LAW WITHOUT
GOVERNOR'S CHAPTER
SIGNATURE
675
MAY 1, 2022 PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO
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S.P. 710 - L.D. 1979
An Act Regarding the Development of Comprehensive River Resource
Management Plans
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §407, as amended by PL 2011, c. 655, Pt. EE, §17 and affected
by §30 and amended by c. 657, Pt. W, §5, is further amended to read:
§407. Comprehensive river resource management plans
The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, with assistance from the
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of Marine Resources, the
Department of Environmental Protection, the Governor's Energy Office and other state
agencies as needed, shall develop, subject to the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, Title
5, chapter 375, a comprehensive river resource management plan for each watershed with
a hydropower project licensed under the Federal Power Act or to be licensed under the
Federal Power Act. These plans must provide a basis for state agency comments,
recommendations and permitting decisions and at a minimum include, as applicable,
minimum flows, impoundment level regimes, upstream and downstream fish passage,
maintenance of aquatic habitat and habitat productivity, public access and recreational
opportunities. These plans must update, complement and, after public notice, comment
and hearings in the watershed, be adopted as components of the State's comprehensive
rivers management plan. A comprehensive river resource management plan adopted under
this section is a major substantive rule as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 2. Department of Environmental Protection; evaluation of
comprehensive river resource management plan development process. The
Department of Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Department of
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife,
the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Department of Marine
Resources, the Governor's Energy Office and other state agencies as needed, shall evaluate
the current process for the development of comprehensive river resource management plans
established under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 407 to develop findings and
recommendations that, at a minimum:
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 1. Identify the agency or agencies that are best positioned to provide appropriate
oversight of the plan development and update process;
2. Identify the staffing and resources necessary to allow for the timely development
and update of the plans required by Title 12, section 407;
3. Determine the methods by which the plan development and update process can best
provide and account for public participation and input; and
4. Provide any other recommendations for the improvement or clarification of the
existing process in Title 12, section 407, which may include, but are not limited to, a
proposed schedule for the development or update of plans for each watershed for which a
plan is required under Title 12, section 407 and an evaluation of options for legislative
involvement in the development or update of the plans or legislative review of proposed
plans prior to adoption.
On or before January 15, 2023, the Department of Environmental Protection shall
submit to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over
environment and natural resources matters a report outlining its findings and
recommendations developed pursuant to this section, including any proposed legislation.
After reviewing the report, the joint standing committee may report out legislation relating
to the report to the 131st Legislature in 2023.
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 1979, SP 710: 38.464
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 675: 12.407