An Act Concerning Climate and Community Investment Projects
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1231
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: CUDDY, FECTEAU, SYLVESTER, WARREN, VITELLI
Amends: 32 MRSA §1101

Legislative Document
No. 1231
H.P. 902
House of Representatives, March 24, 2021
An Act Concerning Climate and Community Investment Projects
Received by the Clerk of the House on March 22, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Labor and Housing pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 
401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative CUDDY of Winterport.
Cosponsored by Representatives: Speaker FECTEAU of Biddeford, SYLVESTER of Portland, 
WARREN of Scarborough, Senator: VITELLI of Sagadahoc.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA c. 47 is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 47
CLIMATE AND COMMUNITY INVESTMENT PROJECTS
§3701. Climate and community investment projects
1.  Definitions.  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A.  "Assisted project" means a construction project that involves a renewable energy 
project that will receive or is receiving economic assistance from the State with a total 
present financial value as of the start of the assistance of at least $50,000, including but 
not limited to renewable energy credits, grants, loans, commitments of funds or tax 
abatements and tax exemptions.
B.  "Disadvantaged community" means a zip code area of the State determined by the 
Department of Labor by rule to have a high rate of poverty, unemployment and chronic 
unemployment as well as a high number of individuals with barriers to employment, 
including individuals who have been incarcerated and people who have been 
traditionally underrepresented in a relevant employment area under this chapter.
C.  "Labor organization" means an organization that is not a company union and that 
is constituted for the purpose, in whole or in part, of engaging in collective bargaining, 
dealing with employers concerning employee grievances or terms or conditions of 
employment or providing other employee aid or protection. "Labor organization" 
includes, but is not limited to, a bona fide labor organization that is certified or 
recognized as the organization of jurisdiction representing the relevant workers or a 
bona fide building and construction trades council or district council or state or local 
labor federation comprised of local unions certified or recognized as the representative 
of the relevant workers.
D.  "Registered apprenticeship program" means an apprenticeship training program 
that:
(1) Is provided for each trade for which the employer employs craft workers;
(2) Is registered with and approved by the United States Department of Labor or 
the Maine Apprenticeship Program under section 3202; and
(3) Actively trains employees, has functioning training facilities and is regularly 
graduating apprentices to journeyman status who are then placed in employment 
on an assisted project.
E.  "Renewable energy project" means a project to construct a source of electrical 
generation of 5 megawatts or more that relies on one or more of the following:
(1)  Fuel cells;
(2)  Tidal power;
(3)  Solar arrays and installations;
(4)  Wind power installations;
(5)  Geothermal installations;
(6)  Hydroelectric generators;
(7)  Biomass generators that are fueled by wood or wood waste, landfill gas or 
anaerobic digestion of agricultural products, by-products or wastes; or
(8)  Generators fueled by municipal solid waste in conjunction with recycling.  
F.  "Workforce development program" means a program provided by an employer that:
(1) Provides any employee from a disadvantaged community, including a newly 
hired employee, opportunities for skill development that will enable the employee 
to qualify for a higher-paying job; and
(2) Provides apprenticeship training through a registered apprenticeship program 
for each trade in which the employer employs craft workers.
2.  Labor and project performance standards.  The following requirements apply to 
an assisted project.
A.  An entity responsible for an assisted project shall, in accordance with applicable 
law, take all necessary actions to establish and administer a workforce development 
program. 
B.  A contractor working on an assisted project shall provide or participate in a 
registered apprenticeship program for each trade in which it employs craft workers and 
shall provide proof within 7 days of a request from the Department of Labor that the 
apprenticeship program meets all the requirements of a registered apprenticeship 
program.  
C.  A contractor or subcontractor working on an assisted project shall pay craft workers 
on the assisted project no less than the applicable prevailing wage and benefits for the 
appropriate classification in which the worker is employed, as established by the 
Bureau of Labor Standards under section 1308.  The contractor or subcontractor shall 
provide all information to the bureau required under chapter 15.  
(1) The entity responsible for the assisted project that is receiving state assistance 
for that project shall take reasonable steps to ensure that all contractors and 
subcontractors meet the requirements of this paragraph.  
(2) The requirements of this paragraph do not apply if the entity responsible for the 
assisted project has entered into or has ensured that the entity directly responsible 
for the construction of the assisted project has entered into a project labor 
agreement consistent with the requirements of subsection 3.
D.  If the assisted project involves a renewable energy project with a generation 
capacity of 50 megawatts or more, the entity responsible for the assisted project shall 
also ensure that a project labor agreement under subsection 3 is executed between the 
entity directly responsible for construction of the assisted project and a labor 
organization to supply skilled craft workers in all crafts needed for the project in the 
area where the project is located.
E.  Employers working on an assisted project shall adopt and follow any hiring policies 
required by the Department of Labor by rule under subsection 5.
