A municipality may recommend conditions on a proposed lease in writing to the department during the comment period under this subsection.__The department shall consider any conditions recommended by the municipality, and the department shall provide a written explanation to the municipality at the time a draft decision is written if the condition is not imposed on a proposed lease.

A municipality has intervenor status upon written request to the department.

In a municipality with a shellfish conservation program under section 6671, the commissioner may not lease areas in the intertidal zone within the municipality without the consent of the municipal officers.

Once a lease is issued, a municipality may issue a mooring permit.__The fee for a mooring permit is the same as that assigned for other commercial moorings within the municipality.__A mooring permit may be issued on a plan basis for all moorings located within an aquaculture lease but may not be issued for each individual mooring block or anchor.

Nothing in this section limits a municipality's ability to enforce the provisions of an issued mooring permit.

Sec. 5. 12 MRSA §6072, sub-§4, as amended by PL 1997, c. 138, §§2 and 3, is repealed.

Sec. 6. 12 MRSA §6072, sub-§4-B is enacted to read:

4-B.__Applications.__This subsection governs applications under this section.

A.__The department shall conduct a preapplication meeting with an applicant prior to the submission of an application under this section to the department.__The purpose of this meeting is to review the requirements for an application and to provide specific recommendations to the applicant regarding the requirements for either an environmental baseline under subsection 5-A or characterization.

For a meeting on an application that proposes a discharge into state or coastal waters, the department shall provide