Whereas, Portland-Bangor Waste Oil Services, a defunct Maine corporation, operated a waste oil handling facility in Plymouth; and

Whereas, this site is contaminated and must be cleaned up expeditiously to protect the public health, safety and welfare; and

Whereas, investigation and cleanup of the site will be expensive; and

Whereas, under state and federal law, any entity that sent waste oil or other contaminants to the site is a "responsible party" and, as such, is jointly and severally liable for the cost of investigation and cleanup; and

Whereas, this liability may pose an extraordinary financial hardship to small businesses, municipalities and others who sent waste oil to the site; and

Whereas, some waste oil handled at the site was collected from households as a public service and it is in the public interest to ensure the continued financial viability of the service station owners and other small business owners who provided this service; and

Whereas, responsible parties at the Plymouth site have been asked to reimburse the United States Environmental Protection Agency for expenses incurred at that site; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 10 MRSA §1023-M, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2001, c. 561, §1, is further amended by amending the first paragraph to read:

2. Eligibility to participate in loan program. The authority may use money in the fund to carry out any power of the authority under this section or under section 1026-S, including, but not limited to, the pledge or transfer and deposit of money