HB1603: relative to administration and enforcement by the division of forests and lands over forest resources and timber harvesting.

HB 1603-FN – AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

08mar06… 1108h

05/03/06 2014s

05/03/06 2151s

2006 SESSION

06-2662

04/10

HOUSE BILL 1603-FN

AN ACT relative to administration and enforcement by the division of forests and lands over forest resources and timber harvesting; requiring security officers of the New Hampshire hospital security force to be fully certified as police officers; and including such security officers in group II of the New Hampshire retirement system.

SPONSORS: Rep. Patten, Carr 4; Rep. Solomon, Graf 10

COMMITTEE: Resources, Recreation and Development

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill:

I. Requires all forest rangers hired after January 1, 2005 to complete the preparatory training for full-time police officers established by the police standards and training council and provides that any forest ranger hired before January 1, 2005 shall be certified as a full-time police officer upon successful completion of the preparatory training course.

II. Authorizes the director of the division of forests and lands to regulate entry into, or movement within, the state of any wood product which may cause the introduction or spread of a dangerous insect or disease.

III. Defines and regulates wood concentration yards.

IV. Penalizes the failure to provide a written contract for the purchase or sale of forestry products as a deceptive forestry business practice.

V. Requires security officers of the New Hampshire hospital security force to be fully certified as police officers by the police standards and training council.

VI. Includes such security officers in group II of the New Hampshire retirement system.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

08mar06… 1108h

05/03/06 2014s

05/03/06 2151s

06-2662

04/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six

AN ACT relative to administration and enforcement by the division of forests and lands over forest resources and timber harvesting; requiring security officers of the New Hampshire hospital security force to be fully certified as police officers; and including such security officers in group II of the New Hampshire retirement system.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Forestry; Definitions. Amend RSA 227-G:2, XIV to read as follows:

XIV. “Primary wood processing mill” means any permanent or portable mill, or any off-site log yard operated by a primary wood processing mill, wherever located, sawing or otherwise processing logs, bolts, pulpwood, or other primary forest products into secondary forest products.

2 Forestry; Definitions. Amend RSA 227-G:2, XVII to read as follows:

XVII. “Wood concentration yard” means any site established and used for the purchase and resale of primary forest products from off-site locations and which is not a primary wood processing mill. Any site used primarily to process or store bark mulch shall not be a wood concentration yard.

XVIII. “Woodland” includes cut-over land, slash, and such other land as bears a sufficient amount of wood growth, wood, weeds, grass, or other growth as to be likely to be burned over.

3 New Paragraph; Forestry; Fines; Penalties. Amend RSA 227-G:5-a, by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:

III. Unless otherwise provided by law, any person who violates any rule adopted under RSA 227-G:4 shall be guilty of a violation.

4 Forestry; Validity of Prosecutions. Amend RSA 227-G:8 to read as follows:

227-G:8 Validity of Prosecutions. Forest rangers and officials of the division appointed to enforce this title and other laws provided for in RSA 227-G:7 are authorized, upon successful completion of the preparatory training programs for full-time or part-time police officers established by the police standards and training council under RSA 188-F and their subsequent certification as full-time or part-time police officers, to prosecute these laws within the jurisdiction of municipal and district courts, unless the prosecutorial jurisdiction over a particular case or class of cases is preempted by the county attorney or the attorney general. Prosecutions for violations of any provisions of this title are declared to be valid and proper, notwithstanding the existence of any law of this state dealing with matters that may be the same as or similar to those covered by this title.

5 Forestry; Training of Forest Rangers. Amend RSA 227-G:9 to read as follows:

227-G:9 Training of Forest Rangers.

I. Any forest ranger of the division appointed to enforce the provisions of this title and other laws provided for in RSA 227-G:7, shall successfully complete the preparatory training for part-time police officers established by the police standards and training council pursuant to RSA 188-F no later than one year from the date of hire. Upon successful completion of the training program, such forest ranger shall be certified as a part-time police officer.

II. Any forest ranger of the division hired after January 1, 2005 appointed to enforce the provisions of this title and other laws provided for in RSA 227-G:7, shall successfully complete the preparatory training for full-time police officers established by the police standards and training council pursuant to RSA 188-F no later than one year from the date of hire. Upon successful completion of the training program, such forest ranger shall be certified as a full-time police officer.

