§2311. Pest Control Compact
The Pest Control Compact is enacted into law and
entered into with all other jurisdictions legally joining the compact in
the form substantially as provided in this chapter.
§2312. Findings -- Article I
The party states find that in the absence of the
higher degree of cooperation among them possible under this compact, the
annual loss of approximately $137,000,000,000 from the depredations of
pests is virtually certain to continue, if not to increase.
Because of varying climatic, geographic, and economic
factors, each state may be affected differently by particular species of
pests, but all states share the inability to protect themselves fully
against those pests that present serious dangers to them.
The migratory character of pest infestations makes it
necessary for states, both adjacent to and distant from one another, to
complement each other's activities when faced with conditions of
infestation and reinfestation.
While every state is seriously affected by a
substantial number of pests and every state is susceptible to
infestation by many species of pests not now causing damage to its crop
and plant life and products, the fact that relatively few species of
pests present equal danger to or are of interest to all states makes the
establishment and operation of an insurance fund from which individual
states may obtain financial support for pest control programs of benefit
to them in other states and to which they may contribute in accordance
with their relative interests the most equitable means of financing
cooperative pest eradication and control programs.
§2313. Definitions -- Article II
As used in this compact, unless the context otherwise
indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.
1. Executive committee. "Executive committee" means
the committee established pursuant to section 2316, subsection 5.
2. Governing board. "Governing board" means the
administrators of this compact representing all of the party states when
the administrators are acting as a body in pursuance of authority vested
in them by this compact.
3. Insurance fund. "Insurance fund" means the Pest
Control Insurance Fund established pursuant to this compact.
4. Pest. "Pest" means any invertebrate animal,
pathogen, parasitic plant, or similar or allied organism that can cause
disease or damage in any crops, trees, shrubs, grasses or other plants
of substantial value.
5. Requesting state. "Requesting state" means a state
that invokes the procedures of the compact to secure the undertaking or
intensification of measures to control or eradicate one or more pests
within one or more other states.
6. Responding state. "Responding state" means a state
requested to undertake or intensify the measures referred to in
subsection 5.
7. State. "State" means a state, territory, or
possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
§2314. The insurance fund -- Article III
The Pest Control Insurance Fund is established for the
purpose of financing other than normal pest control operations that the
states may be called upon to engage in pursuant to this compact. The
insurance fund contains money appropriated to it by the party states and
any donations and grants accepted by it. All appropriations, except as
conditioned by the rights and obligations of party states expressly set
forth in this compact, are unconditional and may not be restricted by
the appropriating state to use in the control of any specified pest or
pests. Donations and grants may be conditional or unconditional, except
that the insurance fund may not accept any donation or grant whose terms
are inconsistent with any provision of this compact.
§2315. The insurance fund; internal operations and
management -- Article IV
1. Governing board. The insurance fund is administered
by a governing board and an executive committee as provided. The actions
of the governing board and the executive committee pursuant to this
compact are deemed the actions of the insurance fund.
2. Votes. The members of the governing board are
entitled to one vote each on the board. Actions of the governing board
are not binding unless taken at a meeting at which a majority of the
total number of votes of the governing board are cast in favor thereof.
Action of the governing board may be taken only at a meeting at which a
majority of the members are present.
3. Seal. The insurance fund has a seal that may be
employed as an official symbol and that may be affixed to documents and
otherwise used as the governing board provides.
4. Officers. The governing board shall elect annually,
from among its members, a chair, a vice-chair, a secretary, and a
treasurer. The chair may not hold successive terms. The governing board
may appoint an executive director and fix the executive director's
duties and compensation, if any. The executive director serves at the
pleasure of the governing board. The governing board shall make
provision for the bonding of the officers and employees of the insurance
fund as appropriate.
5. Personnel. Irrespective of the civil service,
personnel or other merit system laws of any of the party states, the
executive director or, if there is no executive director, the chair, in
accordance with such procedures as the bylaws may provide, shall
appoint, remove or discharge personnel as is necessary for the
performance of the functions of the insurance fund and shall fix the
duties and compensation of such personnel. The governing board, in its
bylaws, shall provide for the personnel policies and programs of the
insurance fund.
6. Other personnel. The governing board may borrow,
accept, or contract for the services of personnel from any state, the
United States, or any other governmental agency, or from any person,
firm, association, or corporation.
7. Grants and donations. The governing board may
accept, for any of its purposes and functions under this compact, any
and all donations and grants of money, equipment, supplies, materials
and services, conditional or otherwise, from any state, the United
States, or any other governmental agency, or from any person, firm,
association, or corporation, and may receive, utilize and dispose of the
same. Any donation, gift or grant accepted by the governing board
pursuant to this subsection or services borrowed pursuant to subsection
6 must be reported in the annual report of the insurance fund. The
annual report must include the nature, amount, and any conditions of the
donation, gift, grant or services borrowed and the identity of the donor
or lender.
