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DEP seeks minor NRPA clarifications; committee hears dredging and compensation concerns
Summary
The committee heard LD 2063, a DEP bill proposing modest changes to the Natural Resources Protection Act: rules for post-flood restoration, permit exemptions for hand-planting vegetation, allowance for approved corrective actions, modernization of Tier 1 filings, and authorization to expand in-lieu compensation to great ponds and state-threatened species habitat. A public speaker warned adding great ponds to compensation could price out routine dredging projects.
The Department of Environmental Protection presented LD 2063, proposing targeted clarifications and limited exemptions to the Natural Resources Protection Act (NRPA).
Director Wood told the committee the bill would: (1) permit DEP rulemaking to govern restoration activities undertaken under the emergency flood-alleviation exemption; (2) create exemptions for hand-planting native vegetation adjacent to wetlands, water bodies and coastal sand dunes when narrow criteria are met; (3) exempt corrective actions to resolve NRPA violations where those corrective actions have DEP approval; (4) modernize Tier 1 freshwater wetland application submission to permit online filing via the Maine Enterprise Licensing System; and (5) authorize the Maine Natural Resource Compensation Program (MNRCP) to accept in-lieu fees for impacts to great ponds and habitat for state-listed species, enabling an in-lieu fee option if the program determines it would be beneficial.
In public comment, Mike Morse raised strong concerns about section 9 (adding great ponds to potential in-lieu compensation) because ordinary dredging projects required for navigation and maintenance could impose compensation fees that would render small projects unaffordable; he cited recent projects where in-lieu fees would have been tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars and requested dredge exemptions or a carve-out for maintenance dredging. Senator Martin and other members asked staff and DEP to bring specific examples and cost modeling to the work session. Director Wood said many post-storm debris-removal activities are already permit-by-rule eligible and that DEP will prepare guidance and take stock of what can be handled administratively versus what would require statutory change.
