An Act To Amend the Solid Waste Landfill Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 0597
Committee: Natural Resources
Sponsors: TWOMEY, COWGER, ADAMS, BLANCHETTE, JACKSON, KOFFMAN, LORING, LUNDEEN, MAKAS, THOMPSON
Amends: 38 MRSA §1310-S

Legislative Document 
No. 597 
H.P.430 
House of Representatives, February 3, 2005 
An Act To Amend the Solid Waste Landfill Laws 
Reference to the Committee on Natural Resources suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative TWOMEY of Biddeford. 
Cosponsored by Senator COWGER of Kennebec and 
'7IJ~ frJ· 71!0£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: ADAMS of Portland, BLANCHETTE of Bangor, JACKSON of Fort Kent, 
KOFFMAN of Bar Harbor, LORING of the Penobscot Nation, LUNDEEN of Mars Hill, 
MAKAS of Lewiston, THOMPSON of China. 
Printed on recycle.J poper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §1310-S, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1997, c. 
624, §15, is further amended to read: 
2. 
Public hearing. 
The department may hold an adjudicatory 
public hearing within the municipality in which the facility may 
be located or in a convenient location in the vicinity of the 
proposed facility. 
The department shall hold an adjudicatory 
public hearing on an application for a new or expanded commercial 
or state-owned solid waste disposal facility that accepts special 
waste upon request from a resident or a property owner in the 
municipality in which the proposed facility is located. 
The 
department shall hold 
an 
adjudicatory public hearing for 
an 
increase in the vertical elevation of a solid waste disposal 
facility that accepts special waste upon request from a resident 
or a property owner in the municipality in which the proposed 
facility is located. 
The hearing must be conducted in accordance 
with Title 5, 
chapter 
375, 
subchapter 
IV 1. 
Administrative 
expenses of a hearing held pursuant. to this subsection and all 
costs incurred by the department in processing an application 
must be paid for by the applicant as provided in department rules. 
Sec. 2. Resolve2003,c.93,§I,sub-§5 is amended to read: 
5. 
Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, 
section 13l0-U, the municipality in which the disposal facility 
is located may not regulate the operation or any other aspect of 
the disposal facility as provided in Title 38, section 2173 or by 
means 
of 
any 
municipal 
ordinances, 
regulations, 
licenses 
or 
permits, except that the municipality may enact ordinances with 
respect 
to 
the 
operation of 
any 
expansion 
of 
the 
disposal 
facility, 
including 
any expansion of the 
type 
of 
waste 
the 
facility is 
licensed to 
accept, 
that 
contain 
standards 
the 
municipality 
finds 
reasonable, 
including, 
without 
limitation, 
standards concerning conformance with federal 
and state solid 
waste rules; fire safety; traffic safety; levels of noise heard 
outside the facility; the distance from existing residential, 
commercial or institutional uses; groundwater protection; surface 
water 
protection; 
erosion 
and 
sedimentation 
control; 
and 
compatibility of the disposal facility with local zoning and land 
use controls, as long as the standards are not more strict than 
those contained in Title 38, chapter 3, subchapter 1, articles 
5-A and 6 and Title 38, chapter 13 and the rules adopted under 
those chapters. 
The municipality is prohibited from enacting 
stricter standards than those contained in Title 38, chapter 13 
governing the hydrogeological criteria for siting or designing 
the expansion of or the governing of the engineering criteria 
related to waste handling and disposal areas of the expanded 
disposal 
facility. 
Such 
municipal 
ordinances 
must 
use 
definitions consistent with those adopted by the Department of 
Page l-LR1385(1) 
Environmental Protection, Board of Environmental Protection. 
The 
municipal officers of the City of Old Town and the Town of Alton 
shall establish a joint citizen advisory committee consisting of 
+ ~ members, of which 5 must be from the City of Old Town aBeL 2 
from the Town of Alton and 2 
from the Penobscot Nation. 
In 
appointing members to the committee, the municipal 
use 
Title 
38, 
section 
2171, 
subsection 
as 
Penobscot Nation shall appoint 2 members of the 
officers shall 
guidance. 
The 
commi t tee. The 
committee shall meet as soon as 
of its members and shall select 
The 
committee shall establish 
meetings. 
The committee may: 
practical following appointment 
a chair from among its members. 
procedures 
for 
the 
conduct of 
A. 
Review proposed contracts, site analyses, applications 
and other documents relating to the construction, permitting 
and operation of the disposal facility; 
B. 
Hold periodic public meetings to solicit 
residents concerning the disposal facility 
applications, contracts or other provisions 
disposal facility; 
the opinions of 
and any permi t 
relating to the 
C. 
Provide the disposal facility operator and office with 
any 
alternative 
contract 
provisions, 
permit 
conditions, 
plans or procedures the committee considers appropriate; aBe 
D. 
Serve 
as 
a 
liaison between the 
communities 
and the 
disposal 
facility 
operator 
or 
the 
office 
to 
facilitate 
communications during the development and operation of the 
disposal 
facility 
and 
provide 
residents 
with 
updated 
information 
about 
the 
project, 
including 
providing 
explanations of any technical terms; and ae-it-E~ttRet 
E. 
Serve as a liaison between the Penobscot Nation and the 
disposal 
facility operator 
or 
the 
office 
to 
facilitate 
communications during the development and operation of the 
disposal 
facility 
and 
provide 
members 
of 
the 
Penobscot 
Nation with updated information about the project, including 
providing explanations of any technical terms; 
and be it 
further 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires 
a 
public hearing for 
an increase in 
height of a landfill accepting special waste and specifies that 
the 
applicant 
shall 
pay 
the 
Department 
of 
Environmental 
Protection's costs in processing the application. 
It also amends 
the law governing the joint citizen advisory committee for the 
West 
Old 
Town 
Landfill 
to 
include 
representatives 
of 
the 
Penobscot Nation.