8. Bylaws. The governing board shall adopt bylaws for
the conduct of the business of the insurance fund and has the power to
amend and rescind those bylaws. The governing board shall publish its
bylaws in convenient form and shall file a copy thereof and a copy of
any amendment thereto with the appropriate agency or officer in each of
the party states.
9. Report. The governing board annually shall make to
the governor and legislature of each party state a report covering the
activities of the insurance fund for the preceding year. The governing
board may make additional reports it considers desirable.
10. Other powers. In addition to the powers and duties
specifically authorized and imposed, the governing board may do other
things necessary and incidental to the conduct of its affairs pursuant
to this compact.
§2316. Compact and insurance fund administration --
Article V
1. Administration. In each party state there is a
compact administrator who is selected and serves in such a manner as the
laws of the administrator's state provide and who shall:
A. Assist in the coordination of activities
pursuant to the compact in the administrator's state; and
B. Represent the administrator's state on the
governing board of the insurance fund.
2. United States representatives. If the laws of the
United States specifically so provide, or if administrative provision is
made therefor within the Federal Government, the United States may be
represented on the governing board of the insurance fund by up to 3
representatives. Any such representative or representatives of the
United States must be appointed and shall serve in a manner provided by
or pursuant to federal law, but no such representative has a vote on the
governing board or on the executive committee.
3. Meetings. The governing board shall meet at least
once each year for the purpose of determining policies and procedures in
the administration of the insurance fund and, consistent with the
compact, supervising and giving direction to the expenditure of money
from the insurance fund. Additional meetings of the governing board must
be held on call of the chair, the executive committee, or a majority of
the membership of the governing board.
4. Applications. When in session, the governing board
shall decide upon applications for assistance from the insurance fund
and authorize disbursements therefrom. When the governing board is not
in session, the executive committee shall act as agent of the governing
board with full authority to act for it in deciding upon such
applications.
5. Executive committee. The executive committee is
composed of the chairman of the governing board and 4 additional members
of the governing board chosen by the governing board so that there is
one member representing each of 4 geographic groupings of party states.
The governing board shall make those geographic groupings. If there is
representation of the United States on the governing board, one
representative may meet with the executive committee. The chair of the
governing board is chair of the executive committee. An action of the
executive committee is not binding unless taken at a meeting at which at
least 4 members of the committee are present and vote in favor thereof.
Necessary expenses of each of the 5 members of the executive committee
incurred in attending meetings of the committee, when not held at the
same time and place as a meeting of the governing board, are charges
against the insurance fund.
§2317. Assistance and reimbursement -- Article VI
1. Efforts. Each party state pledges to each other
party state that it will employ its best efforts to eradicate or
control, within the strictest practicable limits, any and all pests. It
is recognized that performance of this responsibility involves:
A. Maintaining pest control and eradication
activities of interstate significance by a party state at a level
that would be reasonable for its own protection in the absence of
this compact; and
B. Meeting emergency outbreaks or infestations of
interstate significance to no less an extent than would have been
done in the absence of this compact.
2. Requests. Whenever a party state is threatened by a
pest not present within its borders but present within another party
state, or whenever a party state is undertaking or engaged in activities
for the control or eradication of a pest or pests and finds that such
activities are or would be impracticable or substantially more difficult
because of the failure of another party state to cope with infestation
or threatened infestation, that state may request the governing board to
authorize expenditures from the insurance fund for eradication or
control measures to be taken by one or more of the other party states at
a level sufficient to prevent or to reduce, to the greatest practicable
extent, infestation or reinfestation of the requesting state. Upon
authorization of the expenditures, the responding state or states shall
take or increase eradication or control measures as warranted. A
responding state shall use money made available from the insurance fund
expeditiously and efficiently to assist in affording the protection
requested.
3. Application. In order to apply for expenditures
from the insurance fund, a requesting state must submit the following in
writing:
A. A detailed statement of the circumstances that
occasion the request for invoking the compact;
B. Evidence that the pest for which eradication or
control assistance is requested constitutes a danger to an
agricultural or forest crop, product, tree, shrub, grass or other
plant having a substantial value to the requesting state;
C. A statement of the extent of the present and
projected program of the requesting state and its subdivisions,
including full information as to the legal authority for the conduct
of the program or programs and the expenditures being made or
budgeted therefor, in connection with the eradication, control or
prevention of introduction of the pest concerned;
D. Proof that the expenditures being made or
budgeted as detailed in paragraph C do not constitute a reduction of
the effort for the control or eradication of the pest concerned or,
if there is a reduction, the reasons that the level of the program
detailed in paragraph C constitutes a normal level of pest control
activity;
E. A declaration as to whether, to the best of the
requesting state's knowledge and belief, the conditions that in its
view occasion the invoking of the compact in the particular instance
can be abated by a program undertaken with the aid of money from the
insurance fund in one year or less, or whether the request is for an
installment in a program that is likely to continue for a longer
period of time; and
F. Any other information as the governing board
requires consistent with this compact.
