Resolve, Directing the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry To Conduct an Internal Review of the Snowmobile Trail Fund

Emergency preamble. Whereas,  acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and

Whereas,  recreational snowmobiling in the State contributes more than $350,000,000 per year to the State's economy and accounts for at least 3,100 full-time jobs in the State; and

Whereas,  a large part of this economic activity takes place in rural areas of the State, thus providing an important source of economic activity in areas with limited economic development opportunities; and

Whereas,  the State has an unrivaled statewide snowmobile trail system consisting of 13,500 miles of groomed snowmobile trails maintained by 290 snowmobiling clubs and 115 municipalities; and

Whereas,  the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Division of Parks and Public Lands, Off-road Recreational Vehicle Division uses a portion of resident and nonresident snowmobile registration fees to reimburse the clubs and municipalities for part of the local costs for capital equipment and trail maintenance and grooming; and

Whereas,  increasing costs for capital equipment, fuel and trail maintenance and recent declines in snowmobile registrations are putting increasing financial pressure on the clubs and municipalities that must be resolved in order to ensure the quality of the trail system; and

Whereas,  there has been no effort in the past to systematically investigate and identify opportunities for greater economic efficiencies within the Snowmobile Trail Fund to resolve questions of economic equity in funding clubs and municipalities and between the Snowmobile Trail Fund and other funds in the maintenance of state-owned trails; and

Whereas,  the future of snowmobiling in the State is directly linked to the need for an economically efficient, equitable and predictable program for providing funds to the snowmobile clubs and municipalities that develop and maintain the State's excellent and economically important snowmobile trail system; and

Whereas,  in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore, be it

Sec. 1. Internal review. Resolved: That the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, referred to in this resolve as "the commissioner," shall review the expenditures and operations of the Snowmobile Trail Fund, referred to in this resolve as "the fund," operated by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Division of Parks and Public Lands, Off-road Recreational Vehicle Division as provided by this section and report the findings of that review to the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry as provided in section 2.

In conducting this review, the commissioner shall consult with representatives of statewide snowmobiling organizations, municipalities, local snowmobile clubs and other appropriate stakeholder groups.

The commissioner's review must include, but is not limited to:

1. A review and documentation of the allocation of funds to the fund in each of the past 10 fiscal years and the amount of funds carried forward in the fund from one fiscal year to the next. For any fiscal year from which funds were carried forward into a subsequent fiscal year, the review must include a written explanation as to why those funds were carried forward. This review must also propose written criteria, to be applied prospectively, for justifying the conditions under which funds in excess of $100,000 per fiscal year from the fund may be carried forward into a subsequent fiscal year;

2. An analysis of the equity of cost sharing between the fund and the ATV Recreational Management Fund for the maintenance of state-owned rail trails. This analysis must include cost-sharing expenditures in those 2 funds for each of the past 10 fiscal years and must specify the criteria used in the analysis to determine the equitability of expenditures;

3. A justification for the employment of full-time staff to oversee the operations of the Down East Sunrise Trail and for the employment of a full-time planner for the Off-road Recreational Vehicle Division;

4. The development of a proposed monthly reporting system detailing the revenue to and expenditures from the fund, including all nongrant expenditures and a recommendation that the reports be submitted monthly to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over appropriations and financial affairs and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over agriculture, conservation and forestry matters;

5. The development of a proposed written policy for distributing funds from the fund to municipalities and snowmobile clubs that ensures, to the fullest extent possible, that the funds are distributed in an equitable manner; and

6. A plan for the elimination of state-administered snowmobile trail grooming projects; and be it further

Sec. 2. Report. Resolved: That the commissioner shall submit a written report on all matters included in section 1 to the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry no later than December 4, 2013. The report must include recommendations on all matters required to be included in the review under section 1 and may include draft legislation necessary to implement any such recommendations. Following its review of the commissioner's report, the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry may submit a bill to the Second Regular Session of the 126th Legislature to implement any mandatory reporting requirements or to authorize the adoption by the commissioner of any rules necessary to implement the commissioner's recommendations.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.

SUMMARY

This resolve directs the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to conduct a review of aspects of expenditures from the Snowmobile Trail Fund that relate to the justification of certain expenditures from that fund, equity in the use of those funds in allocations to municipalities and local snowmobile clubs, equity in the cost sharing of funds between the Snowmobile Trail Fund and the ATV Recreational Management Fund with respect to state-owned rail trails, the elimination of state-administered snowmobile trail grooming projects and the implementation of regular reporting requirements and written policies to ensure equity in the use of funds in the Snowmobile Trail Fund.

In conducting this review, the commissioner is directed to consult with representatives of statewide snowmobiling organizations, municipalities and local snowmobile clubs and other appropriate stakeholder groups and to submit a report by December 4, 2013 to the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Following its review of the commissioner's report, the committee may submit a bill to the Second Regular Session of the 126th Legislature to implement any mandatory reporting requirements or to authorize the adoption by the commissioner of any rules necessary to implement the commissioner's recommendations.