State are required to

pay a registration fee and display a nuisance species prevention decal.

B.__The annual trailer registration fee is $8 for residents of the State and $14 for nonresidents.__Revenues from these fees must be deposited in the Great Ponds Protection Fund, which is established as a nonlapsing dedicated fund administered by the commissioner for carrying out the purposes of this chapter.

C.__Nuisance species prevention decals for residents of the State must be available from the Department of the Secretary of State, Bureau of Motor Vehicles and from municipalities that have been delegated authority to register trailers.__ Nuisance species prevention decals for nonresidents must be available from persons authorized to issue nonresident fishing licenses and other persons as determined by the commissioner.

D.__After January 1, 2002, a person may not transport a boat by trailer to, or launch a boat from a trailer into, a lake or other body of fresh water within the State without obtaining and displaying a nuisance species prevention decal.

E.__A civil penalty in the amount of $500 may be adjudged for violation of the registration requirement under this subsection and for failure to display the nuisance species prevention decal.

F.__Each person who applies for a nuisance species prevention decal may be required to complete a questionnaire designed to provide information that may be useful to the commissioner and the council in developing cost-effective and environmentally sound strategies and plans to prevent the introduction and spread of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species into lakes in the State.

2.__Rules.__Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A.

PART B

Sec. B-1. 12 MRSA §7794, sub-§4, as amended by PL 1997, c. 24, Pt. I, §§5 and 6, is further amended to read:

4. Fees. The fees for each original or renewal certificate of number with 2 validation stickers are as follows:

A. All watercraft requiring or requesting certificate of number and equipped with a motor having a manufacturer's horsepower rating of:

(1) Ten horsepower or less ...........$6 $8;

(2) Greater than 10, but not more than 50 horsepower............................$10 $12; and

(3) Greater than 50 horsepower ......$15 $17.

A-1. All personal watercraft requiring or requesting a certificate of number......................$20 $22.

B. Duplicate certificate of number ....... $ 1

C. Duplicate validation sticker (per set)..$1

D. Certificate of number issued with transfer of ownership authorized in subsection 7 ...... $ 2

Two dollars of the fee for each original or renewal certificate of number under this subsection must be credited to the Great Ponds Protection Fund, as established in Title 38, section 1858, subsection 1.

Sec. B-2. 38 MRSA §419-C, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 722, §2, is amended to read:

2. Penalty. A person who intentionally violates this section commits a civil violation for which a warning may be issued forfeiture not to exceed $500 may be adjudged for the first violation, a forfeiture not to exceed $50 $1,000 may be adjudged for the 2nd violation and a forfeiture not to exceed $500 $2,500 may be adjudged for a subsequent violation.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this Act takes effect when approved.

SUMMARY

This bill creates a comprehensive program to protect Maine lakes from introductions of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species. This bill establishes an emergency program of boat inspections, public information activities, lake monitoring and an emergency response program to eradicate new introductions of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species. The emergency program is required to be implemented by July 1, 2001.

The bill also establishes a Great Ponds Protection Council and requires the council to coordinate the State's preparation of a comprehensive state plan that meets the requirements of the federal National Invasive Species Act of 1996. Approval of the state plan by the federal Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force is required under federal law for the State to have the opportunity to obtain up to 75% in federal matching funds for its invasive species lake protection program.

The bill also provides state funding for the nuisance species prevention boat trailer registration program through a combination of new boat trailer registration fees and increased boat registration fees. The bill gives the Commissioner of Environmental Protection authority to designate lakes and other bodies of water, or portions thereof, as invasive species containment areas. The commissioner is authorized to regulate the use of such containment areas to prevent the spread of invasive aquatic plants and nuisance species.

The bill authorizes the Commissioner of Conservation and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to suspend the use of state boat launch facilities under the commissioners' respective jurisdictions as necessary to contain infestations of invasive aquatic species. To the extent consistent with the containment of the infestation, the commissioner suspending the use of a boat launch is required to provide alternate public access to the affected lake or body of water.