An Act To Establish a Monitoring Program of Maine Lakes Identified as Having Invasive Aquatic Species
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1723
Committee: Natural Resources
Sponsors: MARTIN, SA VIELLO, DOUGLASS, GAGNON, NASS, TREAT, COLLINS, CROSTHWAITE, MOODY
Amends: 38 MRSA §1862, 38 MRSA §1863

Legislative Document 
No. 1723 
S.P.656 
In Senate, December 17, 2003 
An Act To Establish a Monitoring Program of Maine Lakes 
Identified as Having Invasive Aquatic Species 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 17, 2003. Referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 
218. 
Presented by Senator MARTIN of Aroostook. 
Cosponsored by Representative SA VIELLO of Wilton and 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Senators: DOUGLASS of Androscoggin, GAGNON of Kennebec, NASS of York, TREAT of 
Kennebec, Representatives: COLLINS of Wells, CROSTHWAITE of Ellsworth, McKEE of 
Wayne, MOODY of Manchester. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §1862, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 434, 
Pt. A, §7, is amended to read: 
2. 
Other 
inspection 
stations 
allowed. 
The 
program 
established under this section also may include inspections at 
boat launching sites on inland waters that afOe--&l-r-e-ady--iafes\::ee1 
aRe1-a~-~-~~~-&il::e&-eR-~~-~~-wa~r&-l::Ral:: have been 
identified as most at risk of introduction of invasive aquatic 
plants. 
Sec. 2. 38 MRS A §1862-A is enacted to read: 
§1862-A. 
Lakes infested with invasive aquatic plant species; 
monitoring and inspections 
1. 
Inspection 
program. 
The 
commissioner 
and 
the 
Commissioner 
of 
Inland Fisheries 
and Wildlife 
jointly shall 
establish a program to monitor and inspect watercraft, watercraft 
trailers and outboard motors at all public access sites on lakes 
that have been identified by the State as having invasive aquatic 
plant species. 
For purposes of this section, "invasive aquatic 
plant species" means invasive aquatic plants and other aquatic 
plant species identified as invasive species by the Interagency 
Task 
Force 
on 
Invasive 
Aquatic 
Plants 
and 
Nuisance 
Species 
established in Title 5, section 12004-D, subsection 6. 
2. 
Access and inspection times. 
The commissioner and the 
Commissioner 
of 
Inland Fisheries 
and 
Wildlife 
shall 
jointly 
determine times when public access sites are open for public use 
and inspection based on use patterns, times of year and budgetary 
constraints. 
In 
addition 
to 
those 
considerations, 
the 
commissioner or the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife 
may extend set inspection times when: 
A. 
A person petitions either department in writing; or 
B. 
A person elects to pay an hourly fee, set jointly by the 
commissioner and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and 
Wildlife, 
to 
cover 
costs 
associated with 
extending 
an 
inspection period. 
Hourly fees paid under this paragraph 
must be distributed in the manner prescribed under Title 12, 
section 10206, subsection 6 for fees collected under section 
13058, subsection 3. 
Times when public access is permitted must be posted at each 
public access site and in the local paper and distributed with 
all Maine boating registrations and on the department's publicly 
accessible site on the Internet. 
Page l-LR2359 (1) 
3. 
Securing access sites. 
Public access 
ramps to lakes 
identified as 
having invasive aquatic plant species 
must 
be 
locked 
or 
otherwise 
secured 
to 
prevent 
access 
during 
noninspection hours. 
4. 
Inspection activities. 
During 
inspection 
hours, 
a 
designated 
state 
employee 
shall 
inspect 
all 
watercraft, 
watercraft trailers 
and 
outboard motors 
brought 
to 
a 
public 
access site for ingress or egress for invasive aquatic plant 
species. 
A designated state employee may disseminate relevant 
educational information to boaters and may provide instruction to 
boaters 
on 
the 
necessary 
and 
appropriate 
ways 
to 
remove 
suspicious 
aquatic 
plants 
found 
inside 
or 
outside 
of 
a 
watercraft, watercraft trailer or on an outboard motor. 
