‘An Act To Amend the Laws Governing the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Advisory Council’
| SP0049 LD 128 |
Session - 126th Maine Legislature C "A", Filing Number S-256, Sponsored by
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LR 576 Item 2 |
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| Bill Tracking, Additional Documents | Chamber Status | ||
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act To Amend the Laws Governing the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Advisory Council’
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 1.
Amend the bill by striking out all of sections 3 and 4 and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §10151, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 and affected by c. 614, §9, is amended to read:
An employee of the department may not serve as a member of the advisory council prior to the expiration of one year from that employee's last day of employment with the department. A Legislator may not serve as a member of the advisory council. A former Legislator who was a member of the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over fisheries and wildlife matters may not serve as a member of the advisory council prior to the expiration of one year from that former Legislator's last day of membership on that committee.
Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §10151, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2011, c. 668, §2, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 6.
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
SUMMARY
This amendment is the majority report of the committee. The bill abolishes the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Advisory Council. This amendment instead amends the laws governing the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Advisory Council in order to realign the advisory council's formal duties to convening stakeholder groups and providing information and advice to the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to enhance fisheries and wildlife resource management in the State. With these revised duties, the advisory council no longer renders to the commissioner information and advice concerning the administration of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The amendment retains the bill's provision removing the advisory council's authority upon appeal to restore hunting license privileges to petitioners whose privileges have been revoked or suspended and the restoration of which the commissioner has disallowed. Further, where rulemaking is concerned, the advisory council no longer provides advice and consent to the commissioner, which is a change made in the bill and retained by the amendment, but the amendment adds that as part of its revised duties the advisory committee makes recommendations based on public and stakeholder input to the commissioner regarding rules. The amendment allows the commissioner's designee to be a member of the advisory council. Finally, this amendment requires that the advisory council provide and present annually a written summary of its activities and accomplishments to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over inland fisheries and wildlife matters.