4. Notice of meeting. The governing board or executive
committee shall give due notice of any meeting at which an application
for assistance from the insurance fund is to be considered. The notice
must be given to the compact administrator of each party state and to
any other officers and agencies designated by the laws of the party
states. The requesting state and any other party state are entitled to
be represented and to present evidence and arguments at the meeting.
5. Support. Upon the submission required by subsection
3 and any other information it has or acquires, and upon determining
that an expenditure of funds is within the purposes of this compact and
justified thereby, the governing board, or executive committee shall
authorize support of the program. The governing board or the executive
committee may meet at any time or place for the purpose of receiving and
considering an application. All determinations of the governing board or
executive committee with respect to an application, together with the
reasons therefor, must be recorded and subscribed in such a manner as to
show and preserve the votes of the individual members.
6. Review. A requesting state that is dissatisfied
with a determination of the executive committee, upon notice in writing
given within 20 days of the determination with which it is dissatisfied,
is entitled to receive a review at the next meeting of the governing
board. Determinations of the executive committee are reviewable only by
the governing board at one of its regular meetings or at a special
meeting held in such a manner as the governing board may authorize.
7. Claims. Responding states required to undertake or
increase measures pursuant to this compact may receive money from the
insurance fund either at the time or times when the state incurs
expenditures on account of the measures or as reimbursement for expenses
incurred and chargeable to the insurance fund. The governing board shall
adopt and from time to time may amend or revise procedures for
submission of claims and for payment thereof.
8. Federal Government assistance. Before authorizing
the expenditure of money from the insurance fund pursuant to an
application of a requesting state, the governing board shall ascertain
the extent and nature of any timely assistance or participation that may
be available from the Federal Government and shall request assistance
and participation from the appropriate agency or agencies of the Federal
Government.
9. Memorandum of understanding. The governing board
may negotiate and execute a memorandum of understanding or other
appropriate instrument defining the extent and degree of assistance or
participation between and among the insurance fund, cooperating federal
agencies, states and any other entities concerned.
§2318. Advisory and technical committees -- Article
VII
The governing board may establish advisory and
technical committees composed of state, local and federal officials, and
private persons to advise it with respect to any one or more of its
functions. Any such advisory or technical committee or any member or
members thereof may meet with and participate in its deliberations upon
request of the governing board or executive committee. An advisory or
technical committee may furnish information and recommendations with
respect to any application for assistance from the insurance fund being
considered by the governing board or executive committee and the board
or committee may receive and consider the same, provided that any
participant in a meeting of the governing board or executive committee
held pursuant to section 2317, subsection 4 is entitled to know the
substance of any such information and recommendations, at the time of
the meeting if furnished before or as part of the meeting or, if
furnished after the meeting, no later than the time at which the
governing board or executive committee makes its disposition of the
application.
§2319. Relations with nonparty jurisdictions --
Article VIII
1. Application. A party state may make application for
assistance from the insurance fund with respect to a pest in a nonparty
state. The application must be considered and decided on by the
governing board or executive committee in the same manner as an
application with respect to a pest within a party state, except as
provided in this section.
2. Nonparty state. At or in connection with any
meeting of the governing board or executive committee held pursuant to
section 2317, a nonparty state is entitled to appear, participate, and
receive information only to the extent that the governing board or
executive committee provides. A nonparty state is not entitled to a
review of any determination made by the executive committee.
3. Expenditures. The governing board or executive
committee shall authorize expenditures from the insurance fund to be
made in a nonparty state only after determining that the conditions in
the nonparty state and the value of the expenditures to the party
states, as a whole, justify them. The governing board or executive
committee may set any conditions that it considers appropriate with
respect to the expenditure of money from the insurance fund in a
nonparty state and may enter into an agreement or agreements with
nonparty states and other jurisdictions or entities as it determines
necessary or appropriate to protect the interests of the insurance fund
with respect to expenditures and activities outside of party states.
§2320. Finance -- Article IX
1. Budget. The governing board shall submit to the
executive head or designated officer or officers of each party state a
budget for the insurance fund for such a period as may be required by
the laws of that party state for presentation to the legislature
thereof.
