APPROVED CHAPTER
APRIL 21, 2022 650
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO
_____
H.P. 662 - L.D. 906
An Act To Provide Passamaquoddy Tribal Members Access to Clean
Drinking Water
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. P&SL 1983, c. 25, §15 is repealed.
Sec. 2. 30 MRSA §6205, sub-§1, ¶D-2, as amended by PL 2021, c. 139, §1 and
affected by §3, is further amended to read:
D-2. Land acquired by the secretary for the benefit of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in
Centerville conveyed by Bertram C. Tackeff to the Passamaquoddy Tribe by quitclaim
deed dated May 4, 1982, recorded in the Washington County Registry of Deeds in
Book 1178, Page 35, to the extent that the land is not held in common with any other
person or entity and is certified by the secretary as held for the benefit of the
Passamaquoddy Tribe; and
Sec. 3. 30 MRSA §6205, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 2021, c. 139, §1 and
affected by §3, is further amended to read:
E. Land acquired by the secretary for the benefit of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in
Township 21 consisting of Gordon Island in Big Lake, conveyed by Domtar Maine
Corporation to the Passamaquoddy Tribe by corporate quitclaim deed dated April 30,
2002, recorded in the Washington County Registry of Deeds in Book 2624, Page 301,
to the extent that the land is not held in common with any other person or entity and is
certified by the secretary as held for the benefit of the Passamaquoddy Tribe.; and
Sec. 4. 30 MRSA §6205, sub-§1, ¶F is enacted to read:
F. Land acquired by the secretary for the benefit of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Perry
consisting of:
(1) Land conveyed by Denise E. Plouffe to the Passamaquoddy Tribe by quitclaim
deed dated October 5, 2017, recorded in the Washington County Registry of Deeds
in Book 4403, Pages 18 and 19; and
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 (2) Land conveyed by Austin Humphries to the Passamaquoddy Tribe by deed
dated November 18, 1983, recorded in the Washington County Registry of Deeds
in Book 1252, Pages 93 to 95.
Notwithstanding subsection 5 and any other provision of this Act to the contrary, the
addition of land to the Passamaquoddy Indian territory pursuant to this paragraph is not
subject to approval by any city, town, village or plantation within the State.
Sec. 5. 30 MRSA §6206, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 732, §§1 and 31, is
amended to read:
1. General Powers powers. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the
Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation, within their respective Indian territories,
shall have, exercise and enjoy all the rights, privileges, powers and immunities, including,
but without limitation, the power to enact ordinances and collect taxes, and shall be subject
to all the duties, obligations, liabilities and limitations of a municipality of and subject to
the laws of the State, provided, however, that internal tribal matters, including membership
in the respective tribe or nation, the right to reside within the respective Indian territories,
tribal organization, tribal government, tribal elections and, the use or disposition of
settlement fund income and the exercise of power pursuant to section 6207, subsection 10,
section 6207-A and section 6209-A, subsection 1, paragraph F shall not be subject to
regulation by the State. The Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation shall
designate such officers and officials as are necessary to implement and administer those
laws of the State applicable to the respective Indian territories and the residents thereof.
Any resident of the Passamaquoddy Indian territory or the Penobscot Indian territory who
is not a member of the respective tribe or nation nonetheless shall be equally entitled to
receive any municipal or governmental services provided by the respective tribe or nation
or by the State, except those services which are provided exclusively to members of the
respective tribe or nation pursuant to state or federal law, and shall be entitled to vote in
national, state and county elections in the same manner as any tribal member residing
within Indian territory.
Sec. 6. 30 MRSA §6207, as amended by PL 1997, c. 739, §12 and affected by §§13
and 14, is further amended by amending the section headnote to read:
§6207. Regulation of fish and wildlife natural resources
Sec. 7. 30 MRSA §6207, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 732, §§1 and 31, is
amended to read:
1. Adoption of hunting, trapping and fishing ordinances by the tribe or nation.
Subject to the limitations of subsection 6, the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot
Nation each shall have exclusive authority within their respective Indian territories to
promulgate and enact ordinances regulating:
A. Hunting, trapping or other taking of wildlife; and
B. Taking of fish on any pond in which all the shoreline and all submerged lands are
wholly within Indian territory and which is less than 10 acres in surface area.
