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An Act Concerning Debarment from Contracts with the Department of Environmental Protection
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  38 MRSA §349-B, sub-§1, ¶B  is enacted to read:
 
B.  "Business" means a corporation, business trust, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, firm, association, organization or any other legal or commercial entity.
Sec. 2.  38 MRSA §349-B, sub-§1, ¶C  is enacted to read:
 
C.  "Direct financial interest" means ownership or part ownership of a business, including lands, stocks, bonds, debentures, warrants, partnership shares or other holdings, and also means any other arrangement where the individual may benefit from that individual's holding in or salary from that business. "Direct financial interest" includes employment, pensions, creditor relationships, real property and other financial relationships.
Sec. 3. 38 MRSA §349-B, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 300, §1, is amended to read:
 
2. Debarment. The commissioner may, after hearing, debar from participation in contracts with the department for 2 years any personindividual or business found to have committed a repeat violation when either the time for filing an appeal of the determination of that violation has expired or the appeals process has been exhausted.
 
A.  If an individual is debarred under this section, any business in which that individual holds a direct financial interest may also be debarred if the commissioner finds that the individual is in a position to substantially influence the business's compliance with the laws and rules administered by the department.
 
B.  If a business is debarred under this section:
 
(1) Any individual that holds a direct financial interest in that debarred business may also be debarred if the commissioner finds that the individual knew or should have known of the actions or inactions upon which the debarment of the business is based and was or is in a position to substantially influence the debarred business's compliance with the laws and rules administered by the department; and
 
(2) Any other business that holds a direct financial interest in that debarred business may also be debarred if the commissioner finds that either business was or is in a position to substantially influence compliance by the other business with the laws and rules administered by the department.
 
Effective September 12, 2009