An Act To Stimulate the Maine Economy and Promote the· Development of Maine's Priority Transportation Infrastructure Needs
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1639
Committee: Transportation
Sponsors: MacDONALD, DAMON, BEAUDETTE, BLODGETT, BUTTERFIELD, CAREY, CONNOR, CROCKETT, FITTS, KENT, LOVEJOY, MARTIN, O'BRIEN, PINGREE, STRANG BURGESS, THOMAS, WEAVER, GOODALL

Legislative Document 
No. 1639 
H.P. 1.167 
House' of Representatives, December 23,2009 
An Act To Stimulate the Maine Economy and Promote the· 
Development of Maine's Priority Transportation Infrastructure 
Needs 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 21,2009. Referred to the Committee on 
Transportation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered plinted pursuant to Joint Rule 401. 
Presented by Representative MacDONALD of Boothbay. 
Cosponsored by Senator DAMON of Hancock and 
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1/1. mlLC~{ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BEAUDETTE of Biddeford, BLODGETT of Augusta, BUTTERFIELD of 
Bangof-, CAREY of Lewiston, CONNOR of Kennebunk, CROCKETT of Augusta, FITTS of 
Pittsfield, KENT of Woolwich, LOVEJOY of Portland, MARTIN of Eagle Lake, O'BRIEN of 
Lincolnville, Speaker PINGREE of North Haven, STRANG BURGESS of Cumberland, 
THOMAS of Ripley, WEAVER of York, Senator: GOODALL of Sagadahoc. 
PrirHct..I on rccyclet..l paper 
Be it enacted by the People ofthe State of Maine as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Department of Transportation; receive, solicit proposals. 
The 
Department of Transportation, referred to in this Act as "the department," may receive or 
solicit proposals and may, with the approval of the Legislature, enter into an agreement 
with a private entity for the 'building, operation, ownership, leasing or financing of any 
transportation facilities as prioritized by Public Law 2007, chapter 470, Part B, section 2. 
Sec. 2. Rules. The department shall by routine technical rule pursuant to the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A establish an application fee for the 
submission of an unsolicited proposal from a private entity for a project set forth in 
Public Law 2007, chapter 470, Part B, section 2. The fee must be sufficient to pay the 
costs .of evaluating the proposal. The department may engage the services of private 
consultants to assist in the evaluation. Before approval, the department must getermine 
that the proposed project: 
1. Is in the public's best interest; 
2. Would not require state funds to be used; 
3. Would have adequate safeguards in place to ensure that no significant additional 
costs or service disruptions would be realized by the traveling public and residents of the 
State in the event of contractor default or cancellation of the agreement; 
4. Would have adequate safeguards in place to ensure that the department or the 
private entity has the opportunity to add capacity to the proposed project and other .. 
transportation facilities serving similar origins and destinations; and 
5. 
Would be owned or controlled in a manner set forth in the contract and 
satisfactory to the department. 
Sec. 3. Cost borne by private entity. The department shall ensure that all 
reasonable costs to the State related to transportation facilities are borne by the private 
entity under section 1. The department shal1 also ensure that all reasonable costs to the 
State and substantial1y affected local governments arid utilities related to the private 
transportation facility are borne by the private entity or as otherwise provided for by law 
for transportation facilities that are owned by the private entity. 
Sec. 4. Tolls; fares. Agreements entered into pur~uant to section 1 may authorize 
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the private entity to impose tol1s or fares for the use of the facility. 
The fol1owing 
provisions apply to such agreements: 
. 1. The agreement must ensure that the transportation facility is properly operated, 
maintained and renewed in accordance with department standards; 
2. The agreement must ensure that a toll facility is properly operated, maintained and 
renewed in accordance with department standards; 
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3. The rules governing the future increase of toll or fare revenues must be included in 
. the agreement; 
4. The department may require provisions in the agreement that ensure a negotiated 
portion of revenues from toll-generating or fare-generating projects are returned to the 
department over the life of the agreement; and 
5. The private entity shall provide a traffic and revenue study prepared bya traffic 
and revenue expert that is accepted by the department and national bond rating agencies. 
