An Act To Limit Greenhouse Gas Pollution and Effectively Use Maine's Natural Resources
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0797
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Sponsors: TUCKER, FOLEY, COREY, DOUDERA, GIDEON, KINNEY, RILEY, TUELL, BLACK
Amends: 2 MRSA §9, 35-A MRSA §3210-C, 35-A MRSA §3402, 35-A MRSA §10104, 38 MRSA §574, 38 MRSA §576, 38 MRSA §576-A, 38 MRSA §577, 38 MRSA §578

Legislative Document
No. 797
H.P. 585
House of Representatives, February 12, 2019
An Act To Limit Greenhouse Gas Pollution and Effectively Use 
Maine's Natural Resources
Reference to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative TUCKER of Brunswick.
Cosponsored by Senator FOLEY of York and
Representatives: COREY of Windham, DOUDERA of Camden, Speaker GIDEON of 
Freeport, KINNEY of Knox, RILEY of Jay, TUELL of East Machias, Senators: BLACK of 
Franklin, SANBORN, L. of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  2 MRSA §9, sub-§3, ¶C, as amended by PL 2013, c. 541, §1, is further 
amended to read:
C.  In consultation with the Efficiency Maine Trust Board, established in Title 5, 
section 12004-G, subsection 10-C, prepare and submit a comprehensive state energy 
plan to the Governor and the Legislature by January 15, 2009 and submit an updated 
plan every 2 years thereafter. Within the comprehensive state energy plan, the 
director shall identify opportunities to lower the total cost of energy to consumers in 
this State and transmission capacity and infrastructure needs and recommend 
appropriate actions to lower the total cost of energy to consumers in this State and 
facilitate the development and integration of new renewable energy generation within 
the State and support the State's renewable resource portfolio requirements specified 
in Title 35-A, section 3210 and wind energy development goals specified in Title 
35-A, section 3404. The comprehensive state energy plan must include a section that 
specifies the State's progress in meeting the oil dependence reduction targets in 
subsection 5.  The office shall make recommendations, if needed, for additional 
legislative and administrative actions to ensure that the State can meet the reduction 
targets in subsection 5. The recommendations must include a cost and resource 
estimate for technology development needed to meet the reduction targets.
(1)  Beginning in 2015, the The update to the plan must:
(a)  Be submitted to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over utilities and energy matters and the joint standing committee 
of the Legislature having jurisdiction over natural resources matters;
(b)  Address the association between energy planning and meeting the 
greenhouse gas reduction goals in the state climate action plan pursuant to 
levels in Title 38, section 577 576-A.  The director shall consult with the 
Department of Environmental Protection in developing this portion of the 
plan;
(c)  Include a section devoted to wind energy development, including:
(i)  The State's progress toward meeting the wind energy development 
goals established in Title 35-A, section 3404, subsection 2, including an 
assessment of the likelihood of achieving the goals and any 
recommended changes to the goals;
(ii)  Examination of the permitting process and any recommended 
changes to the permitting process;
(iii)  Identified successes in implementing the recommendations 
contained in the February 2008 final report of the Governor's Task Force 
on Wind Power Development created by executive order issued May 8, 
2007;
(iv)  A summary of tangible benefits provided by expedited wind energy 
developments, including, but not limited to, documentation of 
community benefits packages and community benefit agreement 
payments provided;
(v)  A review of the community benefits package requirement under Title 
35-A, section 3454, subsection 2, the actual amount of negotiated 
community benefits packages relative to the statutorily required 
minimum amount and any recommended changes to community benefits 
package policies;
(vi)  Projections of wind energy developers' plans, as well as technology 
trends and their state policy implications;
(vii)  Recommendations, including, but not limited to, identification of 
places within the State's unorganized and deorganized areas for inclusion 
in the expedited permitting area established pursuant to Title 35-A, 
chapter 34-A and the creation of an independent siting authority to 
consider wind energy development applications; 
(d)  Include a description of activities undertaken pursuant to paragraph H; 
and
(e)  Include a description of the State's activities relating to the expansion of 
natural gas service, any actions taken by the office to expand access to 
natural gas in the State and any recommendations for actions by the 
Legislature to expand access to natural gas in the State.
The joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utilities and 
energy matters may report out legislation by February 1st of each odd-numbered year 
relating to the content of the plan. The joint standing committee of the Legislature 
having jurisdiction over natural resources matters may make recommendations 
regarding that legislation to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over energy matters.
