An Act To Amend the Conservation Easement Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1737
Committee Amendment CA_A-SA_B_S305 (Senate)
Amends: 33 MRSA §477, 33 MRSA §477-A, 33 MRSA §478

SENATE AMENDMENT" f3 " to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 
1220, L.D. 1737, Bill, "An Act To Amend the Conservation Easement Laws" 
Amend the amendment by striking out the first paragraph after the title (page 1, line 
in amendment) and inserting the following: 
'Amend the bill by striking out all of sections 2 to 6 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 2. 33 MRSA §477, sub-§l, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 395, §3, is amended 
to read: 
1. Conservation easement. Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, a 
conservation easement may be created, conveyed, recorded, assigned, or partially 
released, modified, termiRated or otherwise alte~d or affeeted in the same manner as 
other easements created by written instrument. 
A conservation easement may be 
terminated or amended by the parties only as provided in section 477-A, subsection 2. 
Sec. 3. 33 MRSA §477, sub-§3, ~, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 395, §3, is 
amended to read: 
B. Change of circumstances renders the easement no longer in the public interest as 
determined by the court as provided in section 477 -A, subsection 2, paragraph B in 
an action under section 478. 
Sec. 4. 33 MRSA §477-A is enacted to read: 
§477-A. Conservation easement standards 
1. Conservation values. A conservation easement executed on or after the effective 
date of this section must include a statement of the conservation purposes of the 
easement, the conservation attributes associated with the real property and the benefit to 
the general public intended to be served by the restriction on uses of the real property 
subject to the conservation easement. 
2. Amendment and termination. Amendments and termination of a conservation 
easement may occur only pursuant to this subsection. 
Page I-123LR20S1(OS)-1 
SENATE AMENDMENT 
• 
ti 
--
SENATE AMENDMENT" B" to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1220, L.D. 1737 
A. A conservation easement executed on or after the effective date of this section 
must include a statement of the holder's power to agree to amendments to the terms of 
the conservation easement ~n a manner consistent with the limitations of paragraph B. 
B. A conservation easement may not be terminated or amended in such a manner as 
to materially detract from the conservation values intended for protection without the 
prior approval of the court in an action in which the Attorney General is made a 
party. In making this determination, the court shall consider, among other relevant 
factors, the purposes expressed by the parties in the easement and the public interest. 
If the value of the landowner's estate is increased by reason of the amendment or 
termination of a conservation easement, that increase must be paid over to the holder 
or to such nonprofit or governmental entity as the court may designate, to be used for 
the protection of conservation lands consistent, as nearly as possible, with the stated 
publicly beneficial conseiation purposes of the easement. 
3. Monitorine. The holder of a conservation easement shall monitor the condition 
of the real property subject to! the conservation easement at least every 3 years and shall 
prepare and retain a written monitoring report in its permanent records. The holder shall 
make available to the landowner, upon request, a copy of the monitoring report. 
4. Failure to comply. Failure to comply with the requirements of subsection 1, 
subsection 2, paragraph A or: subsection 3 does not invalidate a conservation easement 
otherwise entitled to the protections of this subchapter. 
Sec. 5. 33 MRSA §478, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 395, §3, is amended to read: 
§478. Judicial actions 
i 
1. Action or intervention. An action affecting a conservation easement may be 
brought or intervened in by: 
, 
A. An owner of an interest in the real property burdened by the easement; 
B. A holder of the easement; 9f 
C. A person having a 3rd-party right of enforcement.~ 
D. 
The Attorney General; except that the Attorney General may initiate action 
seeking enforcement of a conservation easement only when the parties designated as 
having the right to do so under the terms of the conservation easement: 
(1) Are no longer in letal existence; 
(2) Are bankrupt or insblvent; 
(3) Cannot be contacted after reasonable diligence to do so; or 
(4) After 90 days' prior written notice by the Attorney General of the nature of 
the asserted failure, have failed to take reasonable actions to bring about 
compliance with the conservation easement. 
2. 
Intervention only. 
An action affecting a conservation easement may be 
intervened in by the State or a political subdivision of the State in which the real property 
SENATE AMENDMENT 
~ 
~J.r.~ 
~; 
SENATE AMENDMENT "13 "to COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1220, L.D. 1737 
burdened by the easement is located, in accordance with court rules for permissive 
intervention. 
3. Power of court. This subchapter does not affect the po'+'<'er of a The court to may 
permit termination of a conservation easement or approve amendment to a conservation 
easement that materially detracts from the conservation values it serves, as provided in 
section 477-A, subsection 2, paragraph B, and may enforce a conservation easement by 
injunction or proceeding at law and in equity or to modifY or teFlflinate a conservation 
easement in aecordance with principles of la-vi' and equity. A court may deny equitable 
enforcement of a conservation easement only when it finds that change of circumstances 
has rendered that easement no longer in the public interest or no longer serving the 
publicly beneficial conservation purposes identified in the conservation easement. If the 
court so finds, the court may allow damages as the only remedy in an action to enforce 
the easement. 
Wo comparative economic test may be used to deteFlfline \:lnder this subseetion if a 
conservation easement is in the public interest. 
4. Confidentiality of records. 
Documents and records obtained by the Attorney 
General, which would otherwise not legally be subject to public disclosure, may be 
shared with other public agencies but must be held as legally confidential under Title 1, 
section 402, unless disclosed in the course of a public proceeding in court. 
No comparative economic test may be used to determine under this subchapter if a 
conservation easement is in the public interest or serves a publicly beneficial conservation 
purpose.' , 
SUMMARY 
This amendment sets certain standards for conservation easements. It provides that a 
conservation easement executed on or after the effective date of this legislation must 
include a statement of the conservation purposes and public benefits of the easement. It 
includes standards for the amendment and termination of a conservation easement. It 
requires the holder of a conservation easement to monitor the condition of the real 
property subject to the conservation easement at least every 3 years and prepare and 
retain a written monitoring report. 
The amendment also amends the laws governing judicial actions affecting 
conservation easements. It provides that an action affecting a conservation easement may 
be brought or intervened in by the Attorney General and it specifies under what 
circumstances the Attorney General may initiate action seeking enforcement of a 
conservation easement. It contains a provision regarding the confidentiality of documents 
:::::~b::OO ll:2J:on 
aff~ting a 
oon~Nation 
(Senator DAMON) 
COUNTY: Hancock 
SENATE AMENDMENT