Weekly Rulemaking Notices Contact Us Find It

Notices are published each Wednesday to alert the public regarding state agency rule-making. You may obtain a copy of any rule by notifying the agency contact person. You may also comment on the rule, and/or attend the public hearing. If no hearing is scheduled, you may request one -- the agency may then schedule a hearing, and must do so if 5 or more persons request it. If you are disabled or need special services to attend a hearing, please notify the agency contact person at least 7 days prior to it. Petitions: you can petition an agency to adopt, amend, or repeal any rule; the agency must provide you with petition forms, and must respond to your petition within 60 days. The agency must enter rule-making if the petition is signed by 150 or more registered voters, and may begin rule-making if there are fewer. You can also petition the Legislature to review a rule; the Executive Director of the Legislative Council (115 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333, phone 207/287-1615) will provide you with the necessary petition forms. The appropriate legislative committee will review a rule upon receipt of a petition from 100 or more registered voters, or from "...any person who may be directly, substantially and adversely affected by the application of a rule..." (Title 5 Section 11112). World-Wide Web: Copies of the weekly notices and the full texts of adopted rule chapters may be found on the World-Wide Web at: http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/rcn/apa/.

AGENCY: 10-144 - Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Medical Services, Division of Policy and Provider Services
RULE TITLE OR SUBJECT: Ch. 101, MaineCare Benefits Manual: Ch. II Section 13, Targeted Case Management Services
PROPOSED RULE NUMBER: 2005-P144
CONCISE SUMMARY: The rule proposes to expand case management services that are provided by a contracted agency to persons with mental retardation and/or autism to-include persons eighteen years of age or older living independently in their own residence who do not receive residential staffing services funded by any MaineCare benefit.
See http://www.maine.gov/bms/MaineCareBenefitManualRules.htm for rules and related rulemaking documents.
THIS RULE WILL NOT HAVE A FISCAL IMPACT ON MUNICIPALITIES.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: 22 MRSA §42, §3173
PUBLIC HEARING DATE: July 27, 2005 10:30 a.m.
Location: Conference Room, Department of Health and Human Services, 442 Civic Center Drive, Augusta, ME. Any interested party requiring special arrangements to attend the hearing must contact the agency person listed below on or before July 25,2005.
DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS: Comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. August 8, 2005
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Patricia Dushuttle, Assistant Director/Policy
AGENCY NAME: Bureau of Medical Services
ADDRESS: 442 Civic Center Drive, 11 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0011
TELEPHONE: (207) 287-9362
FAX: (207) 287-9369
TTY: 1 (800) 423-4331 or (207) 287-1828 (Deaf or Hard of Hearing)

AGENCY: 12-170 - Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 16, Rules Governing Definitions for Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions from Minimum Wage and Overtime
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2005-252
CONCISE SUMMARY: The purpose of this chapter is to define the "executive", "administrative" and "professional" minimum wage and overtime exemptions allowed for individuals who are paid on a salary basis pursuant to 26 MRSA §663(K).
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 29, 2005
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: William A. Peabody, Director
AGENCY NAME: Bureau of Labor Standards
ADDRESS: 45 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0045
TELEPHONE: (207) 624-6406

AGENCY: 65-625 - Public Utilities Commission, Emergency Services Communications Bureau
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch 11, PBX/Multiline Telephone Systems (MLTS) Requirements
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2005-253
CONCISE SUMMARY: The purpose of the Rule is to identify the location of the 9-1-1 caller and speed the response of emergency help in multiline systems environments. The rules cover owners or lessees of MLTS systems typically used in motels, hotels, businesses, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, residential apartment buildings, campus environments, and virtual private networks, and other PBX systems.
RULE TITLE OR SUBJECT: Amendment to Ch. 306, Requirement for Medium and Large Customer Disclosure Label Distribution
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2005-254
CONCISE SUMMARY: This chapter contains requirements for competitive electricity providers to disclose price, contract, resource mix, and emissions information to customers in a uniform format. The chapter also contains requirements for informational filings by competitive providers.
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 920, Maine Model Building Energy Code
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2005-255
CONCISE SUMMARY: The purpose of this chapter is to define the components of the Maine Model Building Energy Code that shall apply to construction practices that affect the energy use and indoor air quality of buildings in Maine.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 27, 2005
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Paula J. Cyr
AGENCY NAME: Public Utilities CommissionADDRESS: 242 State Street, Station 18, Augusta, ME 04333-0018
TELEPHONE: (207) 287 -3831

