Select state land use and environmental laws and related agency rules serve as the core laws that provide the enforceable policies of the Maine Coastal Program. Under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act ("CZMA"), Maine and other states with a federally-approved coastal zone management program are authorized to review federal agencies' activities for consistency with their programs' enforceable policies.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office for Coastal Management ("OCM") must approve changes to the Program and its enforceable policies. The Department of Marine Resources ("DMR"), which houses the Maine Coastal Program ("MCP"), has submitted for OCM's review and approval the following changes and additions to core laws which provide enforceable policies of the MCP enacted during the recently-concluded Second Regular Session of the 128th Maine Legislature: Public Laws 2017 c. 319, §§1 - 10; c. 333, §§4, 7, 8, and 10; c. 334, §3; c. 350, §§1-2; c. 353, §§1-3; c. 376, §1; and c. 391, §§1-4. These statutory changes involve amendments to state law regarding: water quality classification standards; management of underground oil storage facilities; membership and participation on the Board of Environmental Protection; municipal shellfish management ordinances; municipal satellite wastewater collection systems; use of a supplemental environmental project in a settlement agreement with DEP; and management of consumer electronics in the waste stream. DMR has also submitted recently-adopted changes to the following administrative rules administered by the Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP") and the Land Use Planning Commission ('LUPC") which are included among the MCP's core laws: DEP rules chapter 502 (direct watersheds of lakes most at risk from new development and urban impaired streams; changes effective February 18, 2018 ); and LUPC rules chapter 10 (land use districts and standards in the state's unorganized area; changes effective March 5, 2018). In addition, DMR has proposed adding the following rules to the MCP's core laws: DEP rules chapter 450 and LUPC rules chapter 11 (jointly-adopted DEP and LUPC regulations on hydropower licensing; as effective November 2, 2017); DEP rules chapter 418 (criteria and standards governing beneficial use of solid waste; as adopted on May 17, 2018, effective date of the rule as amended to be determined); DEP rules chapter 200 (regulations on metallic mineral exploration, advanced exploration, and mining; as effective December 28, 2017); and DEP rules chapter 382 (regulations on standards of approval under the Wind Energy Act; as effective April 30, 2018). A copy of the State's routine program change submission, which includes copies of the above-noted statutes and rules, is available for download at
[u]http://www.maine.gov/dacf/mcp/downloads/final_RPC_filing_128.1_rules_8.2017.pdf[/u].
The geographic area that constitutes the State's "coastal area" for CZMA purposes (commonly referred to as the state "coastal zone") includes the land area made up of all municipalities and unorganized townships located on waters subject to tidal influence, all coastal islands, and submerged lands seaward to the three-mile limit of state ownership.
Changes to the coastal area require OCM's approval. DMR is submitting for OCM's review and approval as a routine program change the following corrections to the coastal area:
- [font=font57991]Addition[/font] of the combined land area of the towns of Veazie, Eddington, Orono, and Bradley, Maine, located on the Penobscot River in Penobscot County, Maine, to the coastal area; and
- [font=font57991]Removal[/font] of the combined land area of the town of Whitneyville, Marion Township, Centerville Township, T8 SD (Fletcher's Landing), T9 SD, and T10 SD in Maine's Hancock and Washington Counties from the coastal area.
The proposed corrections are based on the findings of a study conducted by MCP staff, in consultation with DEP. These corrections do not change the above-referenced, long-standing, NOAA-approved definition of the coastal area but clarify the land area it encompasses.
DMR has determined that these changes are routine program implementation and has requested that OCM concur with this determination. Interested parties may submit comments to OCM on whether the requested changes are routine program changes by June 25, 2018.
Comments may be sent to:
Joelle Gore, Chief, Stewardship Division
Office for Coastal Management SSMC4, 11th floor
1305 East West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
[u]Joelle.Gore@noaa.gov[/u]
For additional information, please contact: Todd Burrowes, Department of Marine Resources, Maine Coastal Program, 21 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333, tel: 207.287.1496; e-mail: [u]todd.burrowes@maine.gov[/u]
May 31, 2018
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