An Act Concerning Solid Waste Facility Citizen Advisory Committees
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0693
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Sponsors: DUCHESNE, DILL, WALSH INNES, KNAPP, MITCHELL, SCHNEIDER
Amends: 38 MRSA §2171, 38 MRSA §2176

Legislative Document 
No. 693 
H.P. 522 
House of Representatives, February 23, 2011 
An Act Concerning Solid Waste Facility Citizen Advisory 
Committees 
Received by the Clerk of the House on February 18, 2011.  Referred to the Committee on 
Environment and Natural Resources pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant 
to Joint Rule 401. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative DUCHESNE of Hudson. 
Cosponsored by Representatives: DILL of Old Town, WALSH INNES of Yarmouth, KNAPP 
of Gorham, MITCHELL of the Penobscot Nation, Senator: SCHNEIDER of Penobscot. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  38 MRSA §2171, as amended by PL 2007, c. 598, §15, is further amended 
to read: 
§2171.  Citizen advisory committee 
The municipal officers of each municipality identified by the Facility Siting Board as 
a potential site for a waste disposal facility and each contiguous municipality that may be 
affected by the construction or operation of that facility shall jointly establish a single 
citizen advisory committee.  The committee must be established within 60 days of 
notification pursuant to section 2155 and must continue to exist during the development 
and operation and through closure of the facility. 
1.  Membership.  The committee must be comprised of citizens from each affected 
municipality, appointed by the municipal officers, including, but not limited to: a local 
health officer;  a municipal officer; and at least 3 additional residents of the municipality, 
including abutting property owners and residents potentially affected by pollution from 
the facility.  In addition, each committee may include members representing any of the 
following interests: environmental and community groups; labor groups; professionals 
with expertise relating to landfills or incinerators; experts in the areas of chemistry, 
epidemiology, hydrogeology and biology; and legal experts. 
2.  Meetings.  The committee shall meet as soon as practical following appointment 
of its members and shall select a chair from among its members.  The committee shall 
establish procedures for the conduct of meetings. 
3.  Responsibilities.  Each committee established under this section may: 
A.    Review proposed contracts, site analyses, applications and other documents 
relating to the location, construction, permitting and operation of the facility; 
B.    Hold periodic public meetings to solicit the opinions of residents concerning the 
facility and any permit applications, contracts or other provisions relating to the 
facility and the regional plan; 
C.    Provide the project developer and department with any alternative contract 
provisions, permit conditions, plans or procedures it considers appropriate; and 
D.    Serve as a liaison between the community and the project developer or the 
commissioner to facilitate communications during the development and operation of 
the facility, and provide residents with updated information about the project, 
including providing explanations of any technical terms.; 
E.  Appeal a license or permit decision made by the commissioner or the board and 
intervene in proceedings relating to licensing or permitting of the facility if the 
disposition of the proceedings could impair the ability of the committee to carry out 
its responsibilities under this subsection; and 
F.  Report committee findings and recommendations concerning the facility to the 
municipal officers of each affected municipality. 
4.  Unincorporated townships and plantations.  For the purposes of this 
subchapter, county commissioners shall act as municipal officers for unincorporated 
townships and assessors of plantations shall act as municipal officers for plantations. 
5.  Municipal members; intervention.  Affected municipalities that appoint 
members to a committee established under this section may appeal a license or permit 
decision made by the commissioner or the board and may intervene in proceedings 
relating to licensing or permitting of the facility. 
Sec. 2.  38 MRSA §2176, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2007, c. 406, §6, is further 
amended to read: 
3.  Monitoring.  Financial support for on-site, municipally employed personnel or for 
other means determined necessary to enable the municipality to monitor the facility's 
compliance with state and local requirements; and 
Sec. 3.  38 MRSA §2176, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 406, §7, is amended 
to read: 
4.  Other issues.  Other issues determined on a case-specific basis by the applicant 
and office to be appropriate given the nature of the proposed facility.; and 
Sec. 4.  38 MRSA §2176, sub-§5 is enacted to read: 
5.  Support for citizen advisory committee.  Financial and administrative support 
for a citizen advisory committee established under section 2171. 
