A municipality may register for authority to enforce this article by adopting and submitting to the commissioner an ordinance that meets or exceeds the provisions of this article. The commissioner shall review that ordinance to determine whether that ordinance meets the provisions of this article and if the municipality has adequate resources to enforce the provisions of this article. If the commissioner determines that the ordinance meets the provisions of this article and that the municipality has the resources to enforce this article, the commissioner shall register that municipality for authority to enforce this article. Immediately upon approval by the commissioner, primary enforcement authority for this article vests in that municipality. The commissioner may not approve an ordinance under this section unless the ordinance requires that any request for a variance from the standards in the article be approved by the commissioner before the variance is valid.   [PL 1995, c. 700, §35 (NEW).]