HP0464, LD 643, item 1, An Act To Provide Funding to Municipalities Severely Affected by Pest Infestations

An Act To Provide Funding to Municipalities Severely Affected by Pest Infestations

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

Sec. 1. 7 MRSA c. 6-B is enacted to read:

CHAPTER 6-B

MANAGEMENT OF HARMFUL PESTS

§ 181. Harmful pest management; identification

1. Harmful pest identification. The commissioner, in consultation with the State Entomologist, shall identify pests, such as insects and arachnids, including, but not limited to, browntail moths and ticks, that are prevalent in this State and pose a risk of significant harm to human health, referred to in this chapter as "harmful pests."

2. Harmful pest management. The commissioner, in consultation with the State Entomologist, may undertake measures determined appropriate by the commissioner to manage harmful pests, including the prevention of breeding of harmful pests. In undertaking management of harmful pests pursuant to this section, the commissioner may contract with an entity outside the department for these services but any activities must be conducted using a combination of the lowest-risk, most effective, science-based management techniques and technology.

§ 182. Maine Harmful Pest Management Fund

1. Fund established. The Maine Harmful Pest Management Fund, referred to in this section as "the fund," is established to carry out the purposes of this chapter. The fund consists of any money received as contributions, grants or appropriations from private and public sources.

2. Purposes. The department may expend the money available in the fund to municipalities designated by the State Entomologist as being severely infested with harmful pests. A municipality may not receive more than $50,000 from the fund. A municipality provided funds under this subsection shall use:

A. Seventy-five percent of the funding to mitigate infestation of residential properties in the municipality where persons with health conditions that can be exacerbated by the infestation reside and who are unable to pay for treatment of the infestation; and

B. Twenty-five percent of the funding to mitigate infestation of publicly owned properties in the municipality.

3. Administration. The fund, to be accounted for within the department, must be held separate and apart from all other money, funds and accounts. Any balance remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year does not lapse but must be carried forward to the next fiscal year. The State Entomologist shall administer the fund allocations.

§ 183. Rules

The department shall adopt routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A necessary to administer and enforce this chapter.

Sec. 2. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.

AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY, DEPARTMENT OF

Maine Harmful Pest Management Fund N236

Initiative: Provides one-time funding to the Maine Harmful Pest Management Fund within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to be used in mitigating infestations of harmful pests, such as browntail moth caterpillars and ticks.

GENERAL FUND 2018-19 2019-20

All Other
$500,000 $0

inline graphic sline.gif

GENERAL FUND TOTAL $500,000 $0

summary

This bill authorizes the Commissioner of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the State Entomologist, to identify pests, such as browntail moths and ticks, in this State that pose a risk of significant harm to human health, and to undertake measures to manage those pests.

The bill also establishes the Maine Harmful Pest Management Fund to provide funds to municipalities severely infested with harmful pests, to be used in mitigating the infestations. It also provides $500,000 to the fund.

HP0464 LD 643	Session - 129th Maine Legislature		LR 395 Item 1
	Bill Tracking, Additional Documents	Chamber Status

Bill Tracking		Chamber Status
Amendments	Testimony, Public Hearings & Work Sessions		Committee Information for this Bill
Other Documents			Title & Section

Search Bill Text		Search Bill Status
Bill Directory	Current Committees		Legislative Information
Download MS-Word, Printed PDF		Maine Legislature

Office of Legislative Information 100 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333		voice: (207) 287-1692 fax: (207) 287-1580 tty: (207) 287-6826
Word Viewer for Windows		Disclaimer

GENERAL FUND	2018-19	2019-20
All Other	$500,000	$0

GENERAL FUND TOTAL	$500,000	$0