An Act Regarding the Transportation of Products in the Forest Products Industry
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0188
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: JACKSON, FECTEAU, MARTIN, MATLACK, TERRY
Amends: 10 MRSA §2364-B, 36 MRSA §574-D

Legislative Document
No. 188
S.P. 76
In Senate, January 27, 2021
An Act Regarding the Transportation of Products in the Forest 
Products Industry
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on January 25, 2021.  Referred to the Committee 
on Taxation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by President JACKSON of Aroostook.
Cosponsored by Speaker FECTEAU of Biddeford and
Representatives: MARTIN of Eagle Lake, MARTIN of Sinclair, MATLACK of St. George, 
McCREA of Fort Fairfield, TERRY of Gorham.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  10 MRSA §2364-B, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 454, §1 and amended 
by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §§5 and 7 and PL 2013, c. 405, Pt. A, §23, is further amended 
to read:
6.  Presentation of trip ticket to forest ranger.  Upon request, a truck driver or an 
owner or manager of any log yard or mill site shall present a copy of the trip ticket to a 
forest ranger in any log yard or mill site. Upon request, a wood scaler shall present the 
record of measurement including a copy of the trip ticket or information contained on the 
trip ticket to a forest ranger. A forest ranger may request and use this information for the 
purpose of enforcing and investigating alleged violations of Title 12, section 8883; Title 
14, section 7552; and Title 17, section 2510.  For purposes of this subsection, "forest 
ranger" means a person employed by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and 
Forestry, Bureau of Forestry under Title 12, section 8901.  A truck driver, an owner or 
manager of any log yard or mill site or a wood scaler who fails to comply with the 
provisions of this subsection is subject to the penalties provided in section 2368.
Sec. 2.  10 MRSA §2364-B, sub-§7 is enacted to read:
7.  Prohibition on intrastate transport of forest products.  A landowner who owns 
50,000 or more acres of forest land in the State may not allow the transportation of forest 
products harvested on that landowner's land from a location in the State to another location 
in the State in violation of federal law or regulation or an international trade agreement that 
prohibits the transportation of goods from a location in the United States to another location 
in the United States.  An employee charged with enforcing the provisions of this subchapter 
shall forward all trip tickets evidencing a violation of this subsection to the State Tax 
Assessor for the purposes of enforcing Title 36, section 574-D.
Sec. 3.  36 MRSA §574-D is enacted to read:
§574-D.  Intrastate transportation of forest products
If a landowner owns 50,000 or more acres of forest land in the State and allows the 
transportation of forest products harvested on that landowner's land from a location in the 
State to another location in the State in violation of federal law or regulation or an 
international trade agreement that prohibits the transportation of goods from a location in 
the United States to another location in the United States after 2 violations of Title 10, 
section 2364-B, subsection 7, all land of that landowner must be considered ineligible for 
classification under this subchapter and must be withdrawn pursuant to section 581.
A landowner whose land is withdrawn from classification under this section is not 
eligible for a property tax exemption under subchapter 4-C, reimbursement under chapter 
or any income tax credit under chapter 822 and may not receive any state-awarded 
grant or other state funding.
SUMMARY
This bill requires that owners and managers of log yards and mill sites present a copy 
of a trip ticket to a forest ranger in the log yard or mill site upon request.  The bill adds a 
requirement related to the transportation of forest products by providing that a landowner 
of 50,000 or more acres of forest land in the State may not allow the transportation of forest 
products harvested on the landowner's land from a location in the State to another location 
in the State in violation of federal law or regulation or an international trade agreement that 
prohibits the transportation of goods from a location in the United States to another location 
in the United States.  The bill also provides that a landowner with 2 prior violations of the 
new transportation requirement is ineligible for classification of the landowner's land under 
the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law and the landowner may not receive certain tax incentives 
or state grants or other state funding.