Sec. 2.  2 MRSA §9, sub-§5, ¶D, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 400, §2, is amended 
to read:
D.  Draw on existing state data and studies rather than new analyses, including, but 
not limited to, analyses and data from the State's climate action plan developed by the 
Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to Title 38, section 577 and the 
progress updates to the climate action plan evaluations of the State's progress toward 
meeting greenhouse gas emissions levels under Title 38, section 578, the 
comprehensive state energy plan pursuant to subsection 3, paragraph C, the 
Efficiency Maine Trust's triennial plan pursuant to Title 35-A, section 10104, 
subsection 4 and analyses completed by the Federal Government, nonprofit 
organizations and other stakeholders.
Sec. 3.  35-A MRSA §3210-C, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2017, c. 134, §2, is 
further amended to read:
3.  Commission authority.  The commission may direct investor-owned 
transmission and distribution utilities to enter into long-term contracts for:
A.  Capacity resources;
B.  Any available energy associated with capacity resources contracted under 
paragraph A:
(1)  To the extent necessary to fulfill the policy of subsection 2, paragraph A; or
(2)  If the commission determines appropriate for purposes of supplying or 
lowering the cost of standard-offer service or otherwise lowering the cost of 
electricity for the ratepayers in the State.  Available energy contracted pursuant to 
this subparagraph may be sold into the wholesale electricity market in 
conjunction with solicitations for standard-offer supply bids; 
C.  Any available renewable energy credits associated with capacity resources 
contracted under paragraph A.  The price paid by the investor-owned transmission 
and distribution utility for the renewable energy credits must be lower than the price 
received for those renewable energy credits at the time they are sold by the 
investor-owned transmission and distribution utility; and
D.  Transmission capacity, capacity resources, energy or renewable energy credits 
pursuant to a regional procurement process in conjunction with other states.
The commission may permit, but may not require, investor-owned transmission and 
distribution utilities to enter into contracts for differences that are designed and intended 
to buffer ratepayers in the State from potential negative impacts from transmission 
development.  To the greatest extent possible, the commission shall develop procedures 
for long-term contracts for investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities under 
this subsection having the same legal and financial effect as the procedures used for 
standard-offer service pursuant to section 3212 for investor-owned transmission and 
distribution utilities.
The commission may enter into contracts for interruptible, demand response or energy 
efficiency capacity resources.  These contracts are not subject to the rules of the State 
Purchasing Agent.  In a competitive solicitation conducted pursuant to subsection 6, the 
commission shall allow transmission and distribution utilities to submit bids for 
interruptible or demand response capacity resources.
Capacity resources contracted under this subsection may not exceed the amount 
necessary to ensure the reliability of the electric grid of this State, to meet the energy 
efficiency program budget allocations articulated in the triennial plan as approved by the 
commission pursuant to section 10104, subsection 4 or any annual update plan approved 
by the commission pursuant to section 10104, subsection 6 or to lower customer costs as 
determined by the commission pursuant to rules adopted under subsection 10.
Unless the commission determines the public interest requires otherwise, a capacity 
resource may not be contracted under this subsection unless the commission determines 
that the capacity resource is recognized as a capacity resource for purposes of any 
regional or federal capacity requirements.
The commission shall ensure that any long-term contract authorized under this subsection 
is consistent with the State's goals for greenhouse gas reduction levels under Title 38, 
section 576 576-A and the regional greenhouse gas initiative as described in the state 
climate action plan required in Title 38, section 577 579.
By January 1st of each year, the commission shall submit a report to the joint standing 
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over energy and utilities matters on the 
procurement of transmission capacity, capacity resources, energy and renewable energy 
credits in the preceding 12 months under this subsection, the Community-based 
Renewable Energy Act and deep-water offshore wind energy pilot projects under Public 
Law 2009, chapter 615, Part A, section 6, as amended by Public Law 2013, chapter 369, 
Part H, sections 1 and 2 and chapter 378, sections 4 to 6. The report must contain 
information including, but not limited to, the number of requests for proposals by the 
commission for long-term contracts, the number of responses to requests for proposals 
pursuant to which a contract has been finalized, the number of executed term sheets or 
contracts resulting from the requests for proposals, the commission's initial estimates of 
ratepayer costs or savings associated with any approved term sheet, actual ratepayer costs 
or savings for the previous year associated with any procurement, the total ratepayer costs 
or savings at the time of the report and the megawatt-hours, renewable energy credits or 
capacity produced or procured through contracts. The report must also include a plan for 
the succeeding 12 months pertaining to the procurement of capacity resources, energy 
and renewable energy credits, including dates for requests for proposals, and types of 
resources to be procured.