The private entity shall also provide a finance plan consistent with the traffic and revenue 
study that identifies the project cost, revenues by source, financing, major assumptions, 
internal rate of return on private investments and whether any government funds are 
assumed to deliver a cost-feasible project imd a total cash flow analysis beginning with 
implementation of the project and extending for the term of the agreement. 
Sec. 5. Compliance with laws. Each private transportation facility constructed 
pursuant to this Act must comply with all requirements of applicable federal, state and 
local laws and department rules, policies, procedures and standards for transportation 
facilities. 
Sec. 6. Exercise of powers. The department may exercise any power provided by 
law, including eminent domain, with respect to the development and construction of state 
transportation projects to facilitate the development and construction of transportation 
projects pursuant to this Act. The department may provide services to the private entity. 
Agreements for maintenance, law enforcement and other services entered into pursuant to 
this Act must provide for full reimbursement by the private entity for services rendered 
by any agency of the State. 
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Sec. 7. Public-private partnership. The department shall by routine technical 
rule pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A 
establish procurement provisions that are consistent with this section. 
1. The department may request proposals from private entities for a public-private 
partnership for a transportation facility set forth in Public Law 2007, chapter 470, Part B, 
section 2 or, if the department receives an unsolicited proposal, the department shall 
publish a notice on the department's publicly accessible website or through 
advertisements in newspapers.. If such a notice is published exclusively in newspapers, 
the notice must appear in 2 or more public newspapers circulated wholly or in part in the 
State and in one public newspaper circulated wholly or in part in the county where the 
proposed work is to be done if any such newspaper is circulated in that county, stating 
that the department has received the proposal and accepts, for 120 days after the initial 
date of publication, other proposals for the same project. A copy of the notice must be 
mailed to each local government in the affected area. 
2. Public-private partnerships must be qualified by the department as part of the 
procurement process as outlined in the procurement documents. The process must ensure 
that the private firm meets at least the minimum department standards for qualification in 
, department rule for professional engineering services and contracting. 
3. The department shall ensure that procurement documents include provisions for 
performance of the private entity and payment of subcontractors,. including, but not 
limited to, surety bonds, letters of credit, parent company guarantees and lender and 
equity partner guarantees. 
4. After the proposal or proposals have been received, and any public notification 
period has expired, the department shall rank the proposals in order of preference. In 
ranking the proposals~ the department may consider factors that include, but are not 
limited to, professional qualifications, general business terms, innovative engineering or 
cost-reduction terms, finance plans and the need for state funds to deliver the project. If 
the department is not" satisfied with the resuits of the negotiations, the department may, at 
its sole discretion, terminate negotiations with the proposer. If these negotiations are 
unsuccessful, the department may go to the 2nd-ranked and lower-ranked firms, in order, 
using this same procedure. If only one ,proposal isreceived, the department may negotiate 
in good faith and, if the department is not satisfied with the results of the negotiations, the 
department may, at its sole discretion, terminate negotiations with the proposer. 
5. The department shall undertake an independent analysis of the proposed public-
private partnership that demonstrates the cost-effectiveness and overall public benefit at 
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the following ti,mes: 
A. Prior to moving forward with the prQcurement; an~ 
B. If the procurement moves forward, prior to awarding the contract. 
Sec. 8. Summary of projects. The department shall provide to the joint standing 
. committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over transportation matters a summary 
of proposed, rejected or approved public-private pal1nership projects each year. This 
summary must include identification of planned funding, including discussion of the 
planned use of future funds to deliver the project. 
Sec. 9. Term of agreemel!llt. Public-private pal1nership agreements under this Act 
are limited to a term not exceeding 50 years, Upon making written findings that an 
agreement under this Act requires a term in exces.s of 50 years, the Commissioner of 
Transportation may authorize a term of up to 75 years. Agreeinents under this Act may 
not have a term in excess of75 years unless specifically approved by the Legislature. 
SUMMARY 
The purpose of this bill is to stimulate the Maine economy by allowing the 
Department of Transportation to receive and solicit proposals and enter into agreements 
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with private entities for the building, ownership, leasing or financing of· certain 
transportation projects set forth in Publi<;: Law 2007, chapter 470. 
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