An Act To Stop Unfunded Mandates Concerning Waste Discharge Licenses
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0379
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Sponsors: CLARK
Amends: 38 MRSA §341-D, 38 MRSA §414-A

Legislative Document 
No. 379 
H.P. 305 
House of Representatives, February 8, 2011 
An Act To Stop Unfunded Mandates Concerning Waste Discharge 
Licenses 
Reference to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative CLARK of Millinocket. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  38 MRSA §341-D, sub-§3, as amended by PL 1995, c. 642, §§1 and 2, is 
further amended to read: 
3.  Modification, revocation or suspension.  After Except as provided in section 
414-A, subsection 7, after written notice and opportunity for a hearing pursuant to the 
Maine Administrative Procedure Act, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter IV 4, the board 
may modify in whole or in part any license, or may issue an order prescribing necessary 
corrective action, or may act in accordance with the Maine Administrative Procedure Act 
to revoke or suspend a license, whenever the board finds that: 
A.    The licensee has violated any condition of the license; 
B.    The licensee has obtained a license by misrepresenting or failing to disclose fully 
all relevant facts; 
C.    The licensed discharge or activity poses a threat to human health or the 
environment; 
D.    The license fails to include any standard or limitation legally required on the 
date of issuance; 
E.    There has been a change in any condition or circumstance that requires 
revocation, suspension or a temporary or permanent modification of the terms of the 
license; 
F.    The licensee has violated any law administered by the department; or 
G.    The license fails to include any standard or limitation required pursuant to the 
federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. 
For the purposes of this subsection, the term "license" includes any license, permit, order, 
approval or certification issued by the department and the term "licensee" means the 
holder of the license. 
Sec. 2.  38 MRSA §414-A, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 794, Pt. A, §25, is 
amended to read: 
5.  Modification, reopening and revocation.  The Except as provided in subsection 
7, the following actions may be taken to reopen, modify or revoke and reissue waste 
discharge licenses.  All actions taken under this subsection must be with notice to the 
licensee and all other interested parties of record and with opportunity for hearing.  
Actions may be appealed as set forth in sections 341-D and 346. 
A.    The department may reopen a license to add or change conditions or effluent 
limitations for toxic compounds identified in 40 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 
or to include schedules of compliance to implement industrial pretreatment rules 
adopted by the board.  Additionally, at the time of license issuance, the department 
may include as a condition of a license a provision for reopening the license for 
inclusion or change of specific limitations when facts available upon issuance 
indicate that changed circumstances or new information may be anticipated. 
B.    A request for modification of a license may be made by the licensee for any 
valid cause or changed circumstance.  The department may initiate a license 
modification: 
(1)  When necessary to correct legal, technical or procedural mistakes or errors; 
(2)  When there has been or will be a substantial change in the activity or means 
of treatment that occurred after the time the license was issued; 
(3)  When new information other than revised rules, guidance or test methods 
becomes available that would have justified different conditions at the time the 
license was issued; 
(4)  When a pollutant not included in the license may be present in the discharge 
in quantities sufficient to require treatment, such as when the pollutant exceeds 
the level that can be achieved by the technology-based treatment standards 
appropriate to the licensee, or contribute to water quality violations; 
(5)  When necessary to remove net limits based on pollutant concentration in 
intake water when the licensee is no longer eligible for them, consistent with 
federal law; 
(6)  When necessary to make changes as a result of the failure of one state to 
notify another state whose waters may be affected by a discharge; or 
(7)  When necessary to include pretreatment compliance schedules required 
pursuant to federal law. 
C.  Notwithstanding Title 5, section 10051, the board may modify, revoke or suspend 
a license when the board finds that any of the conditions specified in section 341-D, 
subsection 3 exist or upon an application for transfer of a license. 
Sec. 3.  38 MRSA §414-A, sub-§7 is enacted to read: 
7.  Unfunded mandates.  The department may not impose by rule any requirements 
on a waste discharge licensee that qualify as an unfunded state mandate pursuant to the 
Constitution of Maine, Article IX, Section 21 unless the requirement is necessary to 
comply with a federal regulation. 
SUMMARY 
This bill prohibits the Department of Environmental Protection from imposing by 
rule any requirements that qualify as an unfunded mandate on a waste discharge licensee 
unless the requirement is necessary to comply with a federal regulation.