An Act To Prohibit the Mining of Massive Sulfide Ore Deposits under the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 0160
Committee Amendment CA_A_H158 (House)
Amends: 12 MRSA §685-B, 36 MRSA §2866, 38 MRSA §351, 38 MRSA §352, 38 MRSA §353, 38 MRSA §420-D, 38 MRSA §480-D

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 118, L.D. 160, Bill, "An Act To 
Prohibit the Mining of Massive Sulfide Ore Deposits under the Maine Metallic Mineral 
Mining Act" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Prohibit Metallic Mineral Mining in Maine' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §685-B, sub-§1-A, ,r.B-2, as reallocated by RR 2011, c. 2, §8 
and affected by § 10, is repealed. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §2866, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2011, c. 653, §6 and 
affected by §33, is repealed. 
Sec. 3. 38 MRSA §351, 2nd 1, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 653, §9 and affected by 
§33, is repealed. 
Sec. 4. 38 MRSA §352, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2011, c. 653, § 10 and affected 
by §33 and amended by c. 657, Pt. W, §5, is further amended to read: 
3. Maximum fee. The commissioner shall set the actual fees and shall publish a 
schedule of all fees by November 1st of each year. If the commissioner determines that a 
particular application, by virtue of its size, uniqueness, complexity or other relevant 
factors, is likely to require significantly more costs than those listed on Table I, the 
commissioner may designate that application as subject to special fees. 
Such a 
designation must be made at, or prior to, the time the application is accepted as complete 
and may not be based solely on the likelihood of extensive public controversy. The 
maximum fee for processing an application may not exceed $250,000, e:xcopt that the 
maximum fee for processing an application under chapter 3, subchapter 1, article 9 is as 
provided for in subsection 4 A. All staff of the department, the Department of Inland 
Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the 
Department of Marine Resources who have worked on the review of the application, 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
R. of S. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT «A "to H.P. 118, L.D. 160 
including, but not limited to, preapplication consultations, shall submit quarterly reports 
to the commissioner detailing the time spent on the application and all expenses 
attributable to the application, including the costs of any appeals filed by the applicant 
and, after taking into consideration the interest of fairness and equity, any other appeals if 
the commissioner fmds it in the public interest to do so. Any appeal filed by the applicant 
of an application fee must be to the agency of jurisdiction of the application. The costs 
associated with assistance to the board on an appeal before the board may be separately 
charged. 
The processing fee for that application must be the actual cost to the 
department, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of 
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the Department of Marine Resources. The 
processing fee must be distributed to each department that incurs a cost to be deposited in 
the account in which the expenses were incurred in that department to reimburse the 
actual cost to that department. The applicant must be billed quarterly and all fees paid 
prior to receipt of the permit. At the time of the quarterly billing by the department, the 
commissioner shall review the ongoing work of the department to identify, prevent and 
mitigate undue delays or vague requirements of the application processing. Nothing in 
this section limits the commissioner's authority to enter into an agreement with an 
applicant for payment of costs in excess of the maximum fee established in this 
subsection. 
Sec. 5. 38 MRSA §352, sub-§4-A, as repealed and replaced by PL 2011, c. 653, 
§ 11 and affected by §33, is repealed. 
Sec. 6. 38 MRSA §353, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2011, c. 653, § 13 and affected 
by §33, is further amended to read: 
2. Processing fee. Except for annual air emission fees pursuant to section 353-A and 
annual waste discharge fees pursuant to section 353-B, a processing fee must be paid at 
the time of filing the application. Failure to pay the processing fee at the time of filing 
the application results in the application being returned to the applicant. One-half the 
processing fee assessed in section 352, subsection 5-A for licenses issued for a 10-year 
term must be paid at the time of filing the application. 
The remaining 1/2 of the 
processing fee for licenses issued for a 10-year tetm must be paid 5 years after issuance 
of the license. The commissioner may not refund the processing fee if the application is 
denied by the board or the commissioner. E1£eept as provided in section 352, sabseetion 
A, if If the application is withdrawn by the applicant within 30 days of the start of 
processing, the p01tion of the processing fee that was expended or committed by the 
depattment or the department's agents or contractors for the cost of processing the 
application prior to the withdrawal of the application must be calculated, and the 
remainder of the processing fee not expended or committed must be refunded. 
Sec. 7. 38 MRSA §420-D, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2011, c. 653, §14 and 
affected by §33, is further amended to read: 
5. Relationship to other laws. A storm water permit pursuant to this section is not 
required for a project requiring review by the department pursuant to any of the following 
provisions but the project may be required to meet standards for management of storm 
water adopted pursuant to this section: article 6, site location of development; article 7, 
performance standards for excavations for borrow, clay, topsoil or silt; article 8-A, 
performance standards for quarries; article 9, the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Aot; 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
R. ot s. 
COMMITIEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 118, L.D. 160 
sections 631 to 636, permits for hydropower projects; and section 1310-N, 1319-R or 
1319-X, waste facility licenses. 
