An Act To Establish a Resource and Development Coordinating Council
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1427
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Sponsors: BOYLE, PEOPLES, CAIN, CRAVEN, DUTREMBLE, GERZOFSKY, LACHOWICZ, MILLETT, MAREAN, NOON
Amends: 5 MRSA §12004-I, 30-A MRSA §4312

Legislative Document 
No. 1427 
S.P. 513 
In Senate, April 23, 2013 
An Act To Establish a Resource and Development Coordinating 
Council 
(AFTER DEADLINE) 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
205. 
Reference to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources suggested and ordered 
printed. 
DAREK M. GRANT 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator BOYLE of Cumberland. 
Cosponsored by Representative PEOPLES of Westbrook and 
Senators: CAIN of Penobscot, CRAVEN of Androscoggin, DUTREMBLE of York, 
GERZOFSKY of Cumberland, LACHOWICZ of Kennebec, MILLETT of Cumberland, 
Representatives: MAREAN of Hollis, NOON of Sanford. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §12004-I, sub-§23-C is enacted to read: 
23-C.   
Sec. 2.  30-A MRSA §4312, as amended by PL 2011, c. 655, Pt. JJ, §15 and 
affected by §41, is further amended to read: 
§4312.  Statement of findings, purpose and goals; coordinating council 
2.  Legislative purpose.  The Legislature declares that it is the purpose of this Act to: 
A.    Establish, in each municipality of the State, local comprehensive planning and 
land use management; 
B.    Encourage municipalities to identify the tools and resources to effectively plan 
for and manage future development within their jurisdictions with a maximum of 
local initiative and flexibility; 
C.    Encourage local land use ordinances, tools and policies based on local 
comprehensive plans; 
D.    Incorporate regional considerations into local planning and decision making so 
as to ensure consideration of regional needs and the regional impact of development; 
F.    Provide for continued direct state regulation of development proposals that occur 
in areas of statewide concern, that directly impact natural resources of statewide 
significance or that by their scale or nature otherwise affect vital state interests; 
G.    Encourage the widest possible involvement by the citizens of each municipality 
in all aspects of the planning and implementation process, in order to ensure that the 
plans developed by municipalities have had the benefit of citizen input; and 
I.    Encourage the development and implementation of multimunicipal growth 
management programs. 
3.  State goals.  The Legislature hereby establishes a set of state goals to provide 
overall direction and consistency to the planning and regulatory actions of all state and 
municipal agencies affecting natural resource management, land use and development.  
The Legislature declares that, in order to promote and protect the health, safety and 
welfare of the citizens of the State, it is in the best interests of the State to achieve the 
following goals: 
A.    To encourage orderly growth and development in appropriate areas of each 
community and region while protecting the State's rural character, making efficient 
use of public services and preventing development sprawl; 
Environment: 
Natural Resources 
Resource and 
Development 
Coordinating 
Council 
Not Authorized 
30-A MRSA §4312, 
sub-§5 
B.    To plan for, finance and develop an efficient system of public facilities and 
services to accommodate anticipated growth and economic development; 
C.    To promote an economic climate which that increases job opportunities and 
overall economic well-being; 
D.    To encourage and promote affordable, decent housing opportunities for all 
Maine citizens; 
E.    To protect the quality and manage the quantity of the State's water resources, 
including lakes, aquifers, great ponds, estuaries, rivers and coastal areas; 
F.    To protect the State's other critical natural resources, including, without 
limitation, wetlands, wildlife and fisheries habitat, sand dunes, shorelands, scenic 
vistas and unique natural areas; 
G.    To protect the State's marine resources industry, ports and harbors from 
incompatible development and to promote access to the shore for commercial 
fishermen and the public; 
H.    To safeguard the State's agricultural and forest resources from development 
which that threatens those resources; 
I.    To preserve the State's historic and archeological resources; and 
J.    To promote and protect the availability of outdoor recreation opportunities for all 
Maine citizens, including access to surface waters. 
4.  Limitation on state rule-making authority.  The department is authorized to 
adopt rules necessary to carry out the purposes of this subchapter.  Rules adopted 
pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A.  This section may not be construed to grant any separate regulatory 
authority to any state agency beyond that necessary to implement this subchapter. 
5.  Resource and Development Coordinating Council.  To promote interagency 
coordination of the State's activities regarding natural resource management, land use and 
development and to identify and coordinate the resolution of policy and program conflicts 
among agencies that affect the State's ability to achieve the goals in subsection 3, there is 
established the Resource and Development Coordinating Council, referred to in this 
subsection as "the council." 
A.  The membership of the council is as follows: the Commissioner of Agriculture, 
Conservation and Forestry; the Commissioner of Economic and Community 
Development; the Commissioner of Environmental Protection; the Commissioner of 
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife; the Commissioner of Marine Resources; the 
Commissioner of Transportation; the director of the division of environmental health 
within the Department of Health and Human Services; and the Director of the Maine 
Historic Preservation Commission; or their designees.  The membership shall select a 
chair from among themselves. 
B.  The council shall advise the Governor, the Legislature and state agencies in the 
formulation of policies for growth, development and management of the State's land, 
water and energy resources to achieve the goals in subsection 3.  Any state, federal, 
regional or local agency or private organization may interact and cooperate with the 
council in fulfilling the goals.  Specifically, the council shall: 
(1)  Recommend coordinated state policy regarding state programs or proposals 
that affect economic and energy development in the State, the natural 
environment of the State and land use management within the State's organized 
municipalities and that involve the concerns of more than one state agency; 
(2)  Support the implementation of an integrated program to provide a land and 
water resources information base for planning purposes; 
(3)  Recommend resolutions of conflicting legislative or state agency policies or 
programs that contribute to the achievement of one or more goals in subsection 3 
with appropriate regard for achieving other goals in subsection 3 and without 
substantial detriment to achieving other goals in subsection 3, or that are likely to 
inhibit municipalities or regional councils from achieving an appropriate balance 
as they, through their comprehensive plans and related implementing actions, 
seek to achieve the goals in subsection 3; 
(4)  At the request of the Governor, the Legislature or one or more of the 
council's members, study specific resource management, land use or development 
issues of statewide significance in order to recommend sound, coordinated 
policies; and 
(5)  Seek cooperation from federal agencies with responsibilities for land and 
water resources management to ensure that their programs and projects serve the 
best interests of the State. 
C.  Each member of the council shall provide the council with staff support to carry 
out the council's duties and responsibilities. 
D.  The council shall meet at least quarterly.  Every 2 years beginning in 2016 and no 
later than January 15th, the council shall prepare and submit to the Governor and to 
the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over natural 
resources matters a report describing its activities during the previous 2 calendar 
years and an outline of anticipated activities for the current calendar year. 
Sec. 3.  Initial meeting.  The Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and 
Forestry shall convene the initial meeting of the Resource and Development Coordinating 
Council established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30-A, section 4312, subsection 5 
no later than January 15, 2014.   
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes the Resource and Development Coordinating Council to promote 
interagency coordination of the State's activities regarding natural resource management, 
land use and development and to identify and coordinate the resolution of policy and 
program conflicts among government agencies.  The council submits a report every 2 
years to the Governor and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over natural resources matters.