If the land being converted to another use is taxed under the provisions of the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law, notification of a change of land use under this subsection constitutes a withdrawal of that land from taxation under the provisions of the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law, under Title 36, section 581;

H. The signatures of the harvester when listed on the form in accordance with paragraph A and the licensed professional forester when listed on the form in accordance with paragraph B;

H-1. The signature of the landowner and the signature of the designated agent when a designated agent is listed in accordance with paragraph A. If the designated agent is a licensed professional forester who has a fiduciary responsibility to the landowner, the signature of the landowner is not required;

I. A map locating the harvest site in relation to known or easily identifiable terrain features, such as a road junction or a stream and road junction. The map must be a copy of a 7.5 or 15 minute series topographical map produced by the United States Geological Survey or a map of equivalent or superior detail in the location of roads; and

J. The date of notification.

The Commissioner of Conservation shall adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this subchapter.__Rules adopted to implement changes to this subchapter are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A.

Sec. 3. 36 MRSA §574-B, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1999, c. 33, §1, is further amended to read:

1. Forest management and harvest plan. A forest management and harvest plan has been prepared for the parcel and updated every 10 years. The landowner shall file a sworn statement with the municipal assessor in a municipality or the State Tax Assessor for parcels in the unorganized territory that a management plan has been prepared for the parcel. A landowner with a parcel taxed pursuant to this subchapter on September 30, 1989 has until December 31, 1999 to comply with this requirement or to provide evidence to the municipal assessor or the State Tax Assessor for parcels in the unorganized territory that the

landowner intends to develop a forest management and harvest plan by December 31, 2000 or has executed a contract with a licensed forester for the completion of a forest management and harvest plan by December 31, 2000. Until the plan is prepared or December 31, 2000, whichever is earlier, the land is subject to the applicability provisions under this section as it the provisions existed on April 1, 1982. A landowner who does not provide the municipal assessor or the State Tax Assessor for parcels in the unorganized territory by December 31, 1999 with a sworn statement that a forest management and harvest plan has been prepared or evidence that the landowner intends to develop a forest management and harvest plan or has executed a contract with a licensed forester for the completion of a forest management and harvest plan by December 31, 2000 shall pay a penalty of $100 to the municipal tax collector or the State Tax Assessor for parcels in the unorganized territory. This penalty is in addition to any penalty that is assessed pursuant to section 581 for withdrawal of land from classification under this subchapter and may be enforced in the same manner as a supplemental assessment under section 713. A landowner who has forest land certified under section 574-C is exempt from this subsection;

Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §574-B, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 555, §16, is amended to read:

3. Transfer of ownership. If the land is transferred to a new owner, a forest management and harvest plan must be prepared for the landowner new owner within one year of the date of transfer or before the new owner can harvest forest products for commercial use, whichever occurs first and a sworn statement to that effect must be submitted within one year to the municipal assessor in a municipality or the State Tax Assessor for the unorganized territory.

Parcels of land subject to section 573, subsection 3, paragraph B or C, are exempt from the requirements under this section.

Sec. 5. 36 MRSA §574-C is enacted to read:

§574-C.__Exemption from compliance with plan

If the forest land is certified as being well-managed by a 3rd-party certification organization that is approved by the Maine Forest Service, the landowner is exempt from the requirements of section 574-B, subsection 2.__This exemption is valid only as long as the forest land has a valid 3rd-party certification.

Sec. 6. Report. The Maine Forest Service shall report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over agriculture, conservation and forestry matters by January 31, 2005 on the impact of this legislation on liquidation harvesting.

SUMMARY

This bill clarifies the harvest notification requirements to include a statement from landowners under the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law program that they are following a management plan as currently required, removes lands that are being harvested for development from the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law program, exempts forest land that is certified by a 3rd-party certification organization as being well-managed from the management plan requirements of the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law program, requires that all new landowners in the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law program have a management plan before harvesting forest products for commercial use and requires the Maine Forest Service to report back to the Legislature in 2005 on the impacts of this legislation on liquidation harvesting.