01 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY

001 FUND TO ADDRESS PFAS CONTAMINATION

SUMMARY: The 130th Legislature authorized a Fund to Address PFAS Contamination (7 M.R.S.A., Chapter 10-D). Permissible uses include support for research that informs short-term farm management decisions and assesses future options for viable uses of agricultural land that has been contaminated with PFAS. Consistent with the legislatively mandated PFAS Fund Implementation Plan, these rules establish the procedures for a competitive research grant program, including the role of the proposal review panel, criteria for granting awards consistent with the purpose of the legislation, appeals, and other administrative procedures not specified in legislation.

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§ 1. OVERVIEW

The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) hereby establishes the rules for a competitive grant program to fund research that will help commercial farmers make informed decisions about how to utilize agricultural property that has been impacted by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

§ 2. CONSISTENT WITH STATUTE

All terms used in this Chapter shall be defined as indicated in Title 7 M.R.S.A, Chapter 10-B unless specifically provided herein.

§ 3. DEFINITIONS

1. 1. “Awardee” means an individual or entity that has been awarded a competitive research grant by DACF according to the terms of this Chapter.
2. 2. “Equipment” means tangible personal property (including information technology systems) having a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds $5,000.
3. 3. “Fringe benefits” include but are not limited to the costs of leave (e.g., vacation, family-related, sick or military), employee insurance, pensions, and unemployment benefit plans for individuals who will be working directly on the funded research project.
4. 4. “Indirect costs” mean any costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives that cannot be readily identified with an individual project, program, or organizational activity. They generally include facilities operation and maintenance costs, depreciation, and administrative expenses.
5. 5. “Open file format” means a file format for storing digital data, defined by a published specification usually maintained by a standards organization, and which can be used and implemented by anyone with access to a computer.
6. 6. “Open-access journal” means an academic journal that provides free online access to peer-reviewed articles.
7. 7. “Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances” or “PFAS” has the same meaning as in Title 32, section 1732, subsection 5-A. 
8. 8. “Publication fees” mean fees charged by publishers to authors for making their research articles open access. Publication fees are also known as article processing charges.
9. 9. “Rental fees” mean monetary payments made for the temporary use of tangible or real property including but not limited to agricultural land.
10. 10. “Salary” means fixed compensation paid regularly for services performed by individuals who will be working directly on the funded research project.
11. 11. “Services” mean an action or activity performed for the grant recipient, often intangible and providing value by fulfilling a need or achieving a desired outcome. It can be a transaction, an activity, or a function provided by a person, company, or organization. Services include but are not limited to laboratory analysis, professional services, consulting, field support (e.g., operating farm equipment, managing crops, animal husbandry), and postage and shipping services.
12. 12. “Subaward” means the portion of an awardee’s DACF-funded research grant that an awardee provides to a separate entity to carry out a component of the awardee’s research project. It does not include payments to a service provider. A subaward may be provided through any form of legal agreement, including an agreement that the awardee considers a contract.
13. 13. “Supplies” means all tangible personal property other than those defined as equipment.
14. 14. “Travel costs” include but are not limited to costs associated with transportation, parking, lodging, meals, and conference registration fees.
15. 15. “Tuition remission” means the monetary value of instruction costs waived by an academic institution, typically in support of graduate students. Tuition remission does not include the value of scholarships or fellowships paid to students.

§ 4. FUNDING

The Fund to Address PFAS Contamination (PFAS Fund) is funded by an appropriation from State general funds as provided by Maine Public Laws, 2021, Chapter 635, and any subsequent appropriations, and, whenever possible, any additional funding that may be available from other sources.

§ 5. RESEARCH ADVISORY PANEL

1. Responsibilities. A research advisory panel will be established by the Commissioner of DACF to:
   1. recommend research priorities for each round of grant funding;
   2. based on those priorities, identify desired areas of expertise for peer reviewers;
   3. propose peer review strategies that assure an absence of conflicts of interest; and
   4. help identify qualified peer reviewers.
2. The research advisory panel will consist of:
   1. The Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designee;
   2. The Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection or the Commissioner’s designee;
   3. The Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Commissioner’s designee;
   4. The President of the University of Maine or the President’s designee,
   5. One member of the public with expertise in agriculturally-related PFAS science, appointed by the Commissioner; and
   6. Two members of the public representing the agricultural sector, appointed by the Commissioner.
3. Terms. The members of the public appointed by the Commissioner serve on the research advisory panel for terms of 3 years. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, the Commissioner shall appoint initial public members to the proposal review panel as follows: 1 member of the public for a 2-year term, and 1 member of the public for a 3-year term.
4. Recusal. Members of the research advisory panel must disclose any real or perceived conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from voting on any matters in which they have a real or perceived conflict of interest.
5. Compensation. Public members of the research advisory panel will be entitled to reimbursement of expenses in accordance with 5 M.R.S.A. § 12002-D when funding is available and prior approval is received from the PFAS Fund director.  