AGENCY: 02-514 - Board of Counseling Professionals Licensure
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 1, Definitions; Ch. 2, Licensed Professional Counselors; Ch. 3, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors; Ch. 4, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists; Ch. 5, Licensed Pastoral Counselors; Ch. 6, Applications / Applicants Licensed in Another Jurisdiction
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2005-256 through 261
CONCISE SUMMARY: The board repealed and replaced Ch. 1 through 6 of its current rules. The new chapters -
- Significantly revise the educational qualifications for licensure as a professional counselor ("LPC"), clinical professional counselor ("LCPC"), marital and family therapist ("LMFT"), and pastoral counselor ("PC")
- Require a 48 credit hour Masters degree for licensure as a LCPC on a phase-in basis until January 1, 2009, fully effective January 2, 2009
- Require a 60 credit hour Masters degree for licensure as a LCPC or LMFT on a two-step phase-in basis until January 1, 2011, fully effective January 2, 2011
- Require applicants for licensure as a LCPC or PC to pass a second, clinical-level examination, effective with respect to applications for full licensure received after January 1, 2008
- Decrease the current internship requirement for PCs from 900 hours to 400 hours
- Decrease direct clinical contact hours for conditional LMFTs and PCs from 1500 hours to 1000 hours
- Clarify supervision requirements for all conditional level licensees
- Implement the provisions of PL 2003, c. 542 with respect to streamlined Maine licensure of counselors licensed in another jurisdiction.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 2, 2005
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Penny Vaillancourt, Board Administrator
AGENCY NAME: Office of Licensing and Registration
ADDRESS: 35 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333
TELEPHONE: (207) 624-8420

AGENCY: 05-071 - State Board of Education
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 115, Certification, Authorization, and Approval of Educational Personnel, Part I: Standards and Procedures for Certification, Authorization and Approval; Part II, Requirements for Specific Certificates and Endorsements
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2005-262
CONCISE SUMMARY: Amendments to Ch. 115, Part II include a revision to the Early Childhood (Kindergarten - grade 3) endorsement which would specify required coursework for teaching the young child, replacing required courses for teaching the general (Kindergarten - grade 8) elementary child; both the teacher of art and teacher of music endorsement are revised to require studio and/or performance coursework, as well as history and theory coursework; a new native language endorsement has been created that allows for teacher certification for teaching Waponahki languages. Ch. 115 Part I and Part II will include a pathway for individuals who don't hold a bachelor's degree to attain the native language endorsement; and, minor changes to current language, which clarify intent of the rule, spelling corrections, formatting adjustments and typographical errors have been made.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 24, 2005
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Judith Malcolm, Education Policy Director
AGENCY NAME: Department of Education
ADDRESS: 23 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0023
TELEPHONE: (207) 624-6616

AGENCY: 02-031 – Department of Professional & Financial Regulation, Bureau of Insurance
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Rule Ch. 750, Standardized Health Plans
ADOPED RULE NUMBER: 2005-263
CONCISE SUMMARY: In order to start a health savings account (HSA), federal law requires an individual to be enrolled in a high deductible health plan as defined at section 223 of the Internal Revenue Code. The proposed 2005 Amendments to Insurance Rule Ch. 750 amend the Product Design Guidelines in Part II of the Rule to make the maximum HMO deductibles and maximum HMO out-of-pocket limits inapplicable to HMO plans that otherwise qualify as high deductible health plans under federal law. The proposed amendments would permit an HMO to offer HSA qualified high deductible health plans with the same range of deductibles that can be offered in any non-HMO HDHP. Without the amendments HMOs will not be able to compete with other insurance carriers by offering HSA compatible products.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 28, 2005
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Vanessa Leon
AGENCY NAME: Bureau of Insurance
ADDRESS: 34 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333
TELEPHONE: (207) 624- 8452

