An Act To Increase Economic Development by Expanding the Special Fee Application Review Process of the Department of Environmental Protection
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 0988
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Sponsors: KEIM
Amends: 38 MRSA §343-B, 38 MRSA §352

Legislative Document
No. 988
S.P. 319
In Senate, March 10, 2021
An Act To Increase Economic Development by Expanding the 
Special Fee Application Review Process of the Department of 
Environmental Protection
Reference to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources suggested and ordered 
printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator KEIM of Oxford.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  38 MRSA §343-B, sub-§1 is enacted to read:
1.  Complex projects.  Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in sections 
344-B and 352, during the preapplication meeting the project may be assigned a category 
based on the identified complexity of the project and the department may establish an 
appropriate fee and timeline for the project based on the complexity.  For projects that 
require more than one permit from the department, at a presubmission meeting, the 
commissioner and the applicant shall determine the fees applicable to all permit or license 
applications required for that project and, in accordance with section 344-B, subsection 4, 
determine the timetable or timetables applicable to all permit or license applications 
required for that project.
Sec. 2.  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 Special 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 as determined by the department in accordance with paragraph A, 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, except 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, 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 finds 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.
A.  The department shall adopt rules identifying the relevant factors the commissioner 
shall consider in determining if a particular application is subject to special fees.  The 
factors must include, but are not limited to, the job creation potential of the project, 
whether the project is being proposed in response to rapidly changing market 
conditions brought on by an emergency situation, such as the pandemic related to 
coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, whether the application involves the 
redevelopment of a site that is part of a state or federal brownfields program and the 
project's overall benefit to the community.  Rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph 
are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
SUMMARY
To increase the number of applications submitted to the Department of Environmental 
Protection that may be subject to special fees, this bill requires the department to adopt 
rules identifying the relevant factors the Commissioner of Environmental Protection must 
consider in determining if a particular application is subject to special fees.  The bill also 
authorizes the department to assign a project a category and establish an appropriate fee 
and timeline for the project based on the complexity of the project.