§ 6. ELIGIBILITY AND LIMITATIONS

1. 1. The following entities are eligible to apply for research grants unless more specifically limited in a grant solicitation at issue:
   1. a. public and private institutions of higher education or individual employees thereof;
      1. b. public and private nonprofit institutions/organizations or individual employees thereof;
      2. c. state and local governments;
      3. d. Tribal governments; and
      4. e. Private for-profit entities.
2. 2. Public and private entities must be based in the United States and managed and controlled by United States entities.
3. 3. Allowable costs. The budget categories listed below are an exclusive list of allowable budget categories.
   1. a. Salary;
      1. b. Fringe benefits;
      2. c. Supplies;
      3. d. Publication fees;
      4. e. Travel costs;
      5. f. Services;
      6. g. Subawards;
      7. h. Rental fees;
      8. i. Equipment;
      9. j. Tuition remission; and
      10. k. Indirect costs as limited in Section 6.4.
   2. 4. Indirect
      1. a. The indirect rate is 10 percent unless:
         1. i. a Federal funding source requires reliance on an approved federal Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA), or
         2. ii. the applicant is a Maine-based institution with an existing policy that defines the indirect rate for agreements with the State of Maine as a percentage of that institution’s federally negotiated indirect cost rate, in which case the indirect rate is no more than one-half of that institution’s federally negotiated indirect cost rate.
      2. b. When calculating indirect costs:
         1. i. the total cost of salary, fringe benefits, supplies, publication fees, and travel costs can be included;
         2. ii. the first $25,000 of each service or subaward can be included; and
         3. iii. the cost of rentals, equipment, and tuition remission cannot be included.

§ 7. SOLICITATION AND AWARD PROCEDURES

1. While funds remain available, DACF may solicit proposals at any time during the fiscal year but shall solicit proposals at least once per year through fiscal year 2026.
2. DACF will issue a Request for Applications (RFA) to solicit grant applications. DACF will identify research priorities in the RFA. All research proposals must be submitted in the form and in accordance with the terms directed by DACF in the RFA.
3. The peer reviewers identified through the process described in Section 5 shall evaluate and score proposals, based on evaluation criteria contained in Section 8. Peer reviewers shall document each proposal’s score and substantive information that supports the score.
4. Final decision-making authority for awarding grants rests with the Commissioner, based upon the internal non-technical review and evaluation criteria set forth in Section 8, and the recommendations of the peer reviewers. If there is a tie among the highest-ranked proposals, the Commissioner may also consider:
   1. The degree to which results of the proposed research have broad application to, or affect large segments of, the PFAS-impacted agricultural community;
   2. The degree to which the research is designed to produce data and methods that can immediately or with little to no translation be utilized by producers to better assess or manage PFAS in agricultural systems; and
   3. Whether a proposal presents a duplication of effort.
5. DACF will send a written notification of a grant award to a selected applicant.
6. If an applicant is not selected, DACF will send the applicant a written notice of its decision. Such notice will include documentation of the review panel’s scores for the applicant. Appeals will be decided by DACF in accordance with the procedures outlined in Section 10 below.
7. DACF reserves the right to cap the amount of funding for all requests based on available resources. 

§ 8. EVALUATION CRITERIA

1. Internal non-technical review: All research proposals seeking funding from the PFAS Fund will be reviewed by DACF for completeness and conformity with the terms of the RFA. Submission of incomplete or late proposals may result in a reduced score or disqualification according to the criteria contained within the subject RFA.

