An Act To Generate Savings by Changing Public Notice Requirements
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1271
Committee: State and Local Govenunent
Sponsors: HAYES
Amends: 5 MRSA §8053, 5 MRSA §8056

FIRST F..E~ULAR SE~~I()N-2009 
Legislative Document 
No. 1271 
H.P.890 
House of Representatives, March 31, 
An Act To Generate Savings by Changing Public Notice 
Requirements 
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Govenunent suggested' and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative HAYES of Buckfield. 
Cosponsored by. Senator SCHNEIDER of Penobscot and 
Representative,: JOY of Crystal. 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
F"":l-:".1 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §8053, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2007, c. 181, §§2 to4, is 
further amended to read: 
3. Contents of notice. The notice shall Except for notices governed by subsections 5 
and 7, a notice under this section must: 
A.. Refer to the statutory authority under which the adoption of the rule is proposed; 
B. 
State the time and place of any scheduled public hearing or state the manner in 
which a hearing may be requested; 
C. 
State the manner and time within which data, views or arguments may be 
submitted to the agency for consideration, whether or not a hearing is held; 
C-l. State the name, address and phone number of the staff person responsible for 
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providing additional information or a printed version of the proposed rule; . 
D. 
If possible, contain the express terms of the proposed rule or otherwise describe 
the substance of the proposed rule, stating the subjects and issues involyed and 
indicate where a copy of the proposed rule may be obtained; 
E. 
Refer to the substantive state or federal law to be implemented by the rules; and 
. 
. F. Indicate where a copy of the statement of impact on small business pursuant to 
section 8052, subsection 5-A may be obtained. 
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §8053, sub-§5, as amended by PL 1991, c. 837, Pt. A, §11, is 
further amended to read: 
5. 
Publication. The Using the. format of notice pursuant to subsection 7, the 
Secretary of State shall: 
. 
A. 
Arrange for the weekly publication of a consolidated notice of rule maldng of all 
state agencies, which shall also include a brief explanation to assist the public in 
participating in the rule-maldng process. Notice of each rule-maldng proceeding 
shall be published once 17 to 24 days prior to the public hearing on the prop·osed rule 
or at least 30 days prior to the last date on which views and arguments may be 
submitted to the agency for consideration ifno public hearing is scheduled; 
B. 
Designate certain newspapers, which together have general circulation 
throughout the State, as papers of record for the purpose of publishing notice under 
paragraph A. Notice of proposed rules affecting only a particular locality or region 
need only be published in the designated newspapers having general circulation in the 
area affected7~ 
C. 
Designate one day as rules day for publication of notices on rulemaldng as set 
forth in this subsection; and 
D. 
Be reimbursed for the.cost of publication of rule-maldng notice by the agencies 
proposing the rulemaldng. The total costs of each consolidated publication will be 
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prorated by the Secretary of State among all agencies sUbmitting notice for a 
particular week. 
. 
Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §8053, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 581, §3, is amended to 
read: 
6. 
Electronic publication. 
In addition to the printed publication required in 
subsection 5, the Secretary of State shall maintain a publicly accessible website for 
posting the notices of all proposed and adopted rules. The notice must include a brief 
eJ(planation of the proposed or adopted rule and an· e mail link to the agency liaison. 
Departments and agencies shall either post proposed and adopted rules in their 
jurisdictions on publicly accessible agency websites or link to the rules posted on the 
Secretary of State's vlebsite. The contents of the notice for electronic pUblication are 
pursuant to subsection 3. Notice of each rule-making proceeding must be published on 
the Secretary of State's website 17 to 24 days prior to the publiC hearing on the proposed 
rule or at least 30 days prior to the last date on which views and arguments may be 
submitted to the agency for consideration if no public hearing was scheduled. 
Sec. 4. 5 MRSA §8053, sub-§7 is enacted to read: 
7. Contents of notice for newspaper publication. The notice for publication in the 
newspaper under subsection 5 is shorter than the notice provided for all other purposes 
pursuant to subsection 3. The notice for newspaper pUblication must: 
A. State the time and place of any scheduled public hearing or state the manner in 
which a hearing may be requested; 
B. 
State the manner and time within which data, views or arguments may be 
submitted to the agency for consideration, whether or not a hearing is held; 
C. State the name, address and phone number of the staff person responsible for 
providing additional information or a printed version of the proposed rule; 
D. Include a brief and general summary of the substance of the proposed rule; 
E. Provide the website address where the long notice pursuant to subsection 3 is 
posted; 
F. Indicate where a copy of the statement of impact on small business pursuant to 
section 8052, subsection 5-A may be obtained; and 
G. 
Indicate the impact on municipalities or counties only if there is an expected 
financial impact on municipalities identified under section 8063. 
Sec. 5. 5 MRSA §8056, sub-§l-A is enacted to read: 
I-A. Newspaper publication. With respect to every rule adopted, the agency itself 
may publish a notice in the newspaper. That notice must include the information outlined 
in section 8053, subsection 7, paragraphs C, D, F and G. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires the Secretary of State to maintain a publicly accessible website for 
the posting of notices of all proposed and adopted rules. The bill also changes the 
requirements for public notice of proposed rules in the newspaper with the intention of 
making the notices shorter. It removes from the newspaper notice the requirement to 
refer to the statutory or federal authority for the rule and replaces the requirement for the 
express tenus of the proposed rule with a general statement on the substance. The notices 
posted on .the publicly accessible website must meet the original requirements for the 
notice. 
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