3.__Repayment.__A professional forester who accepts a grant but who fails to successfully complete the certification course shall repay the amount of the grant to the bureau.__The bureau may impose a reasonable interest rate on the amount of the grant.

4.__Forms; rulemaking.__The bureau shall provide application forms for professional foresters seeking grants pursuant to this chapter.__The bureau shall adopt rules to implement the purposes of this chapter.__Rules adopted pursuant to this chapter are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A.

Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §5219-U is enacted to read:

§5219-U.__Forest certification tax credit

1.__Definitions.__As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.

A.__"Forest certification system" means a system recognized by the Bureau of Forestry that verifies sustainable forest practices through independent 3rd-party auditors.

B.__"Professional forester" means a forester licensed pursuant to Title 32, chapter 75.

C.__"Small woodlot owner" means a landowner who owns a woodlot containing between 10 and 5,000 acres of land.

2.__Tax credit allowed.__A tax credit is allowed under this section as follows.

A.__A professional forester who practices sustainable forest management for small woodlot owners pursuant to a forest certification system is allowed a credit against the tax otherwise due under this Part for the annual cost incurred by the forester for audits to determine compliance with the forest certification system.__The tax credit may not exceed $750 in any tax year.

B.__A small woodlot owner whose forestland is certified in accordance with a forest certification system is allowed a

credit once every 5 years against the tax otherwise due under this Part.__The allowed credit is 75% of the cost of hiring a professional forester to certify that the small woodlot is being managed sustainably but may not exceed $2,000 in any tax year.__A small woodlot owner who deducts the cost of the certification as an expense under the Code must reduce that expense by the amount of the credit.

The total amount of tax credits provided under this subsection may not exceed $100,000 per year.

3.__Report.__By January 2, 2007, the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services and the Director of the Bureau of Forestry shall produce a report outlining the costs and benefits to the tax credit pursuant to this section and the professional forester grant program established in Title 12, chapter 801-A.__This subsection is repealed January 31, 2007.

Sec. 3. Rulemaking. By January 2, 2002, the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services and the Director of the Bureau of Forestry within the Department of Conservation shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 5219-U in compliance with the goals, criteria and standards enumerated and reported by the Director of the Bureau of Forestry pursuant to Title 12, section 8876-A. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major substantive rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A.

SUMMARY

This bill does the following.

1. It creates a tax credit for small woodlot owners who choose to have their woodlots certified as sustainably managed. The credit is for the costs of having their woodlots certified.

2. It creates a tax credit for professional foresters who choose to become approved by a forest certification system to certify small woodlots as sustainably managed. The credit is for the costs of having their work audited by 3rd-party forest certification systems.

3. It creates a grant program for professional foresters to help defray the cost of any courses necessary for becoming approved by a forest certification system to certify small woodlots as sustainably managed.