An Act To Expand the Membership of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0145
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: ALLEY, MIRAMANT, COLLINGS, GRIFFIN, JAVNER, TUELL, ZEIGLER, MOORE
Amends: 36 MRSA §4312-C

Legislative Document
No. 145
H.P. 127
House of Representatives, January 17, 2019
An Act To Expand the Membership of the Wild Blueberry 
Commission of Maine
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ALLEY of Beals.
Cosponsored by Senator MIRAMANT of Knox and
Representatives: COLLINGS of Portland, GRIFFIN of Levant, JAVNER of Chester, TUELL 
of East Machias, ZEIGLER of Montville, Senator: MOORE of Washington.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §4312-C, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 511, §21 and 
affected by §25 and amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §6, is further amended to read:
3.  Membership. The commission consists of 8 14 members who are active in and 
representative of the wild blueberry industry, appointed by the Commissioner of 
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.  Three Five members must be grower 
representatives, one member must be a member of a federally recognized Indian nation, 
tribe or band in the State, one member must be an organic grower, one member must be a 
fresh packer, one member must be the leader of a cooperative and one member must be a 
representative of a value-added organization or company.  For the purposes of this 
section, "grower" means a person, firm, partnership, association or corporation engaged 
in the growing of wild blueberries and processing less than 1,000,000 pounds of wild 
blueberries in a calendar year.  Five Four members must be processor representatives who 
process 1,000,000 pounds or more of wild blueberries in a calendar year.
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §4312-C, sub-§4, as repealed and replaced by PL 2011, c. 579, 
§2 and amended by c. 657, Pt. W, §6, is further amended to read:
4.  Term.  Members are appointed to staggered 4-year terms so that the terms of 2 
members expire on August 31st of every year, except that the terms must be staggered to 
the extent possible.  Appointments for terms of less than 4 years may be made in order to 
stagger the terms.  A member may not serve consecutive terms, and there must be a 
minimum of one year between a member's terms.  If the Commissioner of Agriculture, 
Conservation and Forestry fails to make an appointment prior to the expiration of a 
member's term, that member continues to serve until the commissioner makes an 
appointment for the remainder of that term. If a vacancy occurs prior to the expiration of 
a specified term, the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry shall 
appoint an individual to serve only the remainder of that term.
SUMMARY
This bill increases the membership of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine from 
members to 14 members and requires that one member be a member of a federally 
recognized Indian nation, tribe or band in the State, one member be an organic grower, 
one member be a fresh packer, one member be the leader of a cooperative and one 
member be a representative of a value-added organization or company.  The bill also 
increases the number of members who are grower representatives and decreases the 
number of members who are processor representatives who process 1,000,000 pounds or 
more of wild blueberries in a calendar year.  The bill specifies that members may not 
serve consecutive terms.