An Act To Restore Exemptions in the Natural Resources Protection Act
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1387
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Sponsors: CEBRA, SAVIELLO
Amends: 38 MRSA §480-Q

Legislative Document 
No. 1387 
H.P. 1020 
House of Representatives, April 4, 2011 
An Act To Restore Exemptions in the Natural Resources Protection 
Act 
Submitted by the Department of Transportation pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative CEBRA of Naples. 
Cosponsored by Senator SAVIELLO of Franklin. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  38 MRSA §480-Q, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2009, c. 460, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
2.  Maintenance and repair.  Maintenance and repair of a structure, other than a 
road crossing, in, on, over or adjacent to a protected natural resource and maintenance 
and repair of a private crossing of a river, stream or brook if: 
A.  Erosion control measures are taken to prevent sedimentation of the water; 
B.  Crossings do not block passage for fish or other aquatic organisms in water 
courses. Culverts and installation techniques utilized must achieve natural stream 
flow.  This paragraph applies only to water courses containing fish; 
C.    There is no additional intrusion into the protected natural resource; and 
D.    The dimensions of the repaired structure do not exceed the dimensions of the 
structure as it existed 24 months prior to the repair, or if the structure has been 
officially included in or is considered by the Maine Historical Preservation 
Commission eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, the 
dimensions of the repaired structure do not exceed the dimensions of the historic 
structure. 
This subsection does not apply to:  the repair of more than 50% of a structure located in a 
coastal sand dune system; the repair of more than 50% of a dam, unless that repair has 
been approved by a representative of the United States Natural Resources Conservation 
Service; or the repair of more than 50% of any other structure, unless the municipality in 
which the proposed activity is located requires a permit for the activity through an 
ordinance adopted pursuant to the mandatory shoreland zoning laws and the application 
for a permit is approved by the municipality; 
Sec. 2.  38 MRSA §480-Q, sub-§2-A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 460, §2, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 3.  38 MRSA §480-Q, sub-§2-D is enacted to read: 
2-D.  Existing road crossings.  A permit is not required for the repair and 
maintenance of an existing road crossing or for the replacement of an existing road 
crossing, including ancillary crossing installation activities such as excavation and filling, 
in any protected natural resource area, as long as erosion control measures are taken to 
prevent sedimentation of the water and to ensure that the crossing does not block passage 
for fish or other aquatic organisms in the protected natural resource area and: 
A.  For replacement crossings of a river, stream or brook, the replacement crossing is 
designed, installed and maintained to: 
(1)  Match the natural stream grade, not to exceed 2%, between the inlet and 
outlet of the crossing structure to avoid drops or perching; and 
(2)  For crossing structures that are not open bottomed, be embedded in the 
stream bottom a minimum of one foot and at least 25% of the culvert or other 
structure's diameter. 
For purposes of this subsection, "repair and maintenance" includes but is not limited to 
the riprapping of side slopes or culvert ends; removing debris and blockages within the 
crossing structure and at its inlet and outlet; and installing or replacing culvert ends if less 
than 50% of the crossing structure is being replaced. 
For purposes of this subsection, "repair and maintenance" does not include the slip-lining 
or invert lining of a crossing or any other alteration that results in reduced flow area 
through the crossing structure. 
Sec. 4.  Statewide aquatic restoration plan for stream crossings.  The 
Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Inland Fisheries and 
Wildlife, the Department of Marine Resources and the Department of Transportation, in 
conjunction with the Executive Department, State Planning Office and other interested 
stakeholders, shall work collaboratively to develop a statewide aquatic conservation and 
restoration strategy plan, referred to in this section as "the plan," designed to maintain and 
restore the ecological health of the State's aquatic ecosystems and focusing on 
maintaining and restoring dynamic ecological processes responsible for creating and 
sustaining habitats over broad landscapes as opposed to individual projects or small 
watersheds.  The plan must improve upon best management practices for public and 
private roads by including consideration of the Department of Transportation's Waterway 
and Wildlife Crossing Policy and Design Guide, the Maine Interagency Stream 
Connectivity Work Group's 2010 final report, Maine's Atlantic salmon recovery plan and 
any other technical, policy and financial information that may help the process.  The plan 
must include, but not be limited to, using scientific data from stakeholders, establishing 
active restoration priorities, refining existing and proposing additional best management 
practices, reviewing statutory exemptions and regulatory standards to inform regulatory 
decision making, establishing performance measures, proposing funding alternatives for 
passive and active restoration, identifying gaps and overlaps with other pertinent issues 
such as climate change and flood management and providing for education and outreach.  
The Department of Environmental Protection, in cooperation with the Department of 
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of Marine Resources and the Department 
of Transportation, shall present the final draft of the plan, which may include suggested 
legislation, to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
natural resources matters no later than January 31, 2013.  The committee may report out a 
bill to the First Regular Session of the 126th Legislature.  
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the exemption for certain maintenance and repair activities in the 
Natural Resources Protection Act.  The bill eliminates a longstanding duplicate 
exemption applying to stream crossings. 
The bill replaces the exemption for certain existing road culverts in the Natural 
Resources Protection Act.  The bill also clarifies that slip or invert lining of existing 
culverts is not considered a maintenance and repair activity, thus requiring a permit by 
rule for those activities. 
The bill requires that the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of 
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of Marine Resources and the Department 
of Transportation present the final draft of a statewide aquatic conservation and 
restoration strategy plan to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over natural resources matters by January 31, 2013.  The plan may include 
recommended legislation, and the committee is authorized to report out a bill to the First 
Regular Session of the 126th Legislature.