An Act To Clarify the Laws Governing Agricultural Composting Operations
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1064
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: WOODCOCK, CARR, NUTTING, PINEAU, SAVIELLO
Amends: 17 MRSA §2805, 26 MRSA §1043, 36 MRSA §2013

Legislative Document 
No. 1064 
S.P.381 
In Senate, March 1, 2005 
An Act To Clarify the Laws Governing Agricultural Composting 
Operations 
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator WOODCOCK of Franklin. 
Cosponsored by Representative CARR of Lincoln and 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Senator: NUTTING of Androscoggin, Representatives: PINEAU of Jay, SAVIELLO of 
Wilton. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 17 MRSA §2805. sub-§I, as amended by PL 1999, c. 723, 
§2, is further amended to read: 
1. 
Definition. As used in this section, unless the context 
otherwise 
indicates, 
the 
following 
terms 
have 
the 
following 
meanings. 
A. 
"Farm" means the land, buildings and machinery used in 
the commercial production of farm products. 
B. 
"Farm operation" means 
a 
condition or activity that 
occurs 
on 
a 
farm 
in 
connection 
with 
the 
commercial 
production of farm products and includes, but is not limited 
to, operations giving rise to noise, odors, dust, insects T 
and fumesT..L operation of machinery and irrigation pUmpST..L 
ground and aerial seedingT..L ground 
sprayingT-~-i 
.. nq--eE 
ma~e~~a±-p~eQ~€eQ-ey-~£€-~~mr~-~~~~~~-~a&&-iH-pa~~ 
eH-~Re-~a~mT agricultural composting operations; disposal of 
manUreT..L 
the 
application 
of 
chemical 
fertilizers, 
soil 
amendments, conditioners and pesticides..L and the employment 
and use of labor. 
C. 
"Farm product" means those plants and animals useful to 
humans and includes, but is not limited to forages and sod 
crops, grains and food crops, dairy products, poultry and 
poultry products, bees, livestock and livestock products and 
fruits, 
berries, 
vegetables, 
flowers, 
seeds, 
grasses 
and 
other similar products. 
D. 
"Agricultural 
composting" 
means 
the 
controlled 
decomposition of organic materials 
to produce 
a 
product 
beneficial to plant growth and sui table for agronomic use. 
"Agricultural 
composting" 
is 
limited 
to 
operations 
that 
produce compost with materials generated on a 
farm as 
a 
primary ingredient and operations that produce compost on a 
farm for use on that farm. 
"Agricultural composting" does 
not 
include 
operations 
that 
use 
municipal 
solid waste, 
municipal sludge, septage or pulp and paper mill sludge. 
Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §1043, sub-§l, 1[A, as amended by PL 1979, c. 
515, §1-A, is further amended to read: 
A. 
On 
includes 
and 
any 
after January 
1, 
service performed: 
1978, 
"agricultural 
labor" 
(1) 
On 
a 
farm, 
in the 
employ of 
any 
person, 
ln 
connection with cultivating the soil or in connection 
with 
raising 
or 
harvesting 
any 
agricultural, 
.12 
l!) 
aquaculturalT or horticultural commodity, including the 
raising, 
shearing, 
feeding, 
caring for, 
training and 
management of livestock, bees, poultry and fur-bearing 
animals and wildlife; 
(2) 
In the employ of the owner or tenant or other 
operator of a farm, in connection with the operation, 
management, conservation, improvement or maintenance of 
such farm and its tools and equipment, or in salvaging 
timber or clearing land of brush and other debris left 
by a hurricane, if the major part of such service is 
performed on a farm; 
(3) 
In connection with the production or harvesting of 
any commodity defined as an agricultural commodity in 
section 15(g) 
of the Agricultural Marketing Act, 
as 
amended, 
U.S.C. 
1141J, 
or in connection with the 
ginning 
of 
cotton, 
or 
agricultural 
composting 
as 
defined in Title 17, section 2805 or in connection with 
the 
operation 
or 
maintenance 
of 
ditches, 
canals, 
reservoirs 
or 
waterways, 
not 
owned or operated for 
profit, 
used 
exclusively 
for 
supplying 
and 
storing 
water for farming purposes; 
(4) 
In the 
employ of 
the operator of 
a 
farm, 
in 
handling, 
planting, 
drying, 
packing, 
packaging, 
processing, freezing, grading, storing or delivering to 
storage or to market or to a carrier for transportation 
to 
market, 
in 
its 
unmanufactured 
state, 
any 
agricultural or horticultural commodity; but only if 
such operator produced more than 1/2 of the commodity 
with respect to which such service is performed; in the 
employ 
of 
a 
group 
of 
operators 
of 
farms, 
or 
a 
cooperative organization of which such operators are 
members, 
in the performance of service described 1n 
this subparagraph, but only if such operators produced 
more than 112 of the commodity with respect to which 
such 
service is performed. 
The 
provisions 
of this 
subparagraph sfia±± 
QQ not 
ge--£l.e..e.me.d--~e--b€---aflfl±iea9±e 
~lJr with respect to service performed in connection 
wi th commercial canning or commercial freezing or in 
connection 
wi th 
any 
agr icul tural 
or 
horticultural 
commodity after its delivery to a terminal market for 
consumption; 
hatching 
or 
processing 
of 
poultry, 
transportation of poultry; grading of eggs or packing 
of eggs, transportation of eggs; the processing of any 
meat product or the transportation of any meat product; 
or 
to 
any 
potato 
packing 
business 
wfiiefi 
~h9t 
customarily 
operates 
during 
a 
regularly 
recurring 
period of at least 140 working days in a calendar year; 
or 
(5) 
On a farm operated for profit if such service is 
not in the course of the employer's trade or business. 
Sec. 3. 36 MRSA §2013, sub-§l. 1[A, as amended by PL 1993, c. 
151, §l, is further amended to read: 
A. 
"Commercial agricultural production" 
means 
commercial 
production 
of 
crops 
for 
human 
and 
animal 
consumption, 
including the 
commercial production of 
sod, 
agricultural 
composting 
as 
defined 
in Title 
17, 
section 
2805, 
the 
commercial production of seed to be used primarily to raise 
crops for nourishment of humans or animals and production of 
livestock. 
Sec. 4. 
Retroactivity. 
This 
Act 
applies 
retroactively 
to 
January 1, 
1994. 
Notwithstanding the 36-month limitations on 
applications for refunds under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 
36, 
section 2013, 
subsection 1, 
the State Tax Assessor shall 
refund taxes paid when a person produces the evidence required 
under Title 36, section 2013, subsection 2 for eligible purchases 
relating to agricultural composting made on or after January 1, 
1994. 
An employer who, after January 1, 1994, has paid into the 
Unemployment 
Compensation 
Fund 
for 
workers 
engaged 
in 
agricultural composting is entitled to reimbursement for payments 
paid into the fund less the amount paid out of the fund for any 
claims against that employer by workers engaged in agr icul tural 
composting. 
The Commissioner of Labor shall develop a process by 
which a person can apply for and receive reimbursement under this 
section. 
SUMMARY 
This bill enacts a definition of "agricultural composting." 
It clarifies that agricultural composting operations qualify for 
certain sales tax exemptions. 
It also specifically includes work 
in connection with "agricultural composting" in the definition of 
"agricultural labor" as that term is used in Maine's unemployment 
compensation statutes.