Sec. 4.  35-A MRSA §3402, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 615, Pt. A, 
§2, is further amended to read:
A.  Wind energy is an economically feasible, large-scale energy resource that does 
not rely on fossil fuel combustion or nuclear fission, thereby displacing electrical 
energy provided by these other sources and avoiding air pollution, waste disposal 
problems and hazards to human health from emissions, waste and by-products; 
consequently, wind energy development may address energy needs while making a 
significant contribution to achievement of the State's renewable energy and 
greenhouse gas reduction objectives, including those in Title 38, section 576 576-A; 
Sec. 5.  35-A MRSA §10104, sub-§4, ¶F, as repealed and replaced by PL 2013, 
c. 369, Pt. A, §13, is amended to read:
F.  It is an objective of the triennial plan to design, coordinate and integrate sustained 
energy efficiency and weatherization programs that are available to all energy 
consumers in the State and to users of all fuel types. The plan must set forth the costs 
and benefits of energy efficiency programs that advance the following goals, and 
funding necessary to meet those goals:
(1)  Reducing energy costs, including residential heating costs;
(2) Weatherizing substantially all homes whose owners or occupants are willing 
to participate in and share the costs of cost-effective home weatherization to a 
minimum standard of weatherization, as defined by the trust, by 2030;
(3) Reducing peak-load demand for electricity through trust programs by 300 
megawatts by 2020;
(4) By 2020, achieving electricity and natural gas program savings of at least 
20% and heating fuel savings of at least 20%, as defined in and determined 
pursuant to the measures of performance approved by the commission under 
section 10120;
(5) Creating stable private sector jobs providing alternative energy and energy 
efficiency products and services in the State by 2020; and
(6) Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the heating and cooling of buildings 
in the State by amounts consistent with the State's goals reduction levels 
established in Title 38, section 576 576-A.
The trust shall preserve when possible and appropriate the opportunity for carbon 
emission reductions to be monetized and sold into a voluntary carbon market. Any 
program of the trust that supports weatherization of buildings must be voluntary and 
may not constitute a mandate that would prevent the sale of emission reductions 
generated through weatherization measures into a voluntary carbon market.
Except when specifically provided in the individual goals under this paragraph, the 
trust may consider expected savings from market effects not attributable to the trust 
as well as efforts by other organizations, including but not limited to federally funded 
low-income weatherization programs.
As used in this paragraph, "heating fuel" means liquefied petroleum gas, kerosene or 
#2 heating oil, but does not include fuels when used for industrial or manufacturing 
processes.
Sec. 6.  38 MRSA §574, sub-§§1-A, 1-B and 1-C are enacted to read:
1-A.  Climate action plan.  "Climate action plan" means the state plan adopted in 
2004 by the department under this chapter to address greenhouse gas emissions 
reductions in each sector in cost-effective ways.
1-B.  Gross annual greenhouse gas emissions. "Gross annual greenhouse gas 
emissions" means the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted by all sources within the 
State each year.
1-C.  Net annual greenhouse gas emissions.  "Net annual greenhouse gas 
emissions" means gross annual greenhouse gas emissions less the total amount of 
greenhouse gases absorbed each year by plants and natural ecosystems, including, but not 
limited to, trees, crops, soil and wetlands within the State.
Sec. 7.  38 MRSA §576, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 237, §1, is repealed.
Sec. 8.  38 MRSA §576-A is enacted to read:
§576-A.  Greenhouse gas emissions reductions
1.  2050 annual emissions level.  By January 1, 2050, the State shall reduce net 
annual greenhouse gas emissions to at least 80% below the 1990 net annual greenhouse 
gas emissions level.