Sec. 5.  Resolve 2003, c. 93, §1, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2005, c. 341, §2, is 
further amended to read: 
5.  Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 1310-U, the 
municipality in which the disposal facility is located may not regulate the operation or 
any other aspect of the disposal facility as provided in Title 38, section 2173 or by means 
of any municipal ordinances, regulations, licenses or permits, except that the municipality 
may enact ordinances with respect to the operation of any expansion of the disposal 
facility, including any expansion of the type of waste the facility is licensed to accept, 
that contain standards the municipality finds reasonable, including, without limitation, 
standards concerning conformance with federal and state solid waste rules; fire safety; 
traffic safety; levels of noise heard outside the facility; the distance from existing 
residential, commercial or institutional uses; groundwater protection; surface water 
protection; erosion and sedimentation control; and compatibility of the disposal facility 
with local zoning and land use controls, as long as the standards are not more strict than 
those contained in Title 38, chapter 3, subchapter 1, articles 5-A and 6 and Title 38, 
chapter 13 and the rules adopted under those chapters.  The municipality is prohibited 
from enacting stricter standards than those contained in Title 38, chapter 13 governing the 
hydrogeological criteria for siting or designing the expansion of or the governing of the 
engineering criteria related to waste handling and disposal areas of the expanded disposal 
facility.  Such municipal ordinances must use definitions consistent with those adopted by 
the Department of Environmental Protection, Board of Environmental Protection.  The 
municipal officers of the City of Old Town and the Town of Alton shall establish a joint 
citizen advisory committee consisting of 8 members, of which 5 must be from the City of 
Old Town, 2 from the Town of Alton and one from the Penobscot Nation.  In appointing 
members to the committee, the municipal officers shall use Title 38, section 2171, 
subsection 1 as guidance. The Penobscot Nation shall appoint one member of the 
committee. The committee shall meet as soon as practical following appointment of its 
members and shall select a chair from among its members.  The committee shall establish 
procedures for the conduct of meetings.  The committee shall continue to exist through 
closure of the facility. The committee may: 
A.  Review proposed contracts, site analyses, applications and other documents 
relating to the construction, permitting and operation of the disposal facility; 
B.  Hold periodic public meetings to solicit the opinions of residents concerning the 
disposal facility and any permit applications, contracts or other provisions relating to 
the disposal facility; 
C.  Provide the disposal facility operator and office with any alternative contract 
provisions, permit conditions, plans or procedures the committee considers 
appropriate; 
D.  Serve as a liaison between the communities and the disposal facility operator or 
the office to facilitate communications during the development and operation of the 
disposal facility and provide residents with updated information about the project, 
including providing explanations of any technical terms; and 
E.  Serve as a liaison between the Penobscot Nation and the disposal facility operator 
or the office to facilitate communications during the development and operation of 
the disposal facility and provide members of the Penobscot Nation with updated 
information about the project, including providing explanations of any technical 
terms; and be it further 
F.  Appeal a license or permit decision made by the commissioner or the board and 
intervene in proceedings relating to licensing of the disposal facility if the disposition 
of the proceedings could impair the ability of the committee to carry out its 
responsibilities under this subsection; and 
G.  Report committee findings and recommendations concerning the disposal facility 
to the City of Old Town and the Town of Alton. 
Sec. 6.  Resolve 2003, c. 93, §1, sub-§6 is enacted to read: 
6.  The City of Old Town and the Town of Alton may appeal a license or permit 
decision made by the commissioner or the board and intervene in proceedings relating to 
licensing or permitting of the disposal facility. 
Sec. 7.  Resolve 2003, c. 93, §1, sub-§7 is enacted to read: 
7.  The office shall provide financial and administrative support for the joint citizen 
advisory committee established pursuant to subsection 5; and be it further 
SUMMARY 
This bill clarifies that a solid waste facility citizen advisory committee is to continue 
through the closure of the facility.  It authorizes a citizen advisory committee to appeal 
licensing and permitting decisions and intervene in licensing and permitting proceedings 
if the disposition of the proceedings could impair the ability of the committee to carry out 
its responsibilities.  It authorizes municipalities that appoint members to a citizen 
advisory committee to appeal licensing and permitting decisions and intervene in 
licensing and permitting proceedings.  It directs the Executive Department, State 
Planning Office to provide financial and administrative support for citizen advisory 
committees.  The bill also makes these provisions applicable to the citizen advisory 
committee established in connection with the Juniper Ridge landfill in Old Town and 
Alton.