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An Act To Clarify the Filing Requirements for Noncommercial Whitewater Rafting Organizations
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §12908, sub-§2,  as affected by PL 2003, c. 614, §9 and amended by c. 655, Pt. B, §328 and affected by §422, is further amended to read:
 
2. Noncommercial whitewater rafting club.   An organization is a "noncommercial organization" if the commissioner determines that the organization is a qualifying noncommercial whitewater rafting club. A "qualifying noncommercial whitewater rafting club" is a group that collects dues or fees from its members and that the commissioner determines to be organized solely to provide noncommercial whitewater rafting opportunities to its members. To be considered under this subsection, a club must provide to the commissioner the following information before January 1st of each year:
 
A.  A By January 1st of each year the club intends to operate a whitewater rafting trip, a list that includes the name, legal residence and home telephone number of each dues-payingofficer and board member of the club. That list must identify a member as the president of the club and must identify any other officers or board members of the club. A commercial whitewater outfitter or a licensed whitewater guide is ineligible to be an officer or a board member of the club. The commissioner may not accept more than one amended membershipofficer and board member list from a club between April 1st and November 1st;
 
A-1.  By December 31st of each year the club operated a whitewater rafting trip, a list that includes the name, legal residence and home telephone number of every person who was a dues-paying member during the calendar year ending that December 31st. The commissioner may not accept more than one amended membership list per year from a club;
 
B.  A Before January 1st of each year the club intends to operate a whitewater rafting trip, a statement signed by all board members, if any, and all officers of the club swearing that:
 
(1) The sole purpose of the club is to provide noncommercial whitewater rafting opportunities to its members;
 
(2) No member of the club, including officers and board members, receives any form of compensation from the club at any time, either while a member of the club or afterwards;
 
(3) The club will use its own rafting equipment, and all fees or dues collected from club members are used only to provide insurance and to purchase and maintain rafting equipment for use solely by the club; and
 
(4) The club will not employ or otherwise compensate any person for any service relating to rafting or accept any gifts of products or services from any commercial whitewater outfitter or licensed whitewater guide; and
 
C. AnyBefore January 1st of each year the club intends to operate a whitewater rafting trip, any other information the commissioner determines necessary. If the club is an incorporated entity, the commissioner shall require the club to submit a copy of the club's articles of incorporation. The commissioner may not consider any incorporated entity other than a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation as a noncommercial whitewater rafting club.
 
SUMMARY
Current law requires a club that desires to qualify as a noncommercial whitewater rafting club, and thus be exempt from the requirement of obtaining a commercial whitewater outfitter's license, to file a list of all of its dues-paying members by January 1st of each year, prior to the start of the whitewater rafting season.
This bill maintains the January 1st filing requirement for officers and board members of the club, but allows the club to file a list of the other members annually by December 31st, after the whitewater rafting season.