Maine § 7 §164 Maine Working Farmland Access and Protection Program

Maine Statutes

§ 7 §164 — Maine Working Farmland Access and Protection Program

Maine § 7 §164

Title 7AGRICULTURE AND ANIMALS

Part 1ADMINISTRATION

Ch. 6MAINE AGRICULTURE PROTECTION ACT

This text of Maine § 7 §164 (Maine Working Farmland Access and Protection Program) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 7, § 7 §164 (2026).

Text

1.Program established; administration. The Maine Working Farmland Access and Protection Program, referred to in this section as "the program," is established to provide protection to strategically significant working farmland properties as defined in Title 5, section 6201, subsection 4‑A whose continued availability to commercial agricultural businesses is essential to the long-term future of the economic sector. The department shall administer the program either directly or by contract with a suitable organization.

2.Review panel. The department shall establish a review panel to advise the commissioner in the operation of the program, including, but not limited to, evaluating applications and recommending to the department applicants for participation in the program.

3.Selection criter

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1.
Program established; administration.
The Maine Working Farmland Access and Protection Program, referred to in this section as "the program," is established to provide protection to strategically significant working farmland properties as defined in Title 5, section 6201, subsection 4‑A whose continued availability to commercial agricultural businesses is essential to the long-term future of the economic sector. The department shall administer the program either directly or by contract with a suitable organization.
2.
Review panel.
The department shall establish a review panel to advise the commissioner in the operation of the program, including, but not limited to, evaluating applications and recommending to the department applicants for participation in the program.
3.
Selection criteria.
The selection criteria with which to evaluate applications for protection of working farmland property under the program must include, but are not limited to:
4.
Grant agreements.
The commissioner shall enter into grant agreements with state agencies and cooperating entities for the purpose of receiving grants from the Maine Working Farmland Access and Protection Fund under Title 5, section 6203‑C.
5.
Funding.
A separate, nonlapsing, interest-bearing account, administered by the department, is established in the department within the Bureau of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources to support public-private partnerships to carry out the purposes of the program. The account consists of money appropriated or allocated to the account or received from any private or public source.