An Act To Conform Building Standards in the Unorganized Territories with Federal Emergency Management Agency Requirements
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0181
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: JACKSON, MARTIN
Amends: 12 MRSA §685-A, 12 MRSA §685-B

FIRST REGULAR SESSIOI~-2009 
Legislative Document 
No.lS1 
S.P.67 
An Act To Conform Building Standards in the Unorganized 
Territories with Federal Emergency Management Agency 
Requirements 
Submitted by the Department of Conservation pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
January 21, 2009 
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator JACKSON of Aroostook. 
Cosponsored by Representative MARTIN of Eagle Lake. 
Printed on recycled paper 
9tf)(J~ 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §685-A, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2001, c. 402, §3, is further 
amended to read: 
5. Considerations, application and exemptions. A land use standard may not 
deprive an owner or lessee or subsequent owner or lessee of any interest in real estate of 
the use to which it is lawfully devoted at the time of adoption of that standard. Year-
round and seasonal single residences and operating farms in existence and use as of 
September 23, 1971, while so used, and new accessory buildings or structures or 
renovations of the buildings or structures that are or may be necessary to the satisfactory 
and comfortable continuation of these residential and fann uses, except for those located 
in areas of special flood hazard as defined in the commission's rules, are exempt from the 
requirements of section 685-B, subsection 1. 
Land use standards adopted pursuant to this chapter for management districts may not 
limit the right, method or manner of cutting or removing timber or crops, the construction 
and maintenance of hauling roads, the operation of machinery or the erection of 
buildings, including buildings to store equipment and materials for maintaining roads, 
and other structures used primarily for agricultural or commercial forest product 
purposes, including tree farms. 
The commission may not require a permit for such 
activities in a management district. Notwithstanding this subsection, a permit from the 
commission is required for roads covering a ground area of 3 acres or more constructed in 
management districts, unless those roads are constructed and maintained in accordance 
with the guidelines of the commission's Land Use Handbook, Section 6, "Erosion Control 
on Logging Jobs," or as revised. The commission may require a person constructing a 
road to notify the commission ofthe location of the road within 21 days. 
Land use standards adopted pursuant to this chapter must establish a minimum setback of 
feet for all structures within a commercial sporting camp complex that are 
constructed solely for the housing of guests, including structures within a main sporting 
camp complex and an outpost camp. The standards must establish a minimum setback of 
feet for all other structures within a sporting camp complex, including, but not 
limited to, a main lodge, a dining area, a workshop and a parking area. 
In adopting district boundaries and land use standards, the commission shall give 
consideration to public and private planning reports and other data available to it, and 
shall give weight to existing uses of land and to any reasonable plan of its owner as to its 
future use. 
A permit from the commission is not required for the repair or maintenance of county-
owned roads, bridges or culverts as long as the repair or maintenance is conducted in 
accordance with commission standards that pertain to these activities. 
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §685-B, sub-§l, GJrA, as repealed and replaced by PL 1999, c. 
333, §12, is amended to read: 
A. 
A structure or part of a structure may not be erected, changed, converted or 
wholly or partly altered or enlarged in its use or structural form other than for nOffi1al 
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maintenance or repair without a permit issued by the commISSIOn. 
Nonnal 
maintenance or repair may be made to a structure or PaIt of a structure without a 
penn it issued by the commission in locations other than areas of special flood hazard 
as defined in the commission's rules; 
SUMMARY 
This bill adds new language in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, sections 685-A 
and 685-B establishing pennitting requirements affecting normal maintenance and repair 
and renovations to structures in special flood hazard areas within the State's unorganized 
and deorganized areas. 
The proposed revisions would allow communities in the 
unorganized and deorganized areas to be eligible for insurance under the National Flood 
Insurance Program within the Federal Emergency Management Agency.