Sec. Q-1. 26 MRSA §51, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1991, c. 93, §2, is further amended to read:
2. Duties. The commission shall conduct studies and hold public meetings as necessary to develop findings and recommendations respecting each of the following issues:
A. Evaluation of the effectiveness of current worker safety efforts, practices and programs in the State and the attitudes of employers and workers toward safety;
B. Identification of the best-practice safety programs in the State and elsewhere, whose widespread adoption would reduce the incidence, severity and cost of workplace accidents and illnesses;
C. Identification of emerging occupational safety and health issues that will be of importance in the future and assessment of their policy implications; and
D. Determination of existing statistical information on accidents and illnesses and reliability and adequacy to monitor trends and to support effec-tive safety rehabilitation and compensation programs.
The commission shall also review occupational safety loan requests as provided for in section 63.
Sec. Q-2. 26 MRSA §62, as amended by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. O, §1, is repealed.
Sec. Q-3. 26 MRSA §63, as amended by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. O, §§2 and 3, is repealed.
Sec. Q-4. 39-A MRSA §401, sub-§5, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 885, Pt. A, §8 and affected by §§9 to 11, is amended to read:
D. The Department of Labor shall notify the Superintendent of Insurance of any employer that fails to complete the workplace health and safety program as required by this section and the rules adopted pursuant to paragraph A. The Superintendent of Insurance shall assess a surcharge of 10% on that employer's workers' compensation insurance premium or the imputed premium for self-insurers, which must be paid to the Treasurer of State, who shall credit 1/2 of that amount to the Safety Education and Training Fund, as established by Title 26, section 61, and 1/2 to the Occupational Safety Loan Fund, as established by Title 26, section 62. Employers who fail to complete a required workplace health and safety program and who are assessed a surcharge prior to January 1, 1994, must be assessed a surcharge of 5%. Employers who fail to complete a required workplace health and safety program and who are assessed a surcharge after January 1, 1994, must be assessed a surcharge of 10%.
Sec. Q-5. Transfer of funds. Any funds received as repayment of the principal and interest on outstanding loans originated with funds from the previously authorized Occupational Safety Loan Fund in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 26, former section 62 must be transferred and be deposited in the Safety Education and Training Fund under Title 26, section 61 and must be used to reduce the annual assessment on workers' compensation insurers and self-insurers.
The remaining amounts in the Occupational Safety Loan Fund may be used only to pay administrative expenses of the Finance Authority of Maine for the administration of outstanding loans originated with proceeds of the Occupational Safety Loan Fund. Upon the repayment of all such outstanding loans, any remaining funds must be deposited in the Safety Education and Training Fund and used to reduce the annual assessment on workers' compensation insurers and self-insurers. In the event there are insufficient funds for all costs of administering the current loans outstanding for the life of such loans, the Department of Labor will provide funding for the costs of administering the loans made with proceeds from the Safety Education and Training Fund.
| Revisor of Statutes Homepage | Subject Index | Search | 121st Laws of Maine | Maine Legislature |