When a project requires a storm water permit and 
requires review pursuant to article 5-A, the department shall issue a joint order unless the 
permit required pursuant to article 5-A is a permit-by-rnle or general permit, or separate 
orders are requested by the applicant and approved by the department. 
A storm water permit pursuant to this section is not required for a project receiving 
review by a registered municipality pursuant to section 489-A if the storm water 
ordinances under which the project is reviewed are at least as stringent as the storm water 
standards adopted pursuant to section 484 or if the municipality meets the requirements 
of section 489-A, subsection 2-A, paragraph B. 
Sec. 8. 38 MRSA §480-D, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2011, c. 653, §15 and 
affected by §33, is further amended to read: 
3. Harm to habitats; fisheries. 
The activity will not unreasonably harm any 
significant wildlife habitat, freshwater wetland plant habitat, threatened or endangered 
plant habitat, aquatic or adjacent upland habitat, travel conidor, freshwater, estuarine or 
marine fisheries or other aquatic life. 
In detenni-ning vmether mining, as defined i-n seotion 4 90 14M, subsection 11, •Nill 
OOlllflly with this subsection, the department shall reviev1 a-n analysis of alternatives 
submitted by the applicant. For purposes of this subsection, a practicable alternative to 
mining, as defined in section 4 90 ,M}.4, subsection 11, that is less damaging to the 
environment is not oonsidered to exist. 
The department may consider alternafr1es 
associated with the acti>1ity, i-ncludi-ng alternati>,re design a-nd operational measures, i-n its 
e>,raluation of •i1mether the acfr1ity avoided and minimized impacts to the maximum extent 
practicable. 
In determining whether there is unreasonable harm to significant wildlife habitat, the 
department may consider proposed mitigation if that mitigation does not diminish in the 
vicinity of the proposed activity the overall value of significant wildlife habitat and 
species utilization of the habitat and if there is no specific biological or physical feature 
unique to the habitat that would be adversely affected by the proposed activity. For 
purposes of this subsection, 
11mitigation
means any action taken or not taken to avoid, 
minimize, rectify, reduce, eliminate or compensate for any actual or potential adverse 
impact on the significant wildlife habitat, including the following: 
A. A voiding an impact altogether by not taking a certain action or parts of an action; 
B. Minimizing an impact by limiting the magnitude, duration or location of an 
activity or by controlling the timing of an activity; 
C. 
Rectifying an impact by repairing, rehabilitating or restoring the affected 
environment; 
D. 
Reducing or eliminating an impact over time through preservation and 
maintenance operations during the life of the project; or 
E. Compensating for an impact by replacing the affected significant wildlife habitat. 
Sec. 9. 38 MRSA c. 3, sub-c. 1, art. 9, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 653, §23, is 
repealed. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
R. of S. 
COMMIITEE AMENDMENT" A" to H.P. 118, L.D. 160 
Sec. 10. 38 MRSA c. 3, sub-c. 1, art. 9-A is enacted to read: 
ARTICLE9-A 
PROHIBITION OF METALLIC MINERAL MINING 
§490-UU. Definitions 
As used in this article, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms 
have the following meanings. 
1. MetaJlic mineral. "Metallic mineral" means any ore or material to be excavated 
from the natural deposits on or in the earth for its metallic mineral content to be used for 
commercial or industrial purposes. 
2. Mining. "Mining" means the activities, facilities or processes necessary for the 
extraction or removal of metallic minerals or overburden or for the preparation, washing, 
cleaning or other treatment of metallic minerals and includes the bulk sampling, 
exploration, advanced exploration, extraction or beneficiation of metallic minerals as well 
as waste storage and other stockpiles and reclamation activities, but does not include 
exploration. 
§490-VV. Prohibition of metallic mineral mining 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an agency of the State 
may not issue a permit, lease or license for or otherwise approve or authorize the mining 
of metallic minerals in the State for commercial or industrial purposes.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the minority report of the committee, changes the title of 
the bill and replaces the bill. It repeals the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act and 
enacts a prohibition on the issuance of a permit, lease or license for or other approval or 
authorization of the mining of metallic minerals in the State for commercial or industrial 
purposes. 
FISCAL NOTf fft'nI.TRED 
(Sec awi\.;;~ d} 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 05/06/17 feac:.. 
LD 160 
LR 1069(02) 
An Act To Prohibit the Mining of Massive Sulfide Ore Deposits under the Maine Metallic Mineral 
Mining Act 
,\ 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment 'A' [ H- J:fij 
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Potential current biennium revenue decrease - Other Special Revenue Funds 
Potential future biennium savings - Other Special Revenue Funds 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
The bill would prohibit the Department ofEnviromnental Protection (DEP) from issuing a permit for metallic mineral 
mining under the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act by repealing the statute. The repeal would eliminate any 
potential permit fee revenue from accruing to the Metallic Mining Fund within the DEP. The repeal would also 
generate savings from elimination of any costs associated with the DEP's pennitting process. 
LR1069(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1