Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §7792, sub-§4, as amended by PL 1993, c. 349, §28, is further amended to read:

4. Horsepower. Rules governing the horsepower of motors used to propel watercraft on all internal waters of this State. In promulgating adopting these rules, the commissioner shall take into consideration the area of the internal waters, the use to which the internal waters are put, the depth of the water and the amount of water-borne traffic upon the waters and determine whether or not the rule is necessary to insure ensure the safety of persons and property. The adoption of rules under this subsection is governed by the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, Title 5, Part 18, except that such rules may be only adopted as a result of a petition from the municipal officers of the municipality or municipalities in which the waters exist or from 25 citizens of the municipalities in which the waters exist, by county commissioners of the county in which the waters exist if they are located in unorganized territory or 25 citizens of the unorganized territory in which the waters exist, requesting the issuance of such a rule for a particular body of internal water and stating the proposed horsepower limitation;.

A.__Any rule adopted by the commissioner under this subsection that limits the horsepower of motorboats on Lower Range Pond in Poland is waived for the 2 days preceding and the day of an annual one-day waterskiing tournament held on that pond.__This waiver applies to an annual tournament only if that tournament is sanctioned or sponsored by a local or statewide waterskiing federation or association;

SUMMARY

This bill waives any horsepower limitations on Lower Range Pond in Poland adopted by the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to allow an annual, one-day, sanctioned waterskiing tournament to be held on that pond. The waiver applies to the 2 days preceding the event and the day of the event.