PORTLAND – Maine Gov. John Baldacci on Friday signed a civil emergency declaration aimed at helping the state’s forest products industry – particularly independent logging truck operators – suffering from soaring diesel fuel prices.

The state will expedite weekly fuel tax reimbursements for logging truck operators and other off-road diesel users while working with gas station operators to find a way in the future to avoid charging the tax at the pump, Baldacci said.

Also, Baldacci is petitioning President Bush to ease weight restrictions on Interstate 95 and Interstate 395 north of Augusta, allowing truckers to use those routes to cut down on miles traveled.

Maine’s average diesel price has grown 28 cents over the past month to $3.62 a gallon, according to AAA. That’s 99 cents higher than a year ago.

“Diesel prices in Maine are at all-time highs, and it is having a devastating impact on our economy, and particularly on the forest products industry,” Baldacci said from Augusta after a meeting with truckers and loggers.

Baldacci was told during the meeting with logging industry representatives that logging truck drivers are locked into contracts where they cannot pass along the growing diesel costs, said David Farmer, the governor’s spokesman.

Industry representatives said as many as 20 percent of the independent logging truck operators could go out of business if something isn’t done, Farmer said.

Belinda Raymond of Kingman, whose husband is owner-operator of a logging truck, said the governor’s actions would take some pressure off truckers, for whom diesel expenses are consuming upward of 50 percent of their paychecks.

“Some of them have tried to sell their trucks,” Raymond said. “Some have parked them. They’re on their lawns for sale.”

While Baldacci’s signing of the civil emergency declaration allows the state to mobilize its efforts and seek help from the president, the state’s first action targets the state’s 28.8-cent diesel fuel tax, the spokesman said.

Although operators of logging trucks and diesel-powered machinery already are exempt from the tax, they have to pay it at the pump and then seek a reimbursement from the state, a cumbersome process that Baldacci wants to eliminate, Farmer said.

For the time being, the state will expedite those reimbursements and encourage operators to file weekly reimbursement requests, he said.

Baldacci also ordered the Department of Transportation to identify roads that can tolerate weights up to 105,000 pounds for Maine-registered logging trucks, allowing the truckers to take direct routes and reduce mileage.

Also, Baldacci asked the president to waive the federal weight limit of 80,000 pounds on I-95 and I-395 north of Augusta. Currently, truckers north of Augusta have to use state roads for which the weight limit is 100,000 pounds.

Among other actions, Baldacci is submitting an emergency bill to speed up the reimbursement for 2007 property taxes paid on forest products equipment eligible for credits under the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement Program.

He’s also submitting emergency legislation to rescind the sales tax on parts and supplies needed to repair and maintain forestry equipment and trucks.