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An Act To Increase Snowmobile Registration Fees
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §13104, sub-§1-A  is enacted to read:
 
1-A.  Operating on trail system.   Except as provided in subsection 4, paragraph A, subparagraph (2), a person may not operate a snowmobile on a snowmobile trail that is funded in whole or in part by the Snowmobile Trail Fund. A person who violates this subsection commits a civil violation for which a fine of $200 may be adjudged. One hundred dollars from each fine assessed must be transferred to the Snowmobile Trail Fund of the Department of Conservation, Bureau of Parks and Lands.
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §13104, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2007, c. 556, §3, is further amended to read:
 
4. Fee. Except as provided in subsection 5, the annual snowmobile registration fee is as follows:
 
A.  For residents, $35. The registration for a snowmobile owned by a resident is valid for one year, commencing on July 1st of each year.:
 
(1) Who do not use a snowmobile trail that is funded in whole or in part by the Snowmobile Trail Fund, $35; and
 
(2) Who use a snowmobile trail that is funded in whole or in part by the Snowmobile Trail Fund, $50.
 
The registration for a snowmobile owned by a resident is valid for one year, commencing on July 1st of each year.
 
B.  For nonresidents:
 
(1) Forty-three dollars for a 3-consecutive-day registration. A person may purchase more than one 3-day registration in any season; and
 
(2) Fifty-eight dollars for a 10-consecutive-day registration. A person may purchase more than one 10-day registration in any season; and
 
(3) Eighty-eight dollars for a seasonal registration.
 
The registration for a snowmobile owned by a nonresident must specify the dates for which the registration is valid.
 
Five dollars from each registration fee collected pursuant to this subsectionparagraph A, subparagraph (1) and paragraph B must be transferred to a special fund administered by the Off-Road Vehicle Division of the Bureau of Parks and Lands within the Department of Conservation. The funds must be used to assist any entity that has a snowmobile trail-grooming contract with the bureau in the purchase of trail-grooming equipment.
 
Two dollars from each resident snowmobile registration fee must be transferred to the Snowmobile Trail Fund of the Department of Conservation, Bureau of Parks and Lands.
 
Ten dollars from each registration fee collected pursuant to paragraph A, subparagraph (2) must be transferred to the Snowmobile Trail Fund of the Department of Conservation, Bureau of Parks and Lands and $1 must be transferred to the Support Landowners Program in section 10108, subsection 4, paragraph A.
 
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a snowmobile nontrail registration for anglers, trappers and other snowmobilers who do not use a snowmobile trail that is funded in whole or in part by the Snowmobile Trail Fund. The bill also increases the snowmobile registration fee for a resident from $35 to $50. The bill deletes the 10-day nonresident registration option. The bill also makes it a civil violation for a person to operate a snowmobile on a snowmobile trail that is funded in whole or in part by the Snowmobile Trail Fund if the person does not have a groomed trail system snowmobile registration and sets a fine of $200 for that violation.