2. Recommendations. Each budget must contain specific
recommendations of the amount or amounts to be appropriated by each
party state. The requests for appropriations must be appropriated among
the party states as follows: one tenth of the total budget in equal
shares and the remainder in proportion to the value of agricultural and
forest crops and products, excluding animals and animal products,
produced in each party state. In determining the value of the crops and
products, the insurance fund may employ any source or sources of
information that in its judgment presents the most equitable and
accurate comparison among the party states. Each budget and request for
appropriations must indicate the source or sources used in obtaining
information concerning the value of the products.
3. Accounts. The financial assets of the insurance
fund must be maintained in 2 accounts to be designated as the "operating
account" and the "claims account.” The operating account consists only
of those assets necessary for the administration of the insurance fund
during the next ensuing 2-year period. The claims account contains all
money not included in the operating account and may not exceed the
amount reasonably estimated to be sufficient to pay all legitimate
claims on the insurance fund for a period of 3 years. When the claims
account has reached its maximum limit or would reach its maximum limit
by the addition of money requested for appropriation by the party
states, the governing board shall reduce its budget request on a pro
rata basis in such a manner as to keep the claims account within the
maximum limit. Any money in the claims account by virtue of conditional
donations, grants, or gifts must be included in calculations made
pursuant to this subsection only to the extent that such money is
available to meet demands arising out of claims.
4. Pledge of credit. The governing board may not
pledge the credit of any party state. The governing board may meet any
of its obligations in whole or in part with money available to it under
section 2315, subsection 7 if the governing board takes specific action
setting aside the money prior to incurring any obligation to be met in
whole or in part in such a manner. Except when the insurance fund makes
use of money available to it under section 2315, subsection 7, the
governing board may not incur any obligation prior to the allotment of
money by the party states adequate to meet the obligation.
5. Records. The governing board shall keep accurate
accounts of all receipts and disbursements. The receipts and
disbursements of the insurance fund are subject to audit and accounting
procedures established under its bylaws. All receipts and disbursements
of funds handled by the insurance fund must be audited yearly by a
certified or licensed public accountant, and a report of the audit must
be included in and become part of the annual report of the insurance
fund.
6. Inspection of accounts. The accounts of the
insurance fund must be open at any reasonable time for inspection by
duly authorized officers of the party states and by any persons
authorized by the governing board.
§2321. Entry into force and withdrawal -- Article X
This compact enters into force when enacted into law
by 5 or more states. Thereafter, this compact becomes effective, as to
any other state, upon that state's enactment thereof.
Any party state may withdraw from this compact by
enacting a statute repealing the same, but no withdrawal may take effect
until 2 years after the executive head of the withdrawing state has
given notice in writing of the withdrawal to the executive heads of all
other party states. No withdrawal affects any liability already incurred
by or chargeable to a party state prior to the time of the withdrawal.
§2322. Construction and severability -- Article XI
This compact must be liberally construed so as to
effectuate the purposes thereof. This compact is severable and if any
phrase, clause, sentence or provision of this compact is declared to be
contrary to the constitution of any state or of the United States, or
the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person or
circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this
compact and the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person
or circumstance may not be affected thereby. If this compact is held
contrary to the constitution of any state participating herein, the
compact remains in full force and effect as to the remaining party
states and in full force and effect as to the state affected as to all
severable matters.
§2323. Cooperation
Consistent with law and within available
appropriations, the departments, agencies and officers of this State
shall cooperate with the governing board of the Pest Control Insurance
Fund established by the Pest Control Compact.
§2324. Bylaws filed
Pursuant to section 2315, subsection 8, copies of
bylaws and amendments thereto must be filed with the Commissioner of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources.
§2325. Compact administrator
The compact administrator for this State is the
Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources. The duties of the
compact administrator are deemed a regular part of the duties of this
office.
§2326. Request
Within the meaning of section 2317, subsection 2 or
section 2319, subsection 1, a request or application for assistance from
the insurance fund may be made by the Governor whenever in the
Governor's judgment the conditions qualifying this State for assistance
exist and it would be in the best interest of this State to make the
request.
§2327. Appropriations
The department, agency or officer expending or
becoming liable for an expenditure on behalf of a control or eradication
program undertaken or intensified pursuant to the compact must have
credited to the appropriate account in the State Treasury the amount or
amounts of any payments made to this State to defray the cost of that
program or any part thereof, or as reimbursement thereof.
§2328. "Executive head" defined
As used in the compact, with reference to this State,
the term "executive head" means the Governor.
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA c. 803, sub-c. 5, as amended, is
repealed.
SUMMARY
This bill repeals the Pest Control Compact currently
contained in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12 under the laws
governing the Department of Conservation, Bureau of Forestry and enacts
the compact instead in Title 7 under the laws governing the Department
of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources.
Legislation enacted May 18, 2005
Signed May 20, 2005
