An Act To Provide for Special Fees for Certain Aquaculture Lease Applications and To Amend Other Provisions in the Laws Governing Aquaculture Leases
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1844
Committee: Marine Resources
Sponsors: McCREIGHT
Amends: 12 MRSA §6072, 12 MRSA §6072-A, 12 MRSA §6072-B, 12 MRSA §6085

Legislative Document
No. 1844
H.P. 1365
House of Representatives, December 22, 2021
An Act To Provide for Special Fees for Certain Aquaculture Lease 
Applications and To Amend Other Provisions in the Laws 
Governing Aquaculture Leases
Submitted by the Department of Marine Resources pursuant to Joint Rule 203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 20, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Marine Resources pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative McCREIGHT of Harpswell.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §6072, sub-§4, ¶J, as amended by PL 2003, c. 660, Pt. A, §4, is 
further amended to read:
J.  Include Except as provided in subsection 4-B, include a nonrefundable application 
fee of at least $100, but not more than $2,000, the amount to be set by the commissioner 
depending on the proposed acreage, type of aquaculture proposed and complexity of 
the application.
Sec. 2.  12 MRSA §6072, sub-§4-B is enacted to read:
4-B.  Special fees.  If the commissioner determines that a particular application, by 
virtue of its size, uniqueness, complexity or other relevant factors, is likely to result in 
significantly greater cost to the department to process than can be offset by the fee 
established under subsection 4, the commissioner may designate that application as subject 
to special fees.  The commissioner shall make such a designation at, or prior to, the time 
the department determines the application is complete and may not base such a designation 
solely on the likelihood of extensive public controversy.  The maximum fee for processing 
an application that is subject to special fees may not exceed $250,000.  All staff of the 
department, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of 
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the Department of Environmental Protection 
who have worked on the review of the application, including, but not limited to, 
preapplication consultations, shall submit quarterly reports to the commissioner detailing 
the time spent on the application and all expenses attributable to the application, including 
the costs of any appeals filed by the applicant and, after taking into consideration the 
interests of fairness and equity, any other appeals if the commissioner finds it in the public 
interest to do so.  Any appeal filed by the applicant of an application fee must be to the 
agency of jurisdiction of the application.  The processing fee for the application must be 
the actual cost to the department, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the 
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the Department of 
Environmental Protection.  The commissioner shall distribute the processing fee to each 
department that incurs a cost to be deposited in the account in which the expenses were 
incurred in that department to reimburse the actual cost to that department.  The 
commissioner shall bill the applicant quarterly, and the applicant shall pay all fees before 
the lease may be issued.
Sec. 3.  12 MRSA §6072-A, sub-§14-A is enacted to read:
14-A.  Special fees.  If the commissioner determines that a particular application, by 
virtue of its size, uniqueness, complexity or other relevant factors, is likely to result in 
significantly greater cost to the department to process than can be offset by the fee 
established under subsection 14, the commissioner may designate that application as 
subject to special fees.  The commissioner shall make such a designation at, or prior to, the 
time the department determines the application is complete and may not base such a 
designation solely on the likelihood of extensive public controversy.  The maximum fee 
for processing an application that is subject to special fees may not exceed $250,000.  All 
staff of the department, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department 
of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the Department of Environmental Protection 
who have worked on the review of the application, including, but not limited to, 
preapplication consultations, shall submit quarterly reports to the commissioner detailing 
the time spent on the application and all expenses attributable to the application, including 
the costs of any appeals filed by the applicant and, after taking into consideration the 
interests of fairness and equity, any other appeals if the commissioner finds it in the public 
interest to do so.  Any appeal filed by the applicant of an application fee must be to the 
agency of jurisdiction of the application.  The processing fee for the application must be 
the actual cost to the department, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the 
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the Department of 
Environmental Protection.  The commissioner shall distribute the processing fee to each 
department that incurs a cost to be deposited in the account in which the expenses were 
incurred in that department to reimburse the actual cost to that department.  The 
commissioner shall bill the applicant quarterly and the applicant shall pay all fees before 
the lease may be issued.
Sec. 4.  12 MRSA §6072-B, sub-§2, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 231, §6, is 
amended to read:
A.  The applicant holds a lease pursuant to section 6072 or 6072-A, except that this 
paragraph does not apply if the department is the applicant;
Sec. 5.  12 MRSA §6085, sub-§8 is enacted to read:
8.  License expiration.  Notwithstanding section 6301, subsection 2, the commissioner 
may issue a license under this section for more than one calendar year.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the Department of Marine Resources to designate certain research 
and aquaculture lease applications as subject to special fees based on the size, uniqueness 
or complexity of the application.  It also authorizes the department to hold an emergency 
aquaculture lease for shellfish without having to also hold a lease issued under the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 6072 or 6072-A. It also authorizes the Commissioner of 
Marine Resources to issue a marine organism aquaculture license for more than one 
calendar year.