III. Any forest ranger of the division hired before January 1, 2005 shall be certified as a full-time police officer upon successful completion of the preparatory training for full-time police officers established by the police standards and training council pursuant to RSA 188-F.

6 New Paragraphs; Forest Health; Duties of the Director. Amend RSA 227-K:2 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraphs:

III. The director and the director’s authorized agents may prohibit or regulate the entry into the state, or the movement within the state, of any tree, timber, log, wood, pole, underwood, or bark, or the products thereof, which in the agent’s judgment may cause the introduction or spread of a dangerous insect or disease.

IV. The director, with the approval of the commissioner and after notice and hearing pursuant to RS 541-A, may impose an administrative fine not to exceed $2,000 for each offense upon any person who violates any provision of this chapter. Rehearings and appeals from a decision of the director under this paragraph shall be in accordance with RSA 541. Any administrative fine imposed under this section shall not preclude the imposition of further penalties under this chapter. The commissioner shall adopt rules, under RSA 541-A, relative to:

(a) A schedule of administrative fines which may be imposed under this paragraph for violation of this chapter.

(b) Procedures for notice and hearing prior to the imposition of an administrative fine.

V. The proceeds of administrative fines levied pursuant to paragraph III shall be deposited by the director into the forest management and protection fund established under RSA 227-G:5, I.

7 Forest Resource Information; Primary Wood Processing Mills. Amend RSA 227-I:9 to read as follows:

227-I:9 Primary Wood Processing Mills; Wood Concentration Yards; Registration; Penalty.

I. In order to [provide for the safety of woodlands from fire in relation to primary wood processing mills, and to protect and develop the state’s forest resources, information as to location, owner, type of mill, operating capacity, species and volumes of wood and timber being processed, and output of wood and timber products shall be required] protect and develop the state’s forest resources, provide for the safety of woodlands from fire in relation to primary wood processing mills, and to respond to forest health threats, such mills and wood concentration yards shall be registered by the director. Primary wood processing mills shall provide the director with information on the locations, owner, type of mill, operating capacity, species, volumes, and state of origin of wood harvested and timber processed, purchased, and sold, and the output of wood and timber products.

II.(a) No person shall operate or cause to be operated any mill processing primary forest products or wood concentration yard unless said mill or wood concentration yard shall be registered by the director.

(b) There shall be an annual mill registration fee of $20 for all mills processing primary forest products or wood concentration yards, regardless of size, type of mill or wood concentration yard, or primary product being processed.

(c) Application for registration shall be made on forms provided by the director, giving the name of owner or owners, and locations[, type and capacity] of a primary wood processing mill or a wood concentration yard. Primary wood processing mills shall provide the director with information on the [,] products produced, type, capacity, and such other pertinent information as the director may require. One application shall cover a mill complex in a given location involving more than one unit of equipment.

(d) The director shall issue to the applicant a permanent registration number assigned to the mill or wood concentration yard described in the application together with a sign or plate denoting such registration number, to be displayed in a conspicuous place at the mill or wood concentration yard.

III. The director, or duly authorized agent, may, at any time, inspect any primary wood processing mill or wood concentration yard to assure compliance with the provisions of this chapter.

IV. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this section or rules adopted under RSA 541-A shall, for the first 30-day period, be guilty of a violation if a natural person, or guilty of a misdemeanor if any other person. Each subsequent 30-day period or part thereof shall constitute a separate offense.

8 Timber Harvesting; Deceptive Forestry Business Practices. Amend RSA 227-J:15, II to read as follows:

II. In this section, “adulterated” means varying from a standard of composition or quality prescribed by any statute providing criminal penalties for such variance, or set by established commercial usage. In this section, “mislabeled” means varying from a standard of truth or disclosure in labeling prescribed by any law providing criminal penalties for such variance, or set by established commercial usage. In this section, “scale slip” means a written or printed form or combination of forms which provide an accurate, readily understandable record [of the measurement of the wood to which it relates and is prepared by the person who measured the wood] containing the species of wood product, board footage of each individual log when the standard unit of measurement is per thousand board feet, or tonnage or cordage when not sold per thousand board feet, gross scale, defect, net scale, date wood was measured, and the name of the party scaling the wood.

