This bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to establish the PFAS Response Program for the purpose of abating, cleaning up and mitigating threats and hazards posed by PFAS that affect agricultural producers in the State and the food supply; providing support to affected commercial farms; supporting critical PFAS research; and allowing for the department to strategically and effectively respond to PFAS concerns and issues as they arise. The program includes establishing maximum PFAS levels in farm products in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and, when maximum levels are being exceeded, prohibiting commercial sale of the products affected. The program may provide testing support and technical and financial assistance to PFAS-impacted producers while establishing baseline criteria for producers to adhere to for the receipt of such assistance. The program may also undertake research efforts via department staff, state agency partners or contracted 3rd parties that inform on-farm management recommendations or regulatory decisions. The Bureau of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources within the department
45 must administer the program. The department may adopt routine technical rules and shall
46 report annually to the Legislature about the program's activities. The bill modifies the Fund To Address PFAS Contamination by authorizing the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to sell, grant, lease, transfer or otherwise convey any real or personal property acquired under its existing authority to buy and sell agricultural land found to be contaminated by PFAS, and to deposit the proceeds of such transactions into the Fund To Address PFAS Contamination. Additionally, the bill updates the requirement that the Advisory Committee on the Fund To Address PFAS Contamination hold 2 hearings annually to require one public meeting annually. The bill also requires that the cochairs of the advisory committee are drawn from the committee's members. The bill also specifies that health care information obtained by the department in the course of providing access to health services under its existing authority must be treated as confidential.