Such ordinances shall be equally applicable, on a nondiscriminatory basis, to all persons
regardless of whether such person is a member of the respective tribe or nation provided,
however, that subject to the limitations of subsection 6, such ordinances may include
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special provisions for the sustenance of the individual members of the Passamaquoddy
Tribe or the Penobscot Nation. In addition to the authority provided by this subsection, the
Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation, subject to the limitations of subsection 6,
may exercise within their respective Indian territories all the rights incident to ownership
of land under the laws of the State.
Sec. 8. 30 MRSA §6207, sub-§10 is enacted to read:
10. Regulation of drinking water. Unless the Passamaquoddy Tribe, in its discretion,
enters into an intergovernmental agreement authorizing the State to exercise concurrent
jurisdiction over specific drinking water-related issues within the Passamaquoddy Indian
territory:
A. The Passamaquoddy Tribe has exclusive authority to enact ordinances regulating
drinking water within Passamaquoddy Indian territory;
B. The State may not exercise primary enforcement authority from the United States
Environmental Protection Agency to implement the federal Safe Drinking Water Act
and its implementing regulations, as amended, within the Passamaquoddy Indian
territory; and
C. The Passamaquoddy Tribe may seek to be treated as a state and to obtain primary
enforcement authority from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to
implement the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and its implementing regulations, as
amended, within the Passamaquoddy Indian territory.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, the Passamaquoddy Tribe's
jurisdiction does not extend beyond the Passamaquoddy Indian territory.
Sec. 9. 30 MRSA §6207-A is enacted to read:
§6207-A. Jurisdiction of the Passamaquoddy Tribe over drinking water within the
Passamaquoddy Indian territory
Notwithstanding any provision of state law to the contrary, pursuant to the federal
Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980, Public Law 96-420, Section 6(e)(1), the State
and the Passamaquoddy Tribe agree and establish that:
1. Jurisdiction of Passamaquoddy Tribe to administer drinking water-related
programs. The Passamaquoddy Tribe may seek to be treated as a state pursuant to the
federal Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 United States Code, Section 300j-11, and its
implementing regulations, as amended, within the Passamaquoddy Indian territory and may
otherwise benefit from and exercise jurisdiction under any other federal law enacted after
October 10, 1980 that permits a federally recognized Indian tribe to administer drinking
water-related programs; and
2. Administration of drinking water-related programs does not affect or preempt
state law. The application of any provision of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and its
implementing regulations, as amended, and of any other federal law enacted after October
10, 1980 that permits a federally recognized Indian tribe to administer drinking water-
related programs, and the enforcement of such laws and regulations by the Passamaquoddy
Tribe under subsection 1 does not affect or preempt the laws of the State.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Passamaquoddy Tribe's
jurisdiction does not extend beyond the Passamaquoddy Indian territory.
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 Sec. 10. 30 MRSA §6209-A, sub-§1, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 388, §6 and
affected by §8, is amended to read:
D. Indian child custody proceedings to the extent authorized by applicable federal law;
and
Sec. 11. 30 MRSA §6209-A, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 2009, c. 384, Pt. E,
§1 and affected by §3, is further amended to read:
E. Other domestic relations matters, including marriage, divorce and support, between
members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians or the
Penobscot Nation, both of whom reside within the Indian reservation of the
Passamaquoddy Tribe.; and
Sec. 12. 30 MRSA §6209-A, sub-§1, ¶F is enacted to read:
F. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, civil and criminal actions
regarding the enforcement of ordinances enacted pursuant to section 6207, subsection
10, except that the Passamaquoddy Tribe may not exercise jurisdiction over a nonprofit
public municipal corporation, including, but not limited to, the water district
established by Private and Special Law 1983, chapter 25.
Sec. 13. Contingent effective date; certification. This Act does not take effect
unless, within 60 days after adjournment of the Second Regular Session of the 130th
Legislature, the Secretary of State receives written certification by the Joint Tribal Council
of the Passamaquoddy Tribe that the tribe has agreed to the provisions of this Act, copies
of which must be submitted by the Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Senate, the
Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Revisor of Statutes.
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 650: 30.6205, 30.6206, 30.6207, 30.6209