An Act To Provide Passamaquoddy Tribal Members Access to Clean Drinking Water
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0906
Committee Amendment CA_A_H984 (House)
Amends: 30 MRSA §6205, 30 MRSA §6206, 30 MRSA §6207, 30 MRSA §6207-A, 30 MRSA §6209-A

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT'~' to H.P. 662, L.D. 906, "An Act To Provide 
Passamaquoddy Tribal Members Access to Clean Drinking Water" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
following: 
'Sec. 1. P&SL 1983, c. 25, §15 is repealed. 
Sec. 2. 30 MRSA §6205, sub-§1, ~-2, as amended by PL 2021, c. 139, §1 and 
affected by §3, is further amended to read: 
D-2. Land acquired by the secretary for the benefit of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in 
Centerville conveyed by Bertram C. Tackeff to the Passamaquoddy Tribe by quitclaim 
deed dated May 4, 1982, recorded in the Washington County Registry of Deeds in 
Book 1178, Page 35, to the extent that the land is not held in common with any other 
person or entity and is certified by the secretary as held for the benefit of the 
Passamaquoddy Tribe; a+l:4 
Sec. 3. 30 MRSA §6205, sub-§1, ~' as amended by PL 2021, c. 139, §1 and 
affected by §3, is further amended to read: 
E. Land acquired by the secretary for the benefit of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in 
Township 21 consisting of Gordon Island in Big Lake, conveyed by Domtar Maine 
Corporation to the Passamaquoddy Tribe by corporate quitclaim deed dated April 30, 
2002, recorded in the Washington County Registry of Deeds in Book 2624, Page 301, 
to the extent that the land is not held in common with any other person or entity and is 
certified by the secretary as held for the benefit of the Passamaquoddy Tribe7; and 
Sec. 4. 30 MRSA §6205, sub-§1, ~ 
is enacted to read: 
F. Land acquired by the secretaty for the benefit of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Perry 
consisting of: 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
rA 
,,, 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 'ft;< to H.P. 662, L.D. 906 
(l) Land conveyed by Denise E. Plouffe to the Passamaquoddy Tribe by quitclaim 
deed dated October 5, 2017, recorded in the Washington County Registry of Deeds 
in Book 4403, Pages 18 and 19; and 
(2) Land conveyed by Austin Humphries to the Passamaquoddy Tribe by deed 
dated November 18, 1983, recorded in the Washington County Registry of Deeds 
in Book 1252, Pages 93 to 95. 
Notwithstanding subsection 5 and any other provision of this Act to the contrary, the 
addition of land to the Passamaquoddy Indian territory pursuant to this paragraph is not 
subject to approval by any city, town, village or plantation within the State. 
Sec. 5. 30 MRSA §6206, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 732, §§1 and 31, is 
amended to read: 
1. 
General PsweFs powers. 
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the 
Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation, within their respective Indian territories, 
shall have, exercise and enjoy all the rights, privileges, powers and immunities, including, 
but without limitation, the power to enact ordinances and collect taxes, and shall be subject 
to all the duties, obligations, liabilities and limitations of a municipality of and subject to 
the laws of the State, provided, however, that internal tribal matters, including membership 
in the respective tribe or nation, the right to reside within the respective Indian territories, 
tribal organization, tribal government, tribal elections aed~ the use or disposition of 
settlement fund income and the exercise of power pursuant to section 6207, subsection 10, 
section 6207-A and section 6209-A, subsection 1, paragraph F shall not be subject to 
regulation by the State. The Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation shall 
designate such officers and officials as are necessary to implement and administer those 
laws of the State applicable to the respective Indian territories and the residents thereof. 
Any resident of the Passamaquoddy Indian territory or the Penobscot Indian territory who 
is not a member of the respective tribe or nation nonetheless shall be equally entitled to 
receive any municipal or governmental services provided by the respective tribe or nation 
or by the State, except those services which are provided exclusively to members of the 
respective tribe or nation pursuant to state or federal law, and shall be entitled to vote in 
national, state and county elections in the same manner as any tribal member residing 
within Indian territory. 
Sec. 6. 30 MRSA §6207, as amended by PL 1997, c. 739, §12 and affected by §§13 
and 14, is further amended by amending the section headnote to read: 
§6207. Regulation of fish and wildlife natural resources 
Sec. 7. 30 MRSA §6207, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 732, §§1 and 31, is 
6 
amended to read: 
7 
1. Adoption of hunting, trapping and fishing ordinances by the tribe or nation. 
8 
Subject to the limitations of subsection 6, the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot 
Nation each shall have exclusive authority within their respective Indian territories to 
pl'Omulgate and enact ordinances regulating: 
A. Hunting, trapping or other taking of wildlife; and 
B. Taking of fish on any pond in which all the shoreline and all submerged lands are 
wholly within Indian territory and which is less than 10 acres in surface area. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ';r:,to H.P. 662, L.D. 906 
Such ordinances shall be equally applicable, on a nondiscriminatory basis, to all persons 
regardless of whether such person is a member of the respective tribe or nation provided, 
however, that subject to the limitations of subsection 6, such ordinances may include 
special provisions for the sustenance of the individual members of the Passamaquoddy 
Tribe or the Penobscot Nation. In addition to the authority provided by this subsection, the 
Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation, subject to the limitations of subsection 6, 
may exercise within their respective Indian territories all the rights incident to ownership 
of land under the laws of the State. 
