An Act to Amend Water Quality Standards (2005)
In 2004, the legislature exempted portions of the Androscoggin and St. Croix rivers from new water quality standards for Class C rivers, allowing those rivers to meet lower standards than anywhere else in the state. A technical mistake prevented that bill from becoming law. In 2005, policy makers revisiting it rejected an effort to give local communities along these rivers the same protections that others enjoy, and then went even further. The bill that passed not only held the two rivers to a lower standard, but also contained an unusual provision directing the DEP to revisit its scientific conclusions on the causes of the water quality problems in the Androscoggin, and apply these new conclusions to existing licenses – essentially, a nod of approval to allowing one particular polluter 10 years to come into compliance with standards, although the Clean Water Act sets a limit of 5 years.
