LD 382
pg. 1
LD 382 Title Page An Act to Reauthorize and Expand the Lobster Promotion Council Page 2 of 2
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LR 303
Item 1

 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

 
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §6455, sub-§5, as amended by PL 1997, c. 211, §3, is
further amended to read:

 
5. Fund established; license surcharge assessed. The Lobster
Promotion Fund, referred to in this subchapter as the "fund," is
established to carry out the purposes of this subchapter. The
department shall pay to the fund all money appropriated or
received by the department for the purposes of this subchapter,
except that the department may retain funds necessary to
reimburse the department for the actual cost of collecting the
license surcharges established in this subsection. The fund is
capitalized from the following annual surcharges assessed on the
following licenses issued by the department for calendar years
1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and, 2001,
2002 and 2003:

 
A. Class I crab and lobster licenses for persons 18 to 69
years of age, $25 $50;

 
B. Class II crab and lobster licenses, $50 $75;

 
C. Class III crab and lobster licenses, $75 $100;

 
D. Wholesale seafood licenses with lobster permits, $200
$225; and

 
E. Lobster transportation licenses, $200 $225.

 
A person holding more than one of the licenses listed in this
subsection is assessed a surcharge only on the highest
surchargeable license held.

 
The Treasurer of State shall hold all surcharges assessed by this
subsection in the fund and invest all money in the fund until
disbursed to the council upon request of the council. Interest
from investments accrues to the fund.

 
All money in the fund is subject to allocation by the
Legislature. Unexpended balances in the fund at the end of the
fiscal year may not lapse but must be carried forward to be used
for the same purposes.

 
In addition to payment of the regular license fee and the
surcharge, a person purchasing a license subject to the
surcharges established in this subsection may make voluntary
contributions to the fund at the time the license is purchased.
Voluntary contributions received by the department from a


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