An Act To Establish a Disaster Relief Fund for Potato Farmers Adversely Affected by Drought Conditions
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1998
Committee Amendment CA_B_S505 (Senate)

COMMITTEE AMENDI'vIBNT" 5,, to S.P. 717, L.D. 1998, "An Act To Establish a 
Disaster Relief Fund for Potato Farmers Adversely Affected by Drought Conditions" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Establish a Fund for Farmers Adversely Affected by Drought Conditions' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. 7 MRSA c. 8-A, sub-c. 4 is enacted to read: 
SUBCHAPTER4 
FARMERSDROUGHTRELIEFGRANTPROGRAM 
§220-A. Farmers Drought Relief Grant Program 
1. Grant program established. The Farmers Drought Relief Grant Program, referred 
to in this section as "the program," is established in the department to assist farmers in the 
State to overcome the adverse effects of drought conditions by providing grants in 
accordance with this section. 
2. Eligibility. A farmer in the State may apply for a grant under the program if the 
farmer needs to establish a source for irrigation water or needs funding to adopt healthy 
soils best practices as defined in Title 12, section 351, subsection 5 to alleviate the risk of 
crop losses due to current or future threat of drought. The source for irrigation water must 
be sustainable, environmentally sound and affordable. 
3. Farmers Drought Relief Grant Program Fund. The Farmers Drought Relief 
Grant Program Fund is established as a nonlapsing fund to provide funding to achieve the 
purposes of the program. The fund consists of any funds received from private and public 
sources. The fund must be held separate and apart from all other money, funds and 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
.,-,,0(2,2 
• 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" t)" to S.P. 717, L.D. 1998 ( ~ ·S-,1 
accounts. Any balance remaining in the fund at the end of any fiscal year must be carried 
forward to the next fiscal year . 
4. Rules. The department shall adopt rules to implement the program. The rules must 
include grant eligibility requirements, grant application and award procedures and grant 
funding limits. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as 
defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 2. Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to examine 
ways to streamline permitting new sources of water for farmers. The Department 
of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Agriculture, Food and Rural 
Resources shall work with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine 
Land Use Planning Commission and other appropriate agencies to examine the permitting 
process for farmers seeking to secure permits for new sources of water for irrigation and to 
develop recommendations, including suggested legislation, to streamline the permitting 
process. No later than January 1, 2023, the department shall submit a report with findings 
and recommendations to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction 
over agriculture, conservation and forestry matters. The joint standing committee may 
submit a bill to the First Regular Session of the 131 st Legislature relating to the subject 
matter of the report. 
Sec. 3. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY, DEPARTMENT OF 
Bureau of Agriculture 0393 
Initiative: Provides one-time funding for contractual services to complete rulemaking, 
coordinate with other state agencies to develop strategies to streamline the irrigation 
permitting process and report back on findings. 
GENERAL FUND 
All Other 
GENERAL FUND TOTAL 
Farmers Drought Relief Grant Program Fund N947 
2021-22 
$0 
$0 
2022-23 
$75,000 
$75,000 
Initiative: Provides allocations to establish the fund and to allow for acceptance of funding 
from private and public sources. 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
All Other 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOT AL 
AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND 
FORESTRY, DEPARTMENT OF 
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 
GENERAL FUND 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
2021-22 
$0 
$0 
2021-22 
$0 
$0 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
2022-23 
$500 
$500 
2022-23 
$75,000 
$500 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" t)" to S.P. 717, L.D. 199&(S-sos) 
DEPARTMENT TOTAL-ALL FUNDS 
$0 
$75,500 
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 of the committee, establishes the 
Farmers Drought Relief Grant Program to assist farmers in the State to overcome the 
adverse effects of drought conditions by providing grants, rather than a disaster relief grant 
program for potato farmers as in the bill. The amendment specifies that a farmer may apply 
for a grant if the farmer needs to establish a source for irrigation water or adopt healthy 
soils best practices to alleviate the risk of crop losses due to current or future threat of 
drought. 
The amendment also directs the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, 
Bureau of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources to work with the Department of 
Environmental Protection and the Maine Land Use Planning Commission and other 
appropriate agencies to examine the permitting process for farmers seeking to secure 
permits for new sources of water for irrigation and to develop recommendations, including 
suggested legislation, to streamline the permitting process. The department is required to 
submit a report with findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over agriculture, conservation and forestry matters no later 
than January 1, 2023. The joint standing committee is authorized to submit a bill to the 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 03/24/22 ,;:k:Tae 
LD 1998 
LR 2160(03) 
An Act To Establish a Disaster Relief Fund for Potato Farmers Adversely Affected by Drought 
Conditions 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment ';,:t (S-SCS~ 
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry 
Net Cost (Savings) 
General Fund 
Appropriations/ Allocations 
General Fund 
Other Special Revenue Funds 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
FY 2021-22 
$0 
$0 
$0 
FY 2022-23 
$75,000 
$75,000 
$500 
Projections 
FY 2023-24 
$0 
$0 
$500 
Projections 
FY 2024-25 
$0 
$0 
$500 
This bill creates the Farmers Drought Relief Grant Program and the Farmers Drought Relief Grant Program Fund 
(FDRGP) within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to provide grants to farmers impacted by 
the adverse effects of drought conditions or to farmers seeking to establish sources of irrigation water to alleviate 
drought conditions. The bill also directs ACF to coordinate with the Land Use Planning Commission and the 
Department of Environmental Protection on strategies to streamline the irrigation permitting process and report these 
findings by January 1, 2023. The bill includes ongoing allocations of $500 to establish the FDRGP fund and allow for 
the acceptance of other funding from public and private sources. ACF has indicated that the scope and timeline of the 
reporting requirements regarding the irrigation permitting process will require additional contracted resources to 
complete. The bill includes a one-time appropriation of $75,000 in fiscal year 2022-23 for contracted services. 
LR2160(03) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1