An Act To Implement Agency Recommendations Relating to Sea Level Rise and Climate Resilience Provided Pursuant to Resolve 2021, Chapter 67
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1970
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Amends: 12 MRSA §685-B, 30-A MRSA §4301, 30-A MRSA §4326, 30-A MRSA §4346, 38 MRSA §484, 38 MRSA §1310-N

Legislative Document
No. 1970
H.P. 1465
House of Representatives, February 10, 2022
An Act To Implement Agency Recommendations Relating to Sea 
Level Rise and Climate Resilience Provided Pursuant to Resolve 
2021, Chapter 67
Reported by Representative TUCKER of Brunswick for the Joint Standing Committee on 
Environment and Natural Resources pursuant to Resolve 2021, chapter 67.
Reference to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources suggested and ordered 
printed pursuant to Joint Rule 218.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
PART A
Sec. A-1.  12 MRSA §685-B, sub-§1-A, ¶A, as amended by PL 2001, c. 402, §4, 
is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
A.  A permit is not required for the repair and maintenance of an existing road culvert 
or for the replacement of an existing road culvert, including ancillary culverting 
activities such as excavation and filling, as long as:
(1)  Erosion control measures are taken to prevent sedimentation of the water;
(2)  The road culvert does not block passage for fish in flowing water; and
(3)  For replacements of existing road culverts crossing flowing water:
(a)  The replacement culvert is designed, installed and maintained to match the 
natural grade of the channel bed of the water to avoid drops or perching; and
(b)  As site conditions allow, culverts that are not open bottomed are embedded 
in the channel bed of the water a minimum of one foot or at least 25% of the 
culvert or other structure's diameter, whichever is greater, except that a culvert 
does not have to be embedded more than 2 feet.
For purposes of this paragraph, "repair and maintenance" includes, but is not limited 
to, the riprapping of side slopes or culvert ends; removing debris and blockages within 
the culvert structure and at its inlet and outlet; and installing or replacing culvert ends 
if less than 50% of the culvert structure is being replaced;
Sec. A-2.  30-A MRSA §4301, sub-§4-A, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 578, §2, is 
amended to read:
4-A.  Critical rural area.  "Critical rural area" means a rural area that is specifically 
identified and designated by a municipality's or multimunicipal region's comprehensive 
plan as deserving maximum protection from development to preserve natural resources and 
related economic activities that may include, but are not limited to, significant farmland, 
forest land or mineral resources; high-value wildlife or fisheries habitat; scenic areas; 
public water supplies; scarce or especially vulnerable natural resources; flood buffer areas 
and flood-prone areas; and open lands functionally necessary to support a vibrant rural 
economy.
Sec. A-3.  30-A MRSA §4301, sub-§8-A is enacted to read:
8-A.  Local climate action plan.  "Local climate action plan" means a planning and 
decision-making document adopted by a municipality or multimunicipal region that:
A.  Includes compiled information regarding climate and health risks;
B.  Includes an evaluation of options for addressing climate and health risks by 
individuals, committees or offices in local or regional government that are responsible 
for planning, implementing and monitoring activities that reduce climate risk and 
improve health and community capacity to manage crises; and
C.  Is produced using community dialogue and participation in a manner that ensures 
the input and needs of the community's most vulnerable citizens are elevated and 
prioritized.
Sec. A-4.  30-A MRSA §4301, sub-§14-B, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 578, §6, is 
amended to read:
14-B.  Rural area.  "Rural area" means a geographic area that is identified and 
designated in a municipality's or multimunicipal region's comprehensive plan as an area 
that is deserving of some level of regulatory protection from unrestricted development for 
purposes that may include, but are not limited to, supporting agriculture, forestry, mining, 
open space, erosion mitigation, water retention, wildlife habitat, fisheries habitat and scenic 
lands, and away from which most development projected over 10 years is diverted.
Sec. A-5.  30-A MRSA §4326, sub-§1, ¶J, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, 
§45 and  Pt. C, §10, is amended to read:
J.  Land use information describing current and projected development patterns; and
Sec. A-6.  30-A MRSA §4326, sub-§1, ¶K, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, 
§45 and  Pt. C, §10, is amended to read:
K.  An assessment of capital facilities and public services necessary to support growth 
and development and to protect the environment and health, safety and welfare of the 
public and the costs of those facilities and services.; and
Sec. A-7.  30-A MRSA §4326, sub-§1, ¶L is enacted to read:
L.  For a municipality or multimunicipal region that has adopted a local climate action 
plan, a climate vulnerability assessment specific to the municipality or multimunicipal 
region prepared by the municipality or multimunicipal region.
