C.__Three or more years after the period of affiliation, the department may, in its discretion, consider requests by any former member of an affiliated group to run passengers on allocated rivers.__The burden rests on the former member of an affiliated group to demonstrate that the reasons for any finding of affiliation have so diminished in effect that the public interest will be served by considering the former member's request to run passengers on an allocated river.

Sec. 339. 12 MRSA §12913, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 and affected by Pt. D, §7, is amended to read:

3. Allocations, maximum, minimum. The department may allocate the privilege to conduct whitewater trips to licensed outfitters. The maximum allocation for an outfitter is 120 passengers per river per day. The minimum allocation to be awarded is 10 passengers per day on the Kennebec River and 16 passengers per day on the West Branch Penobscot River. The department is not authorized to issue a total number of allocations issued for an allocated day may not exceed that exceeds the recreational use limits established in section 12911. The department may declare a day to be an allocated day when the department determines that the regular and persistent use of the river on that day from year to year may exceed the recreational use limits for that day.

Sec. 340. 12 MRSA §12913, sub-§§5 and 6, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 and affected by Pt. D, §7, are amended to read:

5. Allocation criteria; reports. The department may adopt rules specifying a schedule for reviewing outfitters who hold allocations and setting forth the criteria for awarding allocations. An outfitter shall submit periodic public reports to the department documenting river use for both allocated and unallocated days. If the department determines that additional allocated days are required, the allocation of trips on any such additional day must be distributed among existing licensed outfitters, upon payment of the appropriate allocation fee, in accordance with their percentage of total use averaged over the rafting season on that rapidly flowing river on that particular day, up to the limit on allocations established in subsection 3. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

A.__An outfitter shall submit on a schedule determined by the department periodic public reports to the department