Enforcement to begin January 1st

All Motor Carriers in Maine are now required to obtain and display a USDOT number.  Beginning January 1, 2013, the Maine State Police will begin enforcing the requirement for all motor carriers.

By way of background, prior to 2007 only interstate carriers and intrastate carriers of hazardous materials were required to display a USDOT number.  Those carriers with a gross vehicle weight rating of over 10,000 but under 26,001, who did not haul hazardous materials, were not required to have a USDOT number at all. Intrastate motor carriers over 26,000 have always been required to have a USDOT number but were not required to display it.

For the last year, Maine BMV through their municipal agents has required all motor carriers registering commercial vehicles over 10,000 to obtain a USDOT number.  Maine BMV will issue USDOT numbers to motor carriers over 26,000 pounds and will direct motor carriers between 10,001 and 26,000 to the on-line registration system of FMCSA.

The change in policy occurred because the Maine State Police now adopt Part 390 without amendment, thus the marking requirements in Part 390.21 apply to all motor carriers who operate commercial vehicles.  The definition of commercial vehicle is found in Part 390.5:

Commercial motor vehicle means any self-propelled or towed motor vehicle used on a highway in interstate commerce to transport passengers or property when the vehicle—

(1) Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight, of 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more, whichever is greater; or

(2) Is designed or used to transport more than 8 passengers (including the driver) for compensation; or

(3) Is designed or used to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver, and is not used to transport passengers for compensation; or

(4) Is used in transporting material found by the Secretary of Transportation to be hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and transported in a quantity requiring placarding under regulations prescribed by the Secretary under 49 CFR, subtitle B, chapter I, subchapter C.

All Motor Carrier’s must now conform to Part 390.21 which means having the legal trade name of their company and their USDOT number on each side of their vehicle.  The name and number must be in contrasting colors to their truck and visible from 50 feet during daylight hours.  The most common size for compliant lettering is 2 inches.

If you have questions or need assistance in obtaining a USDOT number, please feel free to contact the staff at MMTA who can assist with this and all of your compliance requirements.

Editor’s Note: This requirement will also apply to logger’s service trucks!

Maine Issues Letter to Federal Health Officials Opting Out of Health Insurance Exchanges

AUGUSTA – Governor Paul R. LePage today reiterated his recommendation that the State of Maine will not develop a state-based health insurance exchange as part of the implementation of the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA also referred to as ACA).

Because the guidance issued in the August 13, 2012, request of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is not legally binding, the State of Maine will not be submitting a Declaration Letter. Instead, Gov. LePage, in a letter to U.S. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, noted that the State of Maine has repeatedly stated that the law has severe legal problems, is bad policy, and overreaches into the lives and pocketbooks of fellow Americans.

“Maine will not build a state health insurance exchange as outlined by the ACA. We are not going to assist in implementation of this bill in its current form,” wrote Governor LePage. “The ACA is full of federal mandates; as such, even a state based health insurance exchange is actually controlled by the federal government. In the end, a state exchange puts the burden onto the states and the expense onto our taxpayers, without giving the state the authority and flexibility we must have to best meet the needs of the people of Maine.”

Governor LePage added that without knowing more details on the cost and nature of state-based exchanges, it is possible that our state could be placed in the untenable position of serving as the administrator of a new federal healthcare bureaucracy over which Maine has little control.

“Furthermore, many of the ACA regulations remain incomplete two and a half years after the bill passed. The legal status of portions of the bill remains unresolved, and there are too many unanswered questions. Complex technicalities make interpretation challenging, and unknown financial obligations—at a time when we face a fiscal crisis that we have yet to resolve—become extremely burdensome to businesses and families. Without such issues addressed, Maine cannot make a prudent and comprehensive decision in the best interests of our citizens.”

The Governor has also stated that the State of Maine will not expand Medicaid under the current structure that exists because it is not affordable.

Governor Paul LePage issued the rejection letter Thursday to arrive by Friday, Nov. 16, which is the deadline the federal government initially gave states to declare their intentions. On Thursday, HHS extended the deadline for states to make a decision on a state based exchange until Dec 14.

The full text of the letter is included below.

