An Act To Amend Provisions of the Submerged Lands Law
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1531
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: DUDLEY, YOUNGBLOOD
Amends: 12 MRSA §1862, 12 MRSA §1863, 12 MRSA §1866

Legislative Document 
No.IS31 
H.P.1123 
House of Representatives, April 8, 2003 
An Act To Amend Provisions of the Submerged Lands Law 
Submitted by the Department of Conservation pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative DUDLEY of Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator YOUNGBLOOD of Penobscot. 
Printed on recycled paper 
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'frJ.1Jbc~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §1862, sub-§2, ,C, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 
678, §13, is amended to read: 
C. 
The director shall charge an administrative fee of $100 
for each lease in addition to any rent. 
A fee of $200 must 
be charged for a lease application that is received after 
work has begun for the proposed project. 
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §1862, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 678, 
§13, is amended to read: 
3. 
Easements. 
The director may grant, 
upon 
terms 
and 
conditions 
the 
director 
considers 
reasonable, 
assignable 
easements for a 
term not to exceed 30 years for the use of 
submerged and intertidal lands for the purposes permitted in 
subsection 2. 
The grantee shall pay an administrative fee of $§9 
$100 
for 
each 
easement 
at 
the 
time 
of 
processing 
and 
a 
registration fee of $50 due every 5 years. 
An administrative fee 
of $200 must be charged for an easement application that is 
received after work has begun for the proposed project. 
The 
director may refuse to grant an easement for the use of submerged 
and intertidal lands if the director determines that the easement 
will unreasonably interfere with customary or traditional public 
access 
ways 
to or public trust rights 
in, 
on or over 
the 
intertidal or submerged lands and the waters above those lands. 
The director may grant an easement for submerged and intertidal 
lands if a structure: 
A. 
Is for the exclusive benefit of the abutting 
owner 
for charitable purposes 
as defined in the 
States Internal Revenue Code, Section 501, (c) (3); 
upland 
United 
B. 
Occupies a total of not more than 500 square feet of 
submerged and intertidal land for any lawful purpose and is 
permanent; or 
C. 
Occupies a total of not more than 2,000 square feet of 
submerged and intertidal land for the exclusive purpose of 
commercial fishing activities and is permanent. 
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §1863, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 678, 
§13, is amended to read: 
2. 
Purpose. 
The purpose of the fund is to support shore 
and harbor management improvement activities by providing grants 
to municipalities. 
These activities include but are not limited 
to the development of harbor management plans and public access 
facilities. 
A portion of 
the 
fund, 
not 
to 
exceed 
25% 
of 
Page l-LR1954(1) 
available revenues, may be used to support management programs on 
state-owned coastal islands under the jurisdiction of the bureau. 
Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §1866, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 678, 
§13, is amended to read: 
2. 
Eliqibility. 
An 
abandoned watercraft is subject to 
removal under this section only under the following conditions. 
A. 
A permit under Tit'le 38, section 9 has not been granted 
by the municipal board or commission entrusted with harbor 
management for the area. 
B. 
A landowner has not granted permission to a watercraft 
owner to abandon a watercraft on that landowner's property. 
C. 
Notice has been given the director within 120 days of 
asaBaeame-B-t;.-ef-wa~e£e£aft the date that the municipal board 
or 
commission 
determines, 
in 
its 
op1n1on, 
that 
the 
watercraft has been abandoned afteF-Ja±y-lT-l993. 
gT--~-~-Ra5-~-~~¥€£--t;.he--~~~~~--sefeFe-~~-lT 
1994-~-~~r~~~-asaBaaBea-~~--~-tBaB-~~~r~-sefaFe 
GetaseF-9T-l99lT 
Watercraft that have been abandoned feF-me~~~~~~-ye-aB&-sefeFe 
Ye~eseF-9T-l99± prior to July 1, 1993 are not subject to removal 
under this section. 
The 
municipal 
board 
or 
commission 
entrusted 
with 
harbor 
management is responsible for the notice requirements under this 
subsection. 
Sec. S. 12 MRSA §1866, sub-§4, ,A, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 
678, §13, is amended to read: 
A. 
After notification under subsection 2, 
the director 
shall investigate any report of an abandoned watercraft and 
give notice to the owner if an owner can be identified. 
The 
notice must require the owner to respond within 15 days and 
to remove the watercraft from the coastal waters wi thin 60 
days of notification by the director or, if the watercraft 
is icebound, within 60 days of ice-out in the body of water 
where 
the 
watercraft 
is 
located. 
If 
the 
owner 
of 
a 
watercraft to whom the director has given notice does not 
respond to the notice and remove the watercraft within the 
time period specified or the owner can not be identified or 
contacted, 
the 
director 
may 
initiate 
removal 
of 
the 
watercraft is-eaBsiaeFea-asaBaaBea. 
Sec. 6. 12 MRSA §1866, sub-§4, 1JH is enacted to read: 
H. 
The State is not liable to the watercraft owner or other 
claimant for damages or injuries in connection with the 
removal, storage, sale or disposal of the watercraft. 
SUMMARY 
This bill increases the administrative fee for 
submerged 
lands easement applications consistent with other conveyances and 
doubles the administrative fee for after-the-fact applications. 
The bill authorizes a portion of the Shore and Harbor Management 
Fund to be used for management of state-owned coastal islands and 
clarifies the provisions by which a watercraft may be declared 
abandoned in coastal waters of the State.