An Act To Reduce Pollution by Prohibiting Metallic Mineral Mining
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1163
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Sponsors: O'NEIL, MAXMIN, GROHOSKI, PEBWORTH, BAILEY, MIRAMANT
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

Legislative Document
No. 1163
H.P. 841
House of Representatives, March 22, 2021
An Act To Reduce Pollution by Prohibiting Metallic Mineral Mining
Received by the Clerk of the House on March 18, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Environment and Natural Resources pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant 
to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative O'NEIL of Saco.
Cosponsored by Senator MAXMIN of Lincoln and
Representatives: GROHOSKI of Ellsworth, PEBWORTH of Blue Hill, Senators: BAILEY of 
York, MIRAMANT of Knox.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §685-B, sub-§1-A, ¶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and affected by §10, is repealed.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by §33, is repealed.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 ¶, 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§33, is repealed.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, 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.
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 term 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. Except as provided in section 352, subsection 4‑A, if If the 
application is withdrawn by the applicant within 30 days of the start of processing, the 
portion of the processing fee that was expended or committed by the department 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 Act; 
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-rule 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 corridor, freshwater, estuarine or 
marine fisheries or other aquatic life.
In determining whether mining, as defined in section 490‑MM, subsection 11, will comply 
with this subsection, the department shall review an analysis of alternatives submitted by 
the applicant.  For purposes of this subsection, a practicable alternative to mining, as 
defined in section 490‑MM, subsection 11, that is less damaging to the environment is not 
considered to exist.  The department may consider alternatives associated with the activity, 
including alternative design and operational measures, in its evaluation of whether the 
activity 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, "mitigation" 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.  Avoiding 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 amended, is repealed.
Sec. 10.  38 MRSA c. 3, sub-c. 1, art. 10 is enacted to read:
ARTICLE 10
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.  Metallic 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.
§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 bill 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.