An Act To Improve the Control and Prevention of Invasive Plant Infestations
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0153
Committee: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Sponsors: EBERLE, COURTNEY, BRYANT, CEBRA, FLOOD, JACKSON, KOFFMAN, NASS
Amends: 12 MRSA §13056, 12 MRSA §13058

Legislative Document 
No. 153 
H.P.135 
House of Representatives, January 12, 2007 
An Act To Improve the Control and Prevention of Invasive Plant 
Infestations 
Submitted by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative EBERLE of South Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator COURTNEY of York and 
7J'l~ 1J1. 7i!P£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BRYANT of Windham, CEBRA of Naples, FLOOD of Winthrop, JACKSON 
of Allagash, KOFFMAN of Bar Harbor, Senator: NASS of York. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 12 MRS A §10206, sub-§3, ~C, as amended by PL 2005, c. 12, Pt. III, §2, 
is further amended to read: 
C. 
All revenues collected under the provisions of this Part relating to watercraft, 
including chapter 935, including fines, fees and other available money deposited with 
the Treasurer of State, must be distributed as undedicated revenue to the General 
Fund and the Department of Marine Resources according to an allocation rate that 
directly relates to the administrative costs of the Division of Licensing and 
Registration. Three dollars of each motorized watercraft registration is dedicated to 
the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and is not subject to the split with 
another agency as required under this paragraph. The Legislature shall appropriate to 
the department in each fiscal year an amount equal to the administrative costs 
incurred by the department in collecting revenue under this subsection. Those costs 
must be verified by the Department of Marine Resources and the Department of 
Administrative and Financial Services. The allocation rate must also allow for any 
necessary year-end reconciliation and accounting distribution. The allocation rate 
must be jointly agreed to by the department and the Department of Marine Resources 
and approved by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of 
the Budget. 
The fees outlined in section 13056, subsection 8, paragraphs A and B for watercraft 
operating on inland waters of the State each include a $10 fee for invasive species 
prevention and control. This fee is disposed of as follows: 
(1) Sixty percent of the fee must be credited to the Invasive Aquatic Plant and 
Nuisance Species Fund established within the Department of Environmental 
Protection under Title 38, section 1863; and 
(2) Forty percent of the fee must be credited to the Lake and River Protection 
Fund established within the department under section 10257. 
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §13056, sub-§8, ~A, as amended by PL 2005, c. 12, Pt. III, 
§38, is further amended to read: 
A. 
For a watercraft requiring or whose owner requests a certificate of number and 
that is equipped with a motor having a manufacturer's horsepower rating of: 
(1) Ten horsepower or less, the fee is $20 for operating on inland waters of the 
State and $10 for operating only on tidal waters of the State; 
(2) 
Greater than 10, but not more than 50 horsepower, the fee is $25 for 
operating on inland waters of the State and $15 for operating only on tidal waters 
of the State; and 
(3) Greater than 50 horsepower but not more than 115 horsepower, the fee is 
$31 for operating on inland waters of the State and $21 for operating only on 
tidal waters of the State. 
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §13056, sub-§8, ~, as amended by PL 2005, c. 12, Pt. III, 
§38, is further amended to read: 
B. 
For a personal watercraft requiring or whose owner requests a certificate of 
number and watercraft equipped with a motor having a manufacturer's horsepower 
rating of 115 horsepower or greater, the fee is $39 for operating on inland waters of 
the State and $29 for operating only on tidal waters of the State. 
Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §13058, sub-§l, as amended by PL 2005, c. 477, §25, is 
further amended to read: 
1. 
Prohibition. 
A person exempt from the certificate of number requirement 
pursuant to section 13056, subsection 2, paragraph B may not place or operate a 
motorboat or personal watercraft on the inland waters of the State unless a valid lake and 
river protection sticker issued annually under subsection 3 is permanently affixed to each 
side of the bow above the water line and approximately 3 inches behind the validation 
sticker required under section 13056. This sticker is nontransferable. 
Sec. 5. 12 MRSA §13058, sub-§3, as affected by PL 2003, c. 614, §9 and 
amended by c. 655, Pt. B, §364 and affected by §422, is further amended to read: 
3. Lake and river protection sticker; fee. No later than January 1st of each year, 
the commissioner shall provide each agent authorized to register watercraft or issue 
licenses with a sufficient quantity of lake and river protection stickers for motorboats and 
personal watercraft not registered in the State for that boating season. The sticker must 
be in 2 parts so that one part of the sticker can be affixed to each side of the bow of a 
motorboat or personal watercraft not registered in the State. The fee for a sticker is $20 
for a motorboat or personal watercraft not registered in the State and ~ I 0 for a meteraeat 
er persenal v/atercraft registered in the State. Each agent shall retain $1 for each sticker 
sold by that agent for which a fee is required. A motorboat or a personal watercraft 
owned by the Federal Government, a state government or a municipality is exempt from 
the fee established in this subsection. 
SUMMARY 
This bill incorporates the existing lake and river protection sticker fee for Maine 
registered boats, $10, with the watercraft registration fee. This eliminates the need for 
producing and administering a lake and river protection sticker for Maine-registered 
watercraft. It revises the watercraft registration fee structure to include the $10 lake and 
river protection fee for watercraft operating on inland waters of the State. It revises the 
existing lake and river protection sticker requirement to require that only watercraft 
registered outside Maine display a current lake and river protection sticker.