Agency Rulemaking Petition - Maine

PETITION FOR RULEMAKING — MAINE

1. SECTION 8055 ROUTE

Select the applicable route.

☐ Ordinary petition. Any person petitions an agency to adopt or modify a rule. Within 60 days after receipt, the agency must either deny the petition in writing with reasons or initiate appropriate rulemaking proceedings.

☐ Petition of 150 or more registered Maine voters. The agency must initiate appropriate rulemaking proceedings within 60 days after receipt. Before presentation to the agency, the petition must be verified and certified in the same manner provided by 21-A M.R.S. § 354(7).

☐ Department of Corrections facility petition — § 8055(4). The petition is submitted by 150 or more persons incarcerated in a department correctional facility or 25% or more of the facility's male or female incarcerated population, whichever is fewer. Counsel has reviewed the 12-month same-rule exception and signature-verification provisions.

☐ County or municipal detention-facility petition — § 8055(5). The petition concerns standards under 34-A M.R.S. § 1208 or 1208-B and meets the incarcerated-person threshold. Counsel has reviewed the 12-month same-rule exception and signature-verification provisions.

Section 8055 refers to adoption or modification. If repeal is requested, confirm that the agency's designated form treats repeal as modification or otherwise permits that request.

2. AGENCY FORM AND FILING GATE

Section 8055(2) requires each agency to designate the form and procedure for submission, consideration, and disposition.

Do not substitute this packet for a mandatory agency form.

3. COVER LETTER

[__/__/____]

[AGENCY HEAD OR RULEMAKING CONTACT]
[AGENCY]
[ADDRESS OR PORTAL]

Re: Petition under 5 M.R.S. § 8055

Petitioner [LEGAL NAME] submits the enclosed petition requesting:

☐ Adoption of a new rule concerning [____________________].

☐ Modification of [AGENCY RULE CHAPTER / SECTION].

☐ Repeal, if accepted by the agency as a permitted modification, of [RULE].

This is:

☐ An ordinary petition.

☐ A petition of 150 or more registered Maine voters, with verification and municipal certification attached.

☐ A petition under § 8055(4) or (5), with threshold documentation attached.

Please date-stamp receipt. Section 8055(3) requires the agency, within 60 days after receipt of an ordinary petition, either to deny it in writing with reasons or initiate appropriate rulemaking. For a properly verified and certified 150-voter petition, the agency must initiate appropriate rulemaking within 60 days after receipt.

Respectfully submitted,

[________________________________]
[PETITIONER OR COUNSEL]
[ADDRESS / TELEPHONE / EMAIL / BAR NUMBER]

Enclosures: [____________________]

4. FORMAL PETITION

BEFORE [AGENCY NAME]

PETITION FOR ADOPTION OR MODIFICATION OF RULE

Petitioner

Existing Rule or Regulatory Gap

Agency rule chapter and section: [____________________].

Current text or absence of rule: [____________________].

Agency statutory authority over the subject: [EXACT STATUTE].

Action Requested

Petitioner asks the Agency to:

☐ Adopt the proposed new rule attached as Exhibit [____].

☐ Modify the identified rule as shown in Exhibit [____].

☐ Take another action permitted by the agency's designated § 8055 procedure: [____________________].

Proposed Text

Use redline and clean versions if the agency requests them.

[____________________]

[____________________]

Purpose and Need

The requested action would address:

[____________________]

Persons affected:

[____________________]

Facts, data, and examples:

[____________________]

Why the proposal fits within delegated agency authority:

[____________________]

Alternatives and Impacts

Alternatives considered: [____________________].

Potential benefits: [____________________].

Potential costs or burdens: [____________________].

Small-business, municipal, environmental, or other impacts material to the agency's decision: [____________________].

This section is a policy presentation, not a representation that § 8055 universally requires a formal economic or environmental impact statement from the petitioner.

Requested Disposition

☐ Initiate appropriate rulemaking proceedings.

☐ If this is an ordinary petition and the Agency denies it, provide the written denial and reasons required by § 8055(3).

☐ Provide notice of the rulemaking docket, comment period, hearing if any, and adopted agency schedule.

Dated: [__/__/____]

[________________________________]
[PETITIONER OR AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE]

Use notarization or a penalty-of-perjury declaration only if the agency's form requires it or if this is a voter petition using the statutory verification procedure below.

5. REGISTERED-VOTER PETITION

Complete only for the 150-voter route.

Petition Statement

We, the undersigned registered voters of the State of Maine, petition [AGENCY] under 5 M.R.S. § 8055(3) to adopt or modify the following rule:

[CONCISE IDENTIFICATION OF REQUESTED RULE ACTION]

The complete proposed rule text and supporting petition are incorporated by reference and attached.

Signature Page

Use separate pages by municipality if required for certification.

