An Act To Lower the Cost of Health Care through Improved Energy Efficiency
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §329, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2009, c. 383, §6 and affected by §16, is further amended to read:
3. Capital expenditures. Except as provided in subsection 6, the obligation by or on behalf of a health care facility of any capital expenditure of $3,100,000 or more. Capital expenditures in the case of a natural disaster, major accident or equipment failure or for replacement equipment that is not major medical equipment as defined in section 328, subsection 16 or for parking lots and garages, information and communications systems or physician office space or that before January 1, 2017 meet certification standards adopted by the Efficiency Maine Trust under Title 35-A, section 10104, subsection 7 as likely to produce energy cost savings through energy efficiency, renewable energy technology or smart grid technology do not require a certificate of need;
SUMMARY
This bill exempts from the requirement of a certificate of need process any capital expenditure before January 1, 2017 that meets the certification standards of the Efficiency Maine Trust and is likely to produce energy cost savings through energy efficiency, renewable energy technology or smart grid technology.