III. A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if, in the course of buying or selling a forest product as defined in RSA 227-G:4, VII, he or she recklessly fails to provide a written contract to the owner, prior to the cutting from the owner’s property any forest products which are subject to a notice of intent to cut as defined in RSA 79:10. The contract shall be signed by both parties, specify the remuneration for the forest products to be cut, and the time in which remuneration shall be made.

9 Department of Safety; Duties of Commissioner. Amend RSA 21-P:4, XI to read as follows:

XI. Have the discretion to grant to security officers of the New Hampshire hospital security force, who shall be fully certified as police officers by the police standards and training council, such titles, ranks, and police powers as the commissioner deems necessary [up to and including that of ex officio constables] including the power of arrest for violations of the criminal and motor vehicle laws and the power to serve criminal process, and may limit such powers as deemed necessary. They shall have general police powers on the state office campus and New Hampshire hospital grounds and when in hot pursuit of a person who has committed a crime on the campus or escaped from the hospital, and when acting to transport a patient to or from the hospital, the court, or another mental health facility.

10 Authority of Hospital Security Force Officers. Amend RSA 21-P:7-c, I to read as follows:

I. All security officers of the hospital security force shall possess such police powers as are granted to them by the commissioner of safety pursuant to RSA 21-P:4, XI. All officers of the hospital security force [hired after the effective date of this paragraph] shall be required to [meet the training standards required generally of] be fully certified as police officers by the police standards and training council pursuant to RSA 188-F and in addition shall receive additional training in dealing with persons with mental illness as specified by the commissioner of safety after consultation with the superintendent of the New Hampshire hospital.

11 New Subparagraph; New Hampshire Retirement System; Definitions; Permanent Policeman. Amend RSA 100-A:1, VII by inserting after subparagraph (f) the following new subparagraph:

(g) A security officer of the New Hampshire hospital security force who:

(1) Has the responsibilities granted by the commissioner of safety under RSA 21-P:4, XI;

(2) Has full general arrest powers;

(3) As a job requirement, is fully certified as a police officer by the police standards and training council; and

(4) As a job requirement, meets all physical, mental, educational, and other qualifications for continuing certification as a police officer that may be established by the police standards and training council.

12 New Hampshire Retirement System; Exception From Definition of Permanent Policeman; New Hampshire Hospital Security Officers Deleted. Amend RSA 100-A:1, VII-a(b) to read as follows:

(b) Any bingo or lucky 7 inspector, [security officer appointed pursuant to RSA 21-P:7-b,] any juvenile probation and parole officer, or any person employed in the bureau of trails of the department of resources and economic development; or

13 Transitional Provisions. Any persons employed as security officers of the New Hampshire hospital security force on the date this act takes effect and who have not completed the training required by the police standards and training council for certification as full-time police officers shall be scheduled for training at the police academy at the earliest practical time without undue interruption to the security operations at the hospital. No person shall be entitled to join group II of the retirement system without successfully completing all the training and other requirements to be fully certified. Any person employed as a security officer of the security force on the date this act takes effect and who has not successfully completed all the training and requirements for full-time police certification shall be entitled to continue said employment or be transferred to a civilian position at a comparable labor grade at the hospital or the department of safety. All officers hired on or after July 1, 2006, if not already full-time certified, shall successfully complete the police academy within the time specified in RSA 188-F and the rules of the police standards and training council.

14 Effective Date.

I. Sections 9-13 of this act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

II. The remainder of this act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

LBAO

06-2662

11/7/05

HB 1603-FN - FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to administration and enforcement by the division of forests and lands over forest resources and timber harvesting.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Department of Resources and Economic Development determined this bill will increase state restricted revenue by $14,040 and general fund unrestricted revenue by $800 in FY 2007 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local revenue or state, county and local expenditures.

METHODOLOGY:

The Department of Resources and Economic Development (DRED) made the following assumptions to calculate the fiscal impact:

• Adding a penalty clause to RSA 227-G:5-a making violations of the administrative rules a violation level offense will generate $2,040 per year (first offense fine amount of $120 times 17 fines per year) of restricted revenue deposited into the Forest Protection personnel Training Fund.

• Authorizing the director to regulate entry and movement of wood into and within the state to prevent the spread of dangerous insect or disease will generate $12,000 per year in fines as restricted revenue deposited into the Forest Protection Personnel Training Fund.

• Requiring the registration of wood-concentration yards will generate $800 ($20 annual registration fee, times 40 concentration yards) of general fund revenue.