An Act To Provide Funding to Municipalities Severely Affected by Pest Infestations
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0643
Committee Amendment CA_A_H341 (House)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "/J" to H.P. 464, L.D. 643, Bill, "An Act To 
Provide Funding to Municipalities Severely Affected by Pest Infestations" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 22 MRSA c. 249 is enacted to read: 
CHAPTER249 
MANAGEMENT OF HARMFUL PESTS 
§791. Harmful pest management; identification 
1. Harmful pest identification. The commissioner, in consultation with the State 
Entomologist, shall identify pests, such as insects and arachnids, including, but not 
limited to, browntail moths and ticks, that are prevalent in this State and pose a risk of 
significant harm to human health, referred to in this chapter as "harmful pests." 
2. Harmful pest management. The commissioner, in consultation with the State 
Entomologist, may undertake measures determined appropriate by the commissioner to 
manage harmful pests, including the prevention of breeding of harmful pests. In 
undertaking management of harmful pests pursuant to this section, the commissioner may 
contract with an entity outside the department for these services, but any activities must 
be conducted using a combination of the lowest-risk, most effective, science-based 
management technigues and technology. 
§792. Maine Harmful Pest Management Fund 
1. Fund established. The Maine Hatmful Pest Management Fund, referred to in this 
section as "the fund," is established to carry out the mu;poses of this chapter. The fund 
consists of any money received as contributions, grants or appropriations from private 
and public sources. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" /1" to H.P. 464, L.D. 643 
2. Purposes. The department may expend the money available in the fund to 
municipalities designated by the State Entomologist as being severely infested with 
harmful pests. A municipality may not receive more than $50,000 from the fund. A 
municipality provided funds under this subsection shall use: 
A. Fifty percent of the funding to mitigate infestation of residential properties in the 
municipality where persons with health conditions that can be exacerbated by the 
infestation reside and who are unable to pay for treatment of the infestation; and 
B. Fifty percent of the funding to mitigate infestation of publicly owned properties in 
the municipality. 
3. Administration. The fund, to be accounted for within the Maine Center for 
Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Public Health and Emergency Preparedness, 
must be held separate and apart from all other money, funds and accounts. Any balance 
remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year does not lapse but must be carried 
forward to the next fiscal year. 
§793. Rules 
The department shall adopt routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5. chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A necessary to administer and enforce this chapter. including rules to 
establish the criteria for determining the severity of harmful pests and the threat to public 
health. 
Sec. 2. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
HEAL TH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF 
Maine Harmful Pest Management Fund N236 
Initiative: Provides one-time funding to the Maine Harmful Pest Management Fund 
within the Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control 
and Prevention, Division of Public Health and Emergency Preparedness to be used in 
mitigating infestations of harmful pests, such as browntail moth caterpillars and ticks. 
GENERAL FUND 
All Other 
GENERAL FUND TOTAL 
2019-20 
$500,000 
$500,000 
2020-21 
$0 
$0 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the minority report, requires the Commissioner of Health 
and Human Services instead of the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and 
Forestry, in consultation with the State Entomologist, to identify pests, such as browntail 
moths and ticks, in this State that pose a risk of significant harm to human health, and to 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
'-~. 
-'./-
' 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT'"'" to H.P. 464, L.D. 643 
undertake measures to manage those pests. It also changes the percentage of funds used 
for mitigation of infestation in residential properties to be the same as is used for 
mitigation of infestation in publicly owned properties. 
The amendment also establishes the Maine Harmful Pest Management Fund within 
the Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and 
Prevention, Division of Public Health and Emergency Preparedness to provide funds to 
municipalities severely infested with harmful pests, to be used in mitigating the 
infestations. 
The amendment specifies that a municipality is required to use 50% of the funding, 
rather than 7 5 percent as proposed in the bill, to mitigate infestation of residential 
properties in the municipality where persons with health conditions that can be 
exacerbated by the infestation reside and who are unable to pay for treatment of the 
infestation. The amendment also specifies that a municipality is required to use the other 
50% of the funding, rather than 25% as proposed in the bill, to mitigate infestation of 
publicly owned properties in the municipality. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 05/19/19 ,;:l#ac. 
LD643 
LR395(02) 
An Act To Provide Funding to Municipalities Severely Affected by Pest Infestations 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment ~· { JI-J '/ ~ 
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
FY 2019-20 
FY 2020-21 
Projections 
FY 2021-22 
Projections 
FY 2022-23 
Net Cost (Savings) 
General Fund 
Appropriations/Allocations 
General Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
$500,000 
$0 
$500,000 
$0 
$0 
$0 
$0 
$0 
The bill includes a one-time General Fund appropriation to the Department of Health and Human Services of$500,000 
in fiscal year 2019-20 to the Maine Harmful Pest Management Fund within the Maine Center for Disease Control and 
Prevention, Division of Public Health and Emergency Preparedness to be used by municipalities in mitigating 
infestations of harmful pests, such as browntail moth caterpillars and ticks. Any additional costs to the Department of 
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry as a result of consultations by the State Entomologist regarding harmful pests 
are anticipated to be minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. 
LR0395(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1