Code of Maine Rules › 94 - INDEPENDENT AGENCIES › 655 - INTERAGENCY REVIEW PANEL › Chapter 1 - BYLAWS, ADMINISTRATION, AND THE ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE PROPOSAL AND REVIEW PROCESS › Section 655-1-I - BYLAWS AND ADMINISTRATION

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A.
ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS
The Chair of the Energy Infrastructure Interagency Review
				  Panel (the "Panel") is authorized to carry out all administrative functions of
				  the Panel, including execution of instruments, documents and agreements,
				  appearing in or instituting legal proceedings, managing funds, making
				  determinations pertaining to confidentiality of records, carrying out any
				  resolution of the members or agreement of the Panel and employing experts,
				  officers, agents and other personnel and determining their qualifications,
				  duties and compensation. Compensation of Panel members and Panel consultants
				  will be at the direction of the Panel.
B.
BYLAWS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE
				PANEL
1.
Name
. The name of
				the Panel is the Interagency Review Panel.
2.
Purpose
. The Panel was
				created by the Maine Legislature for the purposes set forth in An Act Regarding
				Energy Infrastructure Development, Chapter 655 of the 2010 Public Laws (the
				"Act").
3.
Members of the
				Panel
. The members of the Panel shall be appointed and compensated and
				shall serve such terms as the Act may specify.
4.
Quorum of and action by the
				members
. If four members are present at the beginning of any meeting,
				then a quorum exists for the transaction of business. If any member(s) departs
				from a meeting at which a quorum was originally present, a quorum continues to
				exist. The affirmative vote of the greater of a majority of those present and
				voting or four members is necessary for any action taken by the members, except
				that (1) in the case of an action to enter into Executive Session, the
				affirmative vote of at least 3/5 of those present and voting is required, and
				(2) in the case of an action to approve the minutes of a prior meeting, the
				affirmative vote of a majority of those present and voting who were present at
				the prior meeting is sufficient. For all actions specific to one or more
				designated statutory corridors, as that term is defined in the Act, the
				Commissioner of Transportation or the Commissioner's designee, the Executive
				Director of the Maine Turnpike Authority or the Executive Director's designee,
				and the Executive Director of the Loring Development Authority or the Executive
				Director's designee, shall be voting members only with respect to actions
				affecting the corridors for which they have designated
				responsibility.
5.
Officers
				of the members
. The Chair of the Panel shall be the Director of the
				Office of Energy Independence and Security (OEIS). The members shall elect from
				among themselves a Vice Chair who shall serve as secretary, and such other
				officers as it may from time to time determine. The Vice Chair or other offices
				other than the Chair shall have a term of one year and shall serve until the
				election of their successors. The Chair shall preside over meetings of the
				members. In the absence or incapacity of the Chair or if for any reason there
				is no Chair, then the Vice Chair shall perform the duties of the Chair. In
				addition, the Vice Chair, as Secretary, shall sign the minutes of all meetings
				of the members, after such minutes have been approved by the members.
6.
Regular meetings
. The members
				will ordinarily meet on the first Monday of each month. The regular meeting
				schedule will be available on the OEIS website. In the absence of business, the
				Chair may cancel a regular monthly meeting by notice to the members.
7.
Special meetings
. Special
				meetings of the members may be called by either the Chair or any three
				members.
8.
Location of
				Meetings
. Meetings shall ordinarily be held in Augusta, unless another
				location is designated by the Chair. The location of the meeting shall be
				included in the public notice of the meeting.
9.
Notice of Meetings
. Any
				meeting held on the first Monday of the month shall be deemed a regular meeting
				for which no advance notice is required other than as required by law. Meetings
				held on any other day shall be deemed special meetings for which notice must be
				delivered to the members at least two (2) business days prior to the date of
				the meeting, by mail, telephone, or e-mail and to the public by posting on the
				OEIS website and by mail, telephone or email to those interested parties who
				have requested notice.
10.
Order of Business
. The Chair shall determine the Order of Business
				of each meeting.
11.
Open
				Meetings
. Except for matters which may be the subject of executive
				session as provided in 1 M.R.S.A. §405, all meetings, public proceedings
				and deliberative sessions of the Commission shall be open to the public. The
				Chair may establish time for public comment and may impose limits on public
				commenters as necessary to promote the effective operation of the
				Panel.
12.
Records
.
				All records of the Panel and its actions shall be kept by the Governor's Office
				of Energy Independence and Security and made available to the public for
				inspection upon reasonable request except to the extent such records are
				protected from disclosure by 1 M.R.S.A. §402(3) or 35-A M.R.S.A. §
				122 pursuant to Section II(B)(3) of this rule.
13.
Subcommittees
. The Chair may
				appoint such subcommittees as may be necessary or desirable for the efficient
				conduct of the Panel's business and negotiations, provided that no action of a
				subcommittee is final or binding without the approval of the Panel at a public
				meeting. The subcommittee shall report a summary of any meetings to the Panel
				as a whole at its next meeting and included in the Minutes.
14.
Meetings recorded
. At the
				direction of the Chair, or upon the request of a Proposer or another party, a
				meeting of the Panel may be recorded. If the recording is at the request of a
				Proposer or another party, the requesting party will be responsible for the
				reasonable costs of making the recording and providing the recording to the
				Panel for its records.
15.
Decision
. The Panel shall issue a written decision on each
				proposal for use of a statutory corridor. The written decision shall make
				findings of fact and conclusions of law with respect to the applicable
				statutory criteria. An aggrieved person as determined by the Panel may request
				reconsideration based on new evidence that could not have been presented prior
				to the decision, a mistake of law or other grounds. The decision of the Panel
				on whether to reconsider a decision is final.