November 15, 2012

The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary

Department of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Ave, SW

Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary Sebelius:

With the November 16 deadline for states to determine whether we will participate in the health care exchange program per the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) upon us, I am writing to make you aware of Maine’s decision. As you know, the State of Maine has had a number of concerns regarding the implementation of the ACA.

Because the guidance issued in the August 13, 2012 request of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is not legally binding, the State of Maine will not be submitting a Declaration Letter. Instead, this letter serves as the state’s position regarding this issue.

Since the ACA was signed into law, the State of Maine, along with several other states, has repeated on a number of occasions and we continue to believe that the law has severe legal problems, is bad policy, and overreaches into the lives and pocketbooks of fellow Americans.

On November 14, 2012, I stated that our state would not build a state health insurance exchange as outlined by the ACA. We are not going to assist in implementation of this bill in its current form. The ACA is full of federal mandates; as such, even a state-based health insurance exchange is actually controlled by the federal government. In the end, a state exchange puts the burden onto the states and the expense onto our taxpayers without giving the state the authority and flexibility we must have to best meet the needs of the people of Maine.

Furthermore, many of the ACA regulations remain incomplete two and a half years after the bill passed. The legal status of portions of the bill remains unresolved, and there are too many unanswered questions. Complex technicalities make interpretation challenging, and unknown financial obligations—at a time when we face a fiscal crisis that we have yet to resolve—become extremely burdensome to businesses and families. Without such issues addressed, Maine cannot make a prudent and comprehensive decision in the best interest of our citizens.

We urge you to make public, as other states have requested, any contracts signed for the development of the federally facilitated Exchange. These documents would help states make informed decisions about the costs, timeframes, scope, operations and responsibilities of the federal exchange.

This law robs states of the ability to innovate and find cost-effective solutions that meet the needs of their citizens. We want meaningful reform, but the ACA masquerades as a free-market idea when in reality it is a stepping-stone to a single-payer system. Maine will not be complicit in the degradation of our nation’s premier health care system.

We need to address the real concerns of our health care system. I offer to work with your administration in finding workable, effective reforms and market solutions to the grave challenges we face.

Sincerely,

Paul R. LePage

Governor

cc:   The Honorable Olympia Snowe

The Honorable Susan Collins

The Honorable Michael Michaud

The Honorable Chellie Pingree

Commissioner Mary Mayhew

Commissioner Anne Head

Superintendent Eric Cioppa

Stefanie Nadeau

MEMPHIS, Tenn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Verso Paper Corp. (NYSE: VRS) today reported financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2012. Results for the quarters ended September 30, 2012 and 2011 include:

• Adjusted EBITDA before pro forma effects of profitability program of $50.2 million in the third quarter of 2012, compared to $23.5 million in the second quarter of 2012 and $64.2 million in the third quarter of 2011. (Note: Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure and is defined and reconciled to net income later in this release).
• Net loss before items of $12.0 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2012 compared to net loss before items of $43.1 million, or $0.81 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2012 and net income before items of $0.8 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2011.
• The closure of the Sartell mill resulted in an aggregate pre-tax charge to earnings of approximately $97.2 million in the third quarter of 2012. This includes approximately $16.3 million for severance and benefit costs; $75.8 million in non-cash charges for fixed asset and other impairment charges; and $5.1 million related to other costs.

Click Here to read the full report from Verso Paper Corp.

The Maine Turnpike increased toll rates are now in effect.  That means just a little more for each trip and probably more traffic on I-295 at least temporarily.   For the new tolls both cash and with the discounted EZ-Pass, visit the Maine Turnpike Authority’s website: http://www.maineturnpike.com or the Maine Turnpike EZ Pass Webiste: https://ezpassmaineturnpike.com/EZPass/.

Editor’s Note: November 1st the Turnpike website is scheduled for maintenance throughout the day.

The Maine Turnpike Authority Board of Directors voted Thursday on a tentative toll increase scheme that would raise $21 million a year…the plan would[also] raise commercial truck rates…

Read more in the Portland Press Herald

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage is encouraging businesses to respond to the 2012 Maine Business Survey, which is available online and pose about 40 questions.

Responses received over the next several weeks will help drive future economic policy decisions by the administration.

Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner George Gervais says the survey gives businesses a unique opportunity to influence Maine’s future business climate and their very own profitability.

The survey asks businesses to rate everyday challenges from attracting and retaining employees to overall infrastructure needs. It also digs deeper into specific policy areas such as workforce development, regulation, access to capital and incentives, workers compensation and marketing.

Editor’s Note: You can participate in the survey by going to www.maine.gov/decd/survey or by clicking the “Open For Business logo here or on the PLC Homepage

The Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling Thursday, upheld the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

The court on Thursday handed Obama a campaign-season victory in rejecting arguments that Congress went too far in requiring most Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty.

Chief Justice John Roberts announced the court’s judgment that allows the law to go forward with its aim of covering more than 30 million uninsured Americans.

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Update:  Link to the Court’s Ruling (PDF)

Maine Senator Doug Thomas (R-Ripley); Everett O’Neill, GPN’s Vice President of Operations and Manufacturing, and Maine Senate President Kevin Raye (R-Perry)

EAST MILLINOCKET – Maine Senate President Kevin Raye (R-Perry) and Senator Doug Thomas (R-Ripley) visited the Great Northern Paper mill in East Millinocket on Tuesday, June 5th, where they toured the mill and met with representatives of Cate Street Capital.  Raye and Thomas also visited for a first-hand look at the site on the campus of the closed Millinocket mill where Thermogen Industries plans to create jobs manufacturing torrefied wood pellets.

The Thermogen proposal received a boost in May when Raye and Thomas successfully included an amendment to the state budget that makes the project eligible for participation in Maine’s New Markets Capital Investment Program (NMCIP).  Raye sponsored the law establishing the New Markets tax credit last year, in an effort to encourage private sector investment in job creation in areas of Maine that have been left behind economically.

The amendment pushed by Raye and Thomas this year increased the cap for the program from $10 million to $40 million, which will encourage Cate Street Capital to make an investment in the project through its Thermogen Industries subsidiary.

“Cate Street really did create a dual opportunity,” said Senator Thomas. “Making use of the idled Millinocket paper mill property as a wood-product manufacturing facility is a great idea, a natural fit, and a boost to a town sorely in need of new jobs,” said Senator Thomas. “It’s also a boost to Maine port towns where these wood products will be shipped overseas.”

“The New Markets Tax Credit is designed to boost the economy in areas of greatest need,” said Raye.  “That’s why I introduced it, and it is exciting to see it hold such great promise for the Katahdin Region, which has been hit so hard by the loss of traditional paper-making jobs.  We need to do everything we can to encourage quality jobs and ensure a bright future for rural Maine.”

The Senators were greeted in East Millinocket by Richard Cyr, CEO and President of Great Northern Paper (GNP) and Thermogen, and COO of Cate Street Capital. Everett O’Neill, GNP’s Vice President of Operations and Manufacturing, took Raye and Thomas on a tour of the East Millinocket mill, and then the Senators visited Millinocket with Cyr and other company officials.

“Those of us who live and work in rural Maine have seen so many manufacturing plants idled and wasting away,” said Senator Raye. “The New Markets Tax Credit and other steps we have taken to make Maine more jobs-friendly are making a difference as we look to the future.”

Senator Collins convinces House-Senate negotiators to approve plan to allow heavier trucks to use Maine’s federal interstates for at least 20 years

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, has successfully negotiated an agreement that would allow the heaviest trucks to travel on federal interstates in Maine for at least 20 years instead of forcing them off the highways and onto Maine’s secondary roads and downtown streets.

While the Senate originally approved Senator Collins’ provision to make this change permanent, the House never approved a similar provision.  As a member of the committee charged with working out the differences between the two bills, Senator Collins successfully negotiated this 20-year compromise agreement. Final votes in the House and Senate are expected next week.  The bill would then be sent to the President for his signature.

Senator Collins has led the effort to allow trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds to travel on Maine’s federal interstates –including I-95, 195, 295, and 395.  Senator Collins has worked closely with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), also a member of the Transportation Subcommittee, and this agreement for Maine is paired with a similar change for Vermont.

