1. Program established; administration. The Maine Working Waterfront Access Protection Program, referred to in this section as “the program,” is established to provide protection to strategically significant working waterfront property whose continued availability to commercial fisheries 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 organize 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 waterfront property must include, but are not limited to:

4. Grant agreements. The commissioner shall enter into grant agreements with state agencies and designated cooperating entities for the purpose of receiving grants from the Maine Working Waterfront Access Protection Fund under Title 5, section 6203-B.

5. Right of first refusal. The commissioner shall retain a permanent right of first refusal on any working waterfront property acquired in fee or protected by working waterfront covenant or other less-than-fee interests under Title 5, section 6203-B. Exercise of the right of first refusal must be at a price determined by an independent professional appraiser based on the value of the working waterfront property to a commercial fisheries business at the time of the exercise of the right. The commissioner may assign this right to a commercial fisheries business or to a local government if, in the commissioner’s judgment, such an assignment is consistent with the purposes of this section.

6. Termination. If the commissioner determines that the public purposes of a grant made under subsection 4 are no longer served, the commissioner may, consistent with the provisions of Title 33, chapter 6-A, terminate a grant agreement made under subsection 4 conditional on repayment of the original grant amount or an amount equal to that proportion of the then-current value of the protected property that represents the ratio of the original grant amount to the original fee interest value at the time of the grant. Any funds recovered under this subsection must be deposited into the Maine Working Waterfront Access Protection Fund under Title 5, section 6203-B and may be expended only for the purposes of this section.