3.  Terms of project labor agreement.  In order to meet the requirements of this 
section, an assisted project must have in place a project labor agreement that conforms to 
this subsection.  The project labor agreement must:
A.  Bind all contractors and subcontractors on the assisted project to the project labor 
agreement through the inclusion of appropriate specifications in all relevant solicitation 
provisions and contract documents;
B.  Allow all contractors and subcontractors to compete for contracts and subcontracts 
on the assisted project without regard to whether they are otherwise parties to collective 
bargaining agreements;
C.  Establish uniform terms and conditions of employment for all craft workers 
employed on the assisted project;
D.  Contain guarantees against strikes, lockouts and similar job disruptions;
E.  Set forth effective, prompt and mutually binding procedures for resolving labor 
disputes arising during the project labor agreement; and
F.  Include other provisions negotiated by the parties as needed to promote successful 
delivery of the assisted project.
4.  Penalties and sanctions.  Failure of an entity that receives state assistance for an 
assisted project to comply with this section constitutes a material breach of the agreement, 
grant, loan, commitment of funds or other instrument pursuant to which state assistance is 
provided, and the relevant state agency may impose any available and appropriate penalties 
for that breach, including, but not limited to, ending the assistance and recouping all or part 
of any assistance already provided for the assisted project or directing that, in order for the 
entity to receive continued assistance, the entity must meet the requirements of this section 
and pay remedial compensation to any employees who were not paid prevailing wage and 
benefits.
5.  Rules; underrepresented populations.  The Department of Labor shall adopt rules 
to implement this section.  The rules must require or incentivize employers working on 
eligible projects to adopt and maintain hiring policies that will attract and retain a diverse 
workforce that includes individuals who are traditionally underrepresented in that 
workforce, including Native Americans, persons of color, women and veterans.  Rules 
adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 2.  32 MRSA §1101, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 198, §2, is further 
amended to read:
2.  Electrical installations.  "Electrical installations" means the installation, repair, 
alteration and maintenance of electrical conductors, fittings, devices and fixtures for 
heating, lighting, power purposes or heat activated fire alarms, intrusion alarms, energy 
management, telephone, cable and closed-circuit television, sound systems, data 
transmission, conduit and raceway systems and electrically supervised manual fire alarms 
and sprinkler systems.  "Electrical installations" includes complete but is not limited to 
installations related to photovoltaic, fuel cell and wind power generation systems.  
Installation of photovoltaic systems includes but is not limited to the installation of 
supporting structures, such as frames, racks, rails, purlins and any part of the supporting 
structure that has an Underwriters Laboratories LLC listing as a raceway, and footings.  
"Electrical installations" does not include the installation or repair of portable appliances 
and other portable electrical equipment, installation of which involves only the insertion of 
an attachment plug into a fixed receptacle outlet. It is the meaning and intent of this 
subsection that the word "portable" does not include or apply to any type of fixed 
electrically operated or driven equipment.
SUMMARY
This bill does the following.
1.  It requires projects involving the construction of renewable energy generating 
systems that are receiving at least $50,000 in state assistance to meet certain requirements, 
including the following.
A.  The entity responsible for the assisted project must establish a workforce 
development program that provides employees from disadvantaged communities 
opportunities for skill development and that also provides apprenticeship training 
through a registered apprenticeship program for each trade in which the employer 
employs craft workers.
B.  A contractor working on the assisted project must provide or participate in a 
registered apprenticeship training program for each trade in which it employs craft 
workers.
C.  A contractor or subcontractor working on the assisted project must pay craft 
workers on the project no less than the applicable prevailing wage and benefits, and 
the entity responsible for the assisted project that is receiving state assistance for that 
project must take reasonable steps to ensure that all contractors and subcontractors 
meet this requirement.  This requirement does not apply, however, if the entity 
responsible for the assisted project has ensured that the entity directly responsible for 
the construction of the project has entered into a project labor agreement that meets 
certain requirements.
D.  If the assisted project involves a renewable energy project with a generation 
capacity of 50 megawatts or more, the entity responsible for the project is required to 
ensure that a project labor agreement is executed between the entity directly 
responsible for construction of the project and a labor organization to supply skilled 
craft workers in all crafts needed for the project in the area where the project is located.
E.  Employers working on an assisted project are required to adopt any hiring policies 
established by the Department of Labor by rule that require employers working on 
assisted projects to adopt and maintain hiring policies that will attract and retain a 
diverse workforce.  The department may adopt incentives for adopting such policies 
rather than establishing requirements. 
2.  It amends the definition of "electrical installation" in the law governing the licensing 
of electricians.  Under the law, undertaking an electrical installation generally requires a 
license.  The bill defines an electrical installation of a photovoltaic system to include the 
installation of supporting structures, such as frames, racks, rails, purlins and any part of the 
supporting structure that has an Underwriters Laboratories LLC listing as a raceway, and 
footings.