Sec. 8. 30 MRSA §6207, sub-§10 is enacted to read: 
10. Regulation of drinking water. Unless the Passamaquoddy Tribe, in its discretion, 
enters into an intergovernmental agreement authorizing the State to exercise concurrent 
jurisdiction over specific drinking water-related issues within the Passamaquoddy Indian 
territory: 
A. The Passamaquoddy Tribe has exclusive authority to enact ordinances regulating 
drinking water within Passamaquoddy Indian territory; 
B. The State may not exercise primary enforcement authority from the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency to implement the federal Safe Drinking Water Act 
and its implementing regulations, as amended, within the Passamaquoddy Indian 
territory: and 
C. The Passamaquoddy Tribe may seek to be treated as a state and to obtain primary 
enforcement authority from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to 
implement the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and its implementing regulations, as 
amended, within the Passamaquoddy Indian territory. 
Sec. 9. 30 MRSA §6207-A is enacted to read: 
§6207-A. Jurisdiction of the Passamaquoddy Tribe over drinking water within the 
Passamaquoddy Indian territory 
Notwithstanding any provision of state law to the contrary, pursuant to the federal 
Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980, Public Law 96-420, Section 6(e)(l), the State 
and the Passamaquoddy Tribe agree and establish that: 
1. Jurisdiction of Passamaquoddy Tribe to administer drinking water-related 
programs. The Passamaquoddy Tribe may seek to be treated as a state pursuant to the 
federal Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 United States Code, Section 300j-11, and its 
implementing regulations, as amended, within the Passamaquoddy Indian territory and may 
otherwise benefit from and exercise jurisdiction under any other federal law enacted after 
October 10, 1980 that permits a federally recognized Indian tribe to administer drinking 
water-related programs; and 
2. Administration of drinking water-related programs does not affect or preempt 
state law. The application of any provision of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and its 
implementing regulations, as amended, and of any other federal law enacted after October 
10, 1980 that permits a federally recognized Indian tribe to administer drinking water-
related programs, and the enforcement of such laws and regulations by the Passamaquoddy 
Tribe under subsection 1 does not affect or preempt the laws of the State. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
""1 
2 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" t: H.P. 662, L.D. 906 
I 
Sec. 10. 30 MRSA §6209-A, sub-§1, ,n, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 388, §6 and 
affected by §8, is amended to read: 
D. Indian child custody proceedings to the extent authorized by applicable federal law; 
aH:El 
Sec. 11. 30 MRSA §6209-A, sub-§1, ~' as amended by PL 2009, c. 384, Pt. E, 
§ 1 and affected by §3, is further amended to read: 
E. Other domestic relations matters, including marriage, divorce and support, between 
members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians or the 
Penobscot Nation, both of whom reside within the Indian reservation of the 
Passamaquoddy Tribe,: and 
Sec. 12. 30 MRSA §6209-A, sub-§1, ~ 
is enacted to read: 
F. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, civil and criminal actions 
regarding the enforcement of ordinances enacted pursuant to section 6207, subsection 
ill,_ 
Sec. 13. Contingent effective date; certification. This Act does not take effect 
unless, within 60 days after adjournment of the Second Regular Session of the 130th 
Legislature, the Secretary of State receives written certification by the Joint Tribal Council 
of the Passamaquoddy Tribe that the tribe has agreed to the provisions of this Act, copies 
of which must be submitted by the Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Senate, the 
Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Revisor of Statutes.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section 
number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment strikes and replaces the bill, which is a concept draft. The intent of 
this amendment is to improve access to safe drinking water for the Passamaquoddy Tribe 
at Pleasant Point and surrounding communities. The amendment exempts the property of 
the Passamaquoddy Water District, which is a nontribal entity, from taxation by municipal 
governments. It also authorizes 2 parcels of tribally owned fee land in close proximity to 
the existing Passamaquoddy Indian territory to be added to the tribe's Indian territory 
through the federal trust acquisition process, without local approval, in order to provide 
access to alternate supplies of groundwater. Finally, it provides that the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency, and not the State, has the primary authority to regulate 
drinking water standards within Passamaquoddy Indian te1Titory. If the Passamaquoddy 
Tribe chooses to do so, it may seek authority from the United States Environmental 
Protection Agency to regulate drinking water standards within Passamaquoddy Indian 
territory to the extent permitted under federal law. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 03/17/22 ::tPae 
LD906 
LR 1056(02) 
An Act To Provide Passamaquoddy Tribal Members Access to Clean Drinking Water 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment ifl,.{lf-'f gc_f) 
Committee: Judiciary 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Current biennium revenue decrease - Municipalities 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Repealing Private and Special Law 1983, c. 25, Section 15 would exempt property of the Passamaquoddy Water 
District from property taxes and lead to a loss of municipal property tax revenue. No estimate of the loss has been 
made at this time. 
LRl 05 6(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1