Sec. A-8.  30-A MRSA §4326, sub-§4-B is enacted to read:
4-B.  Addressing climate risks.  A municipality or multimunicipal region may include 
in its comprehensive plan projections regarding risks posed by climate change as identified 
in its climate vulnerability assessment prepared pursuant to subsection 1, paragraph L and 
the potential effects of those risks on buildings, transportation infrastructure, sewage 
treatment facilities and other relevant municipal, multimunicipal or privately held 
infrastructure or property and may develop a coordinated plan for addressing those risks.
Sec. A-9.  30-A MRSA §4346, 2nd ¶, as amended by PL 2011, c. 655, Pt. JJ, §20 
and affected by §41, is further amended to read:
The department may enter into financial assistance grants only to the extent that funds 
are available.   In making grants, the department shall consider the need for planning in a 
municipality or multimunicipal region, the proximity of the municipality or multimunicipal 
region to other areas that are conducting or have completed the planning process and the 
economic and geographic role of the municipality or multimunicipal region within a 
regional context.  The department shall give priority in making grants to any municipality 
or multimunicipal region that has adopted a local climate action plan and, if the 
municipality or multimunicipal region has adopted a comprehensive plan or growth 
management program, prepared a climate vulnerability assessment pursuant to section 
4326, subsection 1, paragraph L.  The department may consider other criteria in making 
grants, as long as the criteria support the goal of encouraging and facilitating the adoption 
and implementation of local and multimunicipal growth management programs consistent 
with the procedures, goals and guidelines established in this subchapter.  In order to 
maximize the availability of the technical and financial assistance program to all 
municipalities, multimunicipal regions and regional councils, financial assistance programs 
administered competitively under this article are exempt from rules adopted by the 
Department of Administrative and Financial Services pursuant to Title 5, section 1825-C 
for use in the purchase of services and the awarding of grants and contracts.  The 
department shall publish a program statement describing its grant program and advertising 
its availability to eligible applicants.
PART B
Sec. B-1.  38 MRSA §484, sub-§3, ¶I is enacted to read:
I.  In determining whether a developer has made adequate provision for fitting the 
development harmoniously into the existing natural environment, the department may 
consider the effect of at least 1.5 feet of relative sea level rise by 2050 and 4 feet of 
relative sea level rise by 2100 as specified by the department by rule adopted pursuant 
to section 489-E.
Sec. B-2.  38 MRSA §1310-N, sub-§2-F, ¶C, as repealed and replaced by PL 
1993, c. 680, Pt. A, §37, is amended to read:
C.  The applicant has made adequate provision for fitting the proposed solid waste 
facility harmoniously into the existing natural environment and the proposed solid 
waste facility will not unreasonably adversely affect existing uses, scenic character, air 
quality, water quality or other natural resources in the municipality or in neighboring 
municipalities.  In determining whether an applicant has made adequate provision for 
fitting the proposed solid waste facility harmoniously into the existing natural 
environment, the department may consider the effect of at least 1.5 feet of relative sea 
level rise by 2050 and 4 feet of relative sea level rise by 2100 as specified by the 
department by rule.  Rules adopted by the department pursuant to this paragraph are 
routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
SUMMARY
This bill, which is reported out by the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and 
Natural Resources pursuant to Resolve 2021, chapter 67, section 1, implements agency 
recommendations resulting from a review by multiple agencies of their respective laws and 
rules to determine changes necessary to incorporate into those laws and rules sea level rise 
projections and measures designed to enhance community resilience to flooding and other 
climate impacts.
Part A of the bill implements the recommendations of the Department of Agriculture, 
Conservation and Forestry.  It amends the requirements of the Maine Land Use Planning 
Commission permit exception for the repair and maintenance or replacement of existing 
road culverts to incorporate similar requirements for such activities imposed under the 
Natural Resources Protection Act.  It amends the laws governing municipal planning and 
land use regulation to define "local climate action plan"; to incorporate such plans into a 
municipality's or multimunicipal region's growth management program through the 
preparation of a climate vulnerability assessment and by addressing in its program the 
climate risks identified in such assessments; and to require that the department's technical 
and financial assistance program for the implementation of growth management programs 
provide priority in the making of grants under the technical and financial assistance 
program to municipalities and multimunicipal regions that have adopted local climate 
action plans and prepared climate vulnerability assessments.  
Part B of the bill implements the recommendations of the Department of 
Environmental Protection.  It amends the site location of development laws to authorize 
the department to consider the effects of sea level rise in determining whether a developer 
has made adequate provision for fitting a proposed development harmoniously into the 
existing natural environment.  It amends solid waste facility siting laws to authorize the 
department to consider the effects of sea level rise in determining whether an applicant for 
a solid waste facility license has made adequate provision for fitting a proposed facility 
harmoniously into the existing natural environment.  
The committee has not taken a position on the substance of the bill and by reporting 
this bill out, the committee is not suggesting and does not intend to suggest that it agrees 
or disagrees with any aspect of this bill.  The committee is reporting the bill out for the sole 
purpose of obtaining a printed bill that can be referred to the committee for a public hearing 
and subsequent committee action in the normal course.