AGENCY: 10-144 - Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Health, Division of Health Engineering
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 203, Rules Relating to the Retail Sale and Delivery of Tobacco Products in Maine
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2005-264
CONCISE SUMMARY: These rules are being proposed to partially amend existing Rules Relating to the Retail Sale and Delivery of Tobacco Products in Maine, and to implement emergency legislation which governs the licensing and enforcement activities associated with the retail sale and delivery of tobacco products in the State of Maine.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2005
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Rebecca Vigue
AGENCY NAME: Division of Health Engineering
ADDRESS: State House Station 11, Augusta, ME 04333
TELEPHONE: (207) 287-1978

AGENCY: 94-457 - Finance Authority of Maine
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 610, Amendment 1, Rules for the Conduct of the Educators for Maine Program (EMERGENCY)
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2005-265
CONCISE SUMMARY: The amendment is necessary to address a timing problem encountered by certain students pursuing post-baccalaureate certification in 2005, who did not receive notification that they had been admitted by the educational institution to which they had applied, until after the application deadline for participating in the program had passed. The amendment extends the deadline in 2005 for students pursuing post baccalaureate certification from April 1 to July 20, 2005.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 28, 2005
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Christopher H. Roney, Deputy General Counsel, Finance Authority of Maine, PO Box 949, 5 Community Drive, Augusta, Maine 04332-0949
TELEPHONE: (207) 623-3263 (Voice)
TDD: (207) 626-2715 (TDD)

AGENCY: 01-001 – Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, Board of Pesticides Control
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Amendment to Ch. 27, Standards for Pesticide Applications and Public Notification in Schools
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2005-266
CONCISE SUMMARY: The Board adopted these amendments to provide clarification on several issues raised by both school officials and Board Staff. These include further defining school grounds, specifying that the IPM Coordinator must be a school employee, renaming and reorganizing Section 2 to requirements for all schools, and clarifying in Section 3 when and to whom notices must be provided.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 5, 2005
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Amendment to Ch. 31, Certification and Licensing Provisions / Commercial Applicators
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2005-267
CONCISE SUMMARY: The Board adopted these amendments to incorporate previously adopted policies excluding pet groomers and swimming pool operators from Board licensing. In addition, changes also provide clarification on other certification and licensing procedures such as specifying that all licenses must be company affiliated, extending recertification periods from five to six years and defining the verification process meeting organizers must follow to have their program eligible for credit and licensees must follow to earn those credits.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 3, 2005
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Robert I. Batteese, Jr.
AGENCY NAME: Board of Pesticides Control
ADDRESS: 28 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0028
TELEPHONE: (207) 287-2731

AGENCY: 10-144 - Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Medical Services
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 101, MaineCare Benefits Manual: Ch. III Section 97, Private Non-Medical Institution Services
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2005-268
CONCISE SUMMARY: These are major substantive rules, and have been approved by the Maine State Legislature. The Maine State Legislature passed a 5% service tax, which includes MaineCare Private Non-Medical Institutions, and assessed this State-mandated service tax beginning July l, 2004. These rules will permanently adopt emergency rules already in place to allow the service tax to be considered an allowable cost under the Principles of Reimbursement. If these rules are not permanently adopted, PNMI service providers will not be able to include these expenditures as allowable costs, resulting in significant financial burden to the PNMIs. Accordingly, the Department has determined that this State-mandated service tax will be an allowable MaineCare cost for PNMIs. Additionally, the Department has adjusted the program allowance to 35% for substance abuse facilities.
See http://www.maine.gov/bms/rules/gen_mcare_benefit.htm for rules and related rule-making documents.
EFFECTIVE DATE: August l, 2005
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Patricia Dushuttle
AGENCY NAME: Division of Policy and Provider Services
ADDRESS: 442 Civic Center Drive, 11 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0011
TELEPHONE: (207) 287-9362
FAX: (207) 287-9369
TTY: 1 (800) 423-4331 or (207) 287-1828 (Deaf/Hard of Hearing)