1. 2. Technical review: All research proposals seeking funding from the PFAS Fund will be evaluated according to the following criteria.
   1. a. Research priority. If a research priority area has been designated by the Commissioner and the proposal relates directly, the project will score higher. 10 points.
   2. b. Identification of Need, Opportunity, Justification. Projects must have potential importance and benefits, including economic, for the Maine agricultural community. 20 points.
   3. c. Deliverables. Project deliverables should be clearly stated. A plan to distribute research results must be specified. Proposals that include an intention to publish results in an open access journal will score higher. 15 points.
   4. d. Project Methodology and Schedule. The methodology must be clear and scientifically valid, and the project timetable realistic. 25 points.
   5. e. Project Management. Proposals must be consistent with the qualifications and abilities of the persons involved. Proposals that include collaborations with multiple institutions, farmers, and/or agricultural service providers will score higher. Proposals for projects conducted within the State of Maine or by Maine-based institutions will score higher. 20 points.
   6. f. Budget. Proposals must be able to show clear and realistic descriptions of how the funds will be allocated. Permissible budget items include compensation to farmers for plot rental and plot maintenance, as well as publication fees for open-access journals. 10 points.

§ 9. AWARDEE OBLIGATIONS

As a condition of accepting grant funding, applicants must agree to:

1. Provide their raw data and metadata to DACF in an open file format or publish the raw data and metadata to an open academic data repository, and
2. Provide copies of any publications resulting from the research grant to DACF.

§ 10. MATCH

1. 1. Authority. While funds remain available in the PFAS Fund, DACF may commit money from the PFAS Fund to grant matching funds for research proposals submitted in response to solicitations issued by external grantmaking entities. DACF may commit matching funds at its discretion and is under no obligation to commit matching funds within any specific timeframe.
2. 2. Identification of Solicitations Eligible for Matching funds from the PFAS Fund. When determining whether to commit the PFAS Fund to award matching funds for research proposals submitted in response to solicitations issued by an external grantmaking entity, DACF will consider whether the external grantmaking entity:

1. 1. requires cost-sharing as part of its grant requirements;
   2. recognizes State funds as an allowable form of match; and
   3. uses a competitive selection process that includes external peer reviewers and evaluation criteria that are comparable to the criteria described within this Chapter, as determined by the PFAS Fund director in consultation with the Research Advisory Panel.
      1. The analysis will include a comparison of the processes and evaluation criteria identified in this Chapter and in the subject request for proposals issued by the external grantmaking entity.
      2. The results of the inquiry will be memorialized in a memorandum to file and communicated to external grantmaking entities and potential applicants as appropriate under the circumstances.

1. 3. Establish a Cap on Matching Funds. The PFAS Fund director will establish a limit on the amount of match funding available for each external grant solicitation approved under Section 10(2).
2. 4. Consideration of Requests for Matching Funds.
   1. a. DACF may commit money from the PFAS Fund as matching funds only for proposals that are consistent with DACF’s goal to fund research that will help commercial farmers make informed decisions about how to utilize agricultural property that has been impacted by PFAS and that advance a research priority designated by the Commissioner.
      1. b. The use of matching funds is subject to the eligibility and limitation requirements included in Section 6.
      2. c. Requests for matching funds that satisfy subsections (a) and (b) of this Section 10(4) will be approved on a rolling basis until the cap established under Section 10(3) is met.
      3. d. DACF’s offer to provide matching funds for a proposal submitted in response to a solicitation approved under Section 10(2) is contingent on the proposal being funded by the external grantmaking entity.

§ 11 RIGHT TO APPEAL

1. If an application is denied, DACF must send the applicant a written notice of its decision. Such notice must include an explanation of why the application was denied. 
2. An aggrieved person may appeal a grant award decision by requesting an appeal hearing according to the procedures defined in 01-001 C.M.R. Chapter 8, §§ 4-6, Rules for Departmental Grant Awards and Appeals.

§ 12. WAIVER

Upon the request of any person subject to this Chapter or upon its own motion, the PFAS Fund may, for good cause, request waiver of any requirement of this Chapter that is not required by statute. The waiver may not be inconsistent with the purposes of this Chapter or Title 7, Chapter 10-D. The Commissioner of DACF may grant the waiver in extenuating circumstances.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: 7 MRS Ch. 10-D §320-K - §320-L and PL 2021, ch. 635, sec. XX-3

EFFECTIVE DATE:

March 17, 2024 – filing 2024-058

APAO ACCESSIBILITY CHECK:

January 21, 2026 (no issues detected)

AMENDED:

January 25, 2026 – filing 2026-023