“We faced significant opposition to our plan to permanently allow the heaviest trucks to drive on our federal interstates in Maine and Vermont,” said Senator Collins.  “But moving these trucks from our downtown streets and onto the federal interstates where they belong has always been one of my top transportation priorities.  The agreement that I negotiated to allow the heaviest trucks on the highway for at least the next 20 years is a major accomplishment that will help shippers, truckers, and Maine’s job creators.  More important, it will improve safety for Mainers who live, work, and go to school along the secondary roads, and busy downtowns where these trucks are currently forced to travel.”

Senator Collins’ effort is supported by the Association of Police, the Maine State Police, the State Troopers Association, the Maine Department of Public Safety, the Chiefs of Police, the Maine Motor Transport Association, the Parent Teacher Association, and the Bangor School Department, who have all expressed the importance of safety in getting these heaviest trucks off our local roadways and onto the interstates where they belong.

Currently, the heaviest trucks in Maine are diverted onto secondary roadways that cut through our downtowns on narrow streets, creating a major safety concern.  In most of the surrounding New England states and nearby Canadian provinces, the heaviest trucks are free to use the interstates, but not in Maine and Vermont.  This puts Maine businesses at a distinct competitive disadvantage.  Heavy trucks already operate on some 22,500 miles of non-interstate roads in Maine, in addition to the approximately 167 miles of the Maine Turnpike.  But the nearly 260 miles of non-Turnpike interstates that are major economic corridors are off limits.

In 2009, a pilot project that Senator Collins wrote, was included in the 2010 Omnibus Appropriations bill.  This one-year pilot project allowed trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds to travel on Maine’s federal interstates.  According to the Maine Department of Transportation, during the one-year period covered by the pilot, the number of crashes involving trucks on Maine’s local roads was reduced by 72 compared to a five-year average.



Governor LePage & Logging Contractors Discuss Prosperous Future for Loggers

New Gloucester – The Board of Directors of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine met with Governor LePage today to discuss concerns they have about the future of Maine’s logging industry. PLC is a trade organization of loggers serving loggers. “Our Board was excited to meet with Governor LePage today (Tuesday, November 8^th) in Augusta to talk about our concerns”, stated, Tom Cushman, the group’s President.

“This was a great opportunity for these business owners to reach out to Governor LePage, and provide him with a background of the logging business and the challenges and changes we have seen over past two decades. We highlighted our serious concern for the future of our logging contractor’s business viability and the negative impact their exiting the business would have on the entire forest products industry here in Maine. We want to make certain our industry is vibrant for future generations of loggers and we are convinced this is what the Governor wants too,” explained Beardsley, PLC’s Executive Director.

“We are grateful that the Governor agreed to meet with us, this is the first Governor to consent to meet with our Board, it was an honor”, remarked Brian Souers, PLC’s 2^nd Vice President. Souers continued, “We discussed the ‘bonded labor issue’ and the factors contributing to overall capacity issues from the logger’s perspective.  Healthy logging contractors will add capacity in terms of employees and equipment, if their logging operations are profitable and the potential financial rewards outweigh the potential financial risks. We discussed the challenges logging contractors face, possible solutions, and how the administration can help.”

“Governor LePage made it clear that Maine needs to create more jobs and better jobs. Logging contractors provide well paying jobs with benefits.  We met with the Governor, as private enterprises, to discuss ways the state can be more responsive to loggers as business owners, to allow loggers to prosper and serve as a catalyst for job creation in Maine” said Bob Linkletter, PLC’s 1^st Vice President.

PLC was created in 1995 by a group of Maine Loggers to provide loggers a voice in a rapidly changing industry. We continue this effort today, representing loggers that harvest 75% of the actively harvested land in Maine. From the outset, PLC has focused on advocacy, safety, quality operations and business innovation. Our Members realize that harvesting is more than just cutting trees. They are highly skilled, business professionals and are an integral part of Maine’s economic engine. Our Members are dedicated to maintaining a safe work environment, a healthy forest and industry, as well as being efficient and profitable. Always have been, always will be. PLC of Maine is standing strong for loggers, yesterday, today and tomorrow. For more information visit our website www.maineloggers.com or call our office 207-688-8195.