Circulator Verification

State of Maine
County of [____________________]

I, [CIRCULATOR NAME], affirm before the officer below that I personally witnessed all signatures on this petition; to the best of my knowledge and belief, each signature is the signature of the person whose name it purports to be; any signature made through an authorized signer was made in the voter's presence and at the voter's direction as permitted by law; and each signer is a resident of the municipality or electoral division stated.

Dated: [__/__/____]

[________________________________]
[CIRCULATOR]

Affirmed before me:

[________________________________]
[NOTARY PUBLIC OR OTHER AUTHORIZED OFFICER]
Commission expiration: [__/__/____]

Municipal Certification

The registrar, or clerk when authorized, certifies which names on the petition appear in the central voter registration system as registered voters in the municipality.

Municipality: [____________________]

Number certified: [____]

[________________________________]
[REGISTRAR OR AUTHORIZED CLERK]

Date: [__/__/____]

Counsel must adapt this certification process to the exact procedure the agency and municipal officials require for a § 8055 petition. Election-calendar filing dates in § 354 that apply to candidate nomination petitions do not become rulemaking-petition deadlines merely because § 8055 incorporates the verification and certification manner.

6. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS PETITION ADDENDUM

Complete only for § 8055(4) or (5).

Facility: [____________________].

Facility type:

☐ Department correctional facility.

☐ County or municipal detention facility.

Population denominator and date: [____________________].

Threshold used:

☐ 150 or more incarcerated persons.

☐ 25% or more of the applicable male or female population, because that number is fewer.

Number of signatures: [____].

Same-rule petition received within prior 12 months:

☐ No.

☐ Yes — explain whether the statutory exception permits the Department to decline initiation: [____________________].

For a county or municipal facility petition, identify the § 1208 or 1208-B standard at issue: [____________________].

7. EXHIBIT CHECKLIST

☐ Agency-required petition form.

☐ Cover letter.

☐ Proposed clean rule text.

☐ Redline against current rule, if applicable.

☐ Delegated-authority analysis.

☐ Supporting facts, studies, declarations, or letters.

☐ Ordinary signature or authorized-representative signature.

☐ Voter signature pages, circulator oath, and municipal certifications, if applicable.

☐ Incarcerated-person threshold documentation, if applicable.

☐ Proof and date of agency receipt.

8. AGENCY RESPONSE TRACKER

Date agency received petition: [__/__/____].

Sixtieth day after receipt: [__/__/____].

Agency response:

☐ Written denial dated [__/__/____], reasons: [____________________].

☐ Appropriate rulemaking proceedings initiated on [__/__/____], docket: [____________________].

☐ No response by the 60th day.

For an ordinary petition, § 8055(3) requires one of the first two responses. For a qualifying mandatory petition, initiation is required, subject to the special corrections-facility provisions.

Follow-up communication:

[____________________]

9. IF RULEMAKING IS INITIATED

A decision to initiate proceedings is not a promise to adopt the petitioner's exact text. Track the agency's rulemaking under the applicable statutes, classification, and agency schedule.

Petitioner's comment plan:

[____________________]

10. JUDICIAL-REVIEW CAUTION

Section 8058 authorizes a Superior Court declaratory-judgment action by an aggrieved person to review:

• an agency rule; or
• an agency's refusal or failure to adopt a rule when adoption is required by law.

The court may invalidate a rule that exceeds agency authority or is void under specified § 8057 grounds. Other procedural error must be substantial, centrally relevant, and likely to have significantly changed the rule. Substantive review asks whether the rule is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.

Do not state that every denial of an ordinary § 8055 petition is automatically a Rule 80C petition due in 30 days. Determine whether § 8058, § 11001, declaratory-judgment law, agency-specific law, or another route applies to the actual dispute.

Agency response and claimed review route:

[____________________]

Counsel's deadline and venue analysis:

[____________________]

11. FINAL REVIEW

☐ Agency form and procedure confirmed.

☐ Proposed action fits within delegated authority.

☐ Ordinary, voter, or corrections-facility route selected correctly.

☐ Mandatory-petition threshold and exceptions checked.

☐ Voter petition verified by circulator oath and certified by municipal officials.

☐ Election-specific calendar deadlines were not imported into the rulemaking petition.

☐ Proof of agency receipt retained.

☐ 60-day response date calendared.

☐ Judicial-review language does not promise an automatic 30-day Rule 80C appeal.

12. OFFICIAL SOURCES

• 5 M.R.S. § 8052: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/5/title5sec8052.html
• 5 M.R.S. § 8053: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/5/title5sec8053.html
• 5 M.R.S. § 8054: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/5/title5sec8054.html
• 5 M.R.S. § 8055: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/5/title5sec8055.html
• 5 M.R.S. § 8058: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/5/title5sec8058.html
• 21-A M.R.S. § 354(7): https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/21-A/title21-Asec354.html
• Maine Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 375: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/5/title5ch375.pdf