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An Act To Change the Requirements for Recording Plans at the County Registries of Deeds
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 33 MRSA §652, as amended by PL 2003, c. 55, §2, is further amended to read:
§ 652.Recording plans
The county commissioners shall provide, at the expense of the several counties, suitable storage for plans with a minimum size of 12 by 1811 by 17 and a maximum of 24 by 36 inches in dimension, for the preservation of such plans.
NoA plan may not be accepted for recording unless all of the following criteria are met. The plan must:
 
1. Materials.  Be For a plan dated before January 1, 2020, be drawn upon strong linen cloth or polyester film with archival photographic image or white 20-pound paper.For a plan dated on or after January 1, 2020, the plan must be submitted on white paper with a minimum weight of 20 pounds;
 
2. Seals.   Be embossed, sealed or both, with the seal of an architect, professional engineer or registeredprofessional land surveyor;
 
3. Signature.   Contain the signature and address of the person who prepared the plan;
 
4. Recording information.   Provide a spaceregister's block no smaller than 3 by 3 inches for recording the county, date, time, plan book and page or file number and register's attest; and
 
5. Title.   Provide a title block containing the name of the plan, the record owner's name and address, the location by street and town and the date of the plan.
Original plans must be recorded with a paper copyPaper plans submitted for recording must be rolled and not folded. The register may return plans that are not legible for recording and archival purposes and the processing of which may damage county equipment or resources. The register shall permanently file the original, create a digital image of the plan at a minimum of 300 dots per inch or 300 pixels per inch and maintain a copy for public inspection in at least one of the following media: paper, microfilm, microfiche or digital image stored on magnetic or optical mediaform. Suitable arrangements must be made for the preserving of original plans while affording the public reasonable opportunity to examine either the original or a reproduction. No additional fee is required for recording the copyEach plan must be microfilmed for archival purposes. Each register shall maintain an index of all plans on recordsrecord in the register's office.
The several registers shall establish, and thereafter adhere to, reasonable standards for the implementation of reproducing copies of original plans as recorded. Reproduction must be on a scale of one to one and must be accomplished with the least possible error and distortion. Methods of reproduction must be to standards in keeping with accepted engineering and survey practices.
 
Effective 90 days following adjournment of the 129th Legislature, First Regular Session, unless otherwise indicated.