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This sneaky bill sounded reasonable, but was really intended to slow the process by which laws are enforced, and perhaps open rules to litigation. Maine’s rulemaking process is already a slow and deliberate one that allows significant public input and requires agencies to explain the basis for the rule. If Continue...
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Sought to abolish the State Planning Office. The SPO is responsible for planning the state’s waste management and recycling, developing landfill capacity and assisting municipalities with recycling. It also helps municipalities with land use planning, code enforcement, floodplain management, flood mitigation, community development, and certifying code enforcement officers.
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In 1998, the Legislature created a process by which towns could regulate the use of personal watercraft or “jet skis” on local bodies of water. That law expired in 2001. LD #1675 would have re-established the law, and expanded it to allow municipalities to make recommendations to the Commissioner of Continue...
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Every few years the Department of Environmental Protection evaluates rivers in Maine to consider whether they can be upgraded to a higher level of protection. A number of rivers down east were left out of omnibus legislation in 2003, and this bill was introduced to correct that omission.
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Televisions and computer monitors contain lead, cadmium, and mercury, toxic materials that pose a threat to our environment and to human health. As technology improves and electronic equipment become obsolete, discarded devices mount up, and the hazardous substances in them can end up in our air and groundwater. LD #189 Continue...
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This passage of this bill was one of the biggest disappointments of the 121st Legislature. Since 1987, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has required that Class C rivers contain 6.5 parts per million of dissolved oxygen. That standard is necessary for the good health of trout, salmon, and other Continue...
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Liquidation harvesting, also known as “cut and run logging,” is the practice of buying a parcel of land, stripping it of valuable timber, then selling parcels off for development. Throughout the debate on forestry, all sides have agreed that the practice is wrong, but until now no measures were in Continue...