For 
purposes of this section, "designated state employee" means 
a 
person employed by the State at least part time and identified by 
the department or the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife 
as 
a 
person who is qualified to properly conduct inspection 
activities. 
5. 
Compliance requirements; denial of access. 
A person 
shall comply with the inspection and monitoring process and take 
actions necessary to remove an invasive aquatic plant species 
from that person's watercraft, watercraft trailer or outboard 
motor. 
A person who fails to comply with the inspection process 
or 
fails 
to 
remove 
an 
aquatic 
plant 
from 
that 
person's 
watercraft, watercraft trailer or outboard motor upon the oral or 
written request of a designated state employee must be denied 
access to the lake until that person complies with the designated 
state employee's recommendations. 
6. 
Prohibitions 
and penalties. 
The 
failure 
to 
remove 
aquatic plants from a watercraft, watercraft trailer or outboard 
motor 
and 
the 
use 
of 
closed public 
access 
sites 
have 
the 
following penalties. 
A. 
A person who fails to properly, remove an aquatic plant 
from 
that 
person's 
watercraft, 
watercraft 
trailer 
or 
outboard 
motor 
upon 
the 
oral 
or 
written 
request 
of 
a 
designated state employee commits a Class E crime. 
B. 
A person who uses a public access site on a lake that 
has been identified as having invasive aquatic plant species 
when that access site is closed commits a Class E crime. 
7. 
Funding. 
The 
commissioner 
and 
the 
Commissioner 
of 
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall. fund the program established 
under subsection 1 
jointlYn.tr..Q1!LL!Zyenues derived from lake and 
river protection stickers issued under Title 12, section l3058 
and at a level not to exceed 20°" of the total annual revenue 
collected under that section. 
Sec. 3. 38 MRSA §1863, as amended by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. B, 
§73 and affected by Pt. D, §7, is further amended to read: 
§1863. Invasive Aquatic P1ant and Nuisance Species Fund 
The 
Invasive 
Aquatic 
Plant 
and 
Nuisance 
Species 
Fund, 
referred to in this section as the "fund," is created within the 
department as a nonlapsing fund. 
The fund is administered by the 
commissioner. 
The fund is funded from fees collected for lake 
and river protection stickers issued under Title 12, 
section 
13058, 
subsection 3 
and 
from other funds 
accepted for 
those 
purposes by the commissioner or allocated or appropriated by the 
Legislature. 
Money 
in the 
fund 
may 
be used only for costs 
related ,to conducting inspections under see1:ieB sections 1862 and 
1862-A, 
conducting 
invasive 
aquatic 
plant 
prevention, 
containment, 
eradication 
and 
management 
acti vi ties 
and 
reimbursing 
agencies 
as 
necessary 
for 
costs 
associated with 
conducting or 
enforcing 
the 
provisions 
of 
this 
chapter 
and 
chapter 20-B. 
The commissioner may also use funds to contract 
with municipalities or other entities to 
conduct inspection, 
prevention or eradication programs to protect the inland waters 
of the State from invasive aquatic plant and nuisance species. 
SUMMARY 
This 
bill 
requires 
the 
Department 
of 
Environmental 
Protection and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to 
establish a program to monitor and inspect watercraft at public 
access points on lakes that have been identified by the State as 
having 
invasive aquatic plants. 
The 
departments 
are 
jointly 
required to set times when these public access sites would be 
open for public use and inspection and requires that these access 
sites be secured during closed periods to prevent access. 
Under 
this bill, 
a person who fails to comply with the inspection 
process or fails to remove an aquatic plant from that person's 
watercraft, watercraft trailer or outboard motor upon the oral or 
written request of the inspector must be denied access to the 
lake until that person complies with the inspector's request. 
The bill makes it a Class E crime to use a closed access point or 
to fail to remove a suspicious aquatic plant from that person's 
watercraft upon the oral or written request of an inspector. 
Funding for the program would come from revenues derived from 
lake and river protection stickers issued under the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 12, section 13058.