2.  Interim emissions levels.  The department shall adopt rules establishing interim 
net annual greenhouse gas emissions levels for 2030 and 2040. The interim net annual 
greenhouse gas emissions levels must maximize the State's ability to meet the 2050 net 
annual greenhouse gas emissions level. The interim 2030 net annual greenhouse gas 
emissions level must at a minimum be consistent with the highest level of the greenhouse 
gas emissions reduction range adopted by the Conference of New England Governors and 
Eastern Canadian Premiers in Resolution 39-1, dated August 31, 2015.  The interim 2040 
net annual emissions level must at a minimum be sufficient to project achievement of the 
2050 net annual emissions level.  The department shall set the interim 2030 net annual 
emissions level by January 1, 2020 and the interim 2040 net annual emissions level by 
January 1, 2030.
3.  Monitoring and reporting rules.  By January 1, 2020, the department shall adopt 
rules to monitor and report to the Legislature on gross and net annual greenhouse gas 
emissions.  By January 1, 2021, and periodically thereafter, the department shall adopt 
rules to ensure compliance with the levels established by and pursuant to subsections 1 
and 2.  Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in 
Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 9.  38 MRSA §577, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 237, §1, is repealed and the 
following enacted in its place:
§577.  Action plan; long-term goal
1.  Long-term reduction goal.  The State's long-term reduction goal is to reduce net 
annual greenhouse gas emissions to an extent sufficient to minimize harmful effects of 
climate change.  To accomplish this goal, reducing net annual greenhouse gas emissions 
to zero by 2050 may be necessary.
2.  Climate action plan update.  By December 1, 2020, the department, with input 
from stakeholders, shall update the State's climate action plan to meet the reduction levels 
in section 576-A.  In updating the climate action plan, the department shall conduct a 
study examining pathways to reduce net annual greenhouse gas emissions consistent with 
the levels in section 576-A and with the long-term goal in subsection 1.  The department 
shall quantitatively analyze and report on the technical feasibility and cost-effectiveness 
of each pathway.  To fund the analysis, the department may solicit and receive financial 
support from the public and private and nonprofit organizations.  The department shall 
submit the study to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction 
over natural resources matters, which is authorized to report out legislation related to the 
study.  In identifying the preferred pathways to include in the updated climate action plan, 
the department shall give consideration to the following objectives:
A.  Pursuing the most cost-effective and technologically feasible reduction pathways 
while minimizing effects on low-income and moderate-income persons, minimizing 
environmental effects, supporting economic sectors that face the biggest barriers to 
emissions reductions and creating, when feasible, additional employment and 
economic growth in the State;
B.  Encouraging the use of natural solutions to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions, 
such as solutions related to forests, farms and coastal lands in the State and materials 
that sequester carbon;
C.  Ensuring that all sectors and regions of the State and the broadest group of 
residents benefit from reaching the levels in section 576-A and the long-term goal in 
subsection 1, with consideration to economic, quality-of-life and public health 
benefits; and
D.  Maximizing involvement in interstate initiatives designed to reduce regional 
greenhouse gas emissions.
Sec. 10.  38 MRSA §578, as amended by PL 2013, c. 415, §5, is further amended 
to read:
§578.  Progress evaluation
By January 1, 2006 and by that date every 2 years thereafter, the The department 
shall evaluate the State's progress toward meeting the reduction goals levels specified in 
section 576 576-A, review the cost-effectiveness of the actions taken toward meeting the 
reduction goals and shall amend the action plan as necessary to ensure that the State can 
meet the reduction goals and in rules adopted pursuant to section 576-A, subsection 2 and 
progress toward implementing the climate action plan in section 577.  The department 
shall submit a report of its evaluation to the joint standing committee of the Legislature 
having jurisdiction over natural resources matters and the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over utilities and energy matters by January 1, 2016 2022 
and by that date every 2 years thereafter.  The joint standing committee of the Legislature 
having jurisdiction over natural resources matters is authorized to report out legislation 
relating to the evaluation to the second regular session of any Legislature. The joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over utilities and energy 
matters may make recommendations to the joint standing committee of the Legislature 
having jurisdiction over natural resources matters regarding that legislation.  Starting no 
earlier than January 1, 2008, the department may recommend to the joint standing 
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over natural resources matters that the 
reduction goals specified in section 576 be increased or decreased.
SUMMARY
This bill provides that by January 1, 2050 the State must reduce net annual 
greenhouse gas emissions to at least 80% below the 1990 net annual greenhouse gas 
emissions level.  It directs the Department of Environmental Protection to establish 
interim net annual emissions levels and to monitor and report on gross and net annual 
greenhouse gas emissions.  It directs the department to update the State's climate action 
plan and evaluate the State's progress toward meeting the reduction levels.