An Act Regarding Disposal of Dredged Materials
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1592
Committee: Natural Resources
Amends: 38 MRSA §413, 38 MRSA §480-D

Legislative Document 
No. 1592 
H.P.1128 
House of Representatives, April 26, 2005 
An Act Regarding Disposal of Dredged Materials 
Reported by Representative KOFFMAN of Bar Harbor for the Joint Standing Committee 
on Natural Resources pursuant to Joint Order 2005, H.P. 721. 
Reference to the Committee on Natural Resources suggested and ordered printed under 
Joint Rule 218. 
Printed on recyc led paper 
17/~ 
/J7.1J?d£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §413, sub-§2-C, as amended by PL 1989, c. 656, 
§l, is repealed. 
Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §480-D, sub-§9, as amended by PL 2001, c. 248, 
§l, is further amended to read: 
9. 
Dredging. 
If the proposed activity involves dredging, 
dredge spoils disposal or transporting dredge spoils by water, 
the 
applicant must demonstrate that the transportation route 
minimizes adverse impacts on the fishing industry and that the 
disposal site is geologically suitable. 
The 
Commissioner of 
Marine Resources shall provide the department with an assessment 
of the impacts on the fishing industry of a proposed dredging 
operation in the coastal wetlands. 
The assessment must consider 
impacts to the area to be dredged and impacts to the fishing 
industry of a proposed route to transport dredge spoils to an 
ocean disposal site. 
The Commissioner of Marine Resources may 
hold a 
public hearing on the proposed dredging operation. 
In 
determining if a 
hearing is to be held, 
the Commissioner of 
Marine Resources shall consider the potential impacts 
of the 
proposed 
dredging 
operation 
on 
fishing 
in 
the 
area 
to 
be 
dredged. 
If a hearing is held, it must be within at least one of 
the municipalities in which the dredging operation would take 
place. 
If the Commissioner of Marine Resources determines that a 
hearing is not to be held, the Commissioner of Marine Resources 
must publish a notice of that determination in a 
newspaper of 
general 
circulation 
in 
the 
area 
proposed 
for 
the 
dredging 
operation. 
The notice must state that the Commissioner of Marine 
Resources will accept verbal and written comments in lieu of a 
public hearing. 
The notice must also state that if 5 or more 
persons request a public hearing wi thin 30 days of the notice 
publication, the Commissioner of Marine Resources will hold a 
hearing. 
If 5 or more persons request a public hearing within 30 
days 
of 
the 
notice 
publication, 
the 
Commissioner 
of 
Marine 
Resources must hold a hearing. 
In making its determination under 
this subsection, the department must take into consideration the 
assessment provided by the Commissioner of Marine Resources. 
The 
permit must require the applicant to: 
A. 
Clearly mark or designate the dredging area, the spoils 
disposal route and the transportation route; 
B. 
Publish in a 
newspaper of general 
area adjacent to the route the approved 
of the dredge spoils; and 
C. 
Publish in a 
newspaper of general 
area adjacent to the route a procedure 
Page l-LR2323(1) 
circulation in the 
transportation route 
circulation in the 
that the applicant 
-
will use to 
respond to 
inqu~r~es regarding the loss of 
fishing gear during the dredging operation. 
A municipality that is 
adjacent 
to coastal waters 
in which 
dredging operations take place shall develop 
a 
plan for 
the 
disposal of dredge spoils. 
SUMMARY 
Current law exempts holders 
United States Clean Water Act, 
of a permit issued under the 
Public Law 92-500, Section 404 
from obtaining a 
waste discharge license for the disposal of 
dredged materials into waters of the State. 
This bill removes 
that exemption. 
The bill also requires coastal municipalities to 
develop a plan for the disposal of dredge spoils.