An Act To Protect Maine's Ocean Waters and Support Regulatory Oversight and the Long-term Health of the Aquaculture Industry
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1146
Committee: Marine Resources
Sponsors: ALLEY, WILLIAMS, JACKSON

Legislative Document
No. 1146
H.P. 824
House of Representatives, March 22, 2021
An Act To Protect Maine's Ocean Waters and Support Regulatory 
Oversight and the Long-term Health of the Aquaculture Industry
Received by the Clerk of the House on March 18, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Marine Resources pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ALLEY of Beals.
Cosponsored by Representative: WILLIAMS of Bar Harbor, Senator: President JACKSON of 
Aroostook.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
CONCEPT DRAFT
SUMMARY
This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208.
This bill proposes to amend the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, chapter 605 and Title 
38, chapter 3 to protect Maine’s ocean waters, support robust regulatory oversight and the 
long-term health of the aquaculture industry and advance the interests of the people of the 
State.
The bill seeks to examine the permitting framework for aquaculture leases in this State 
and best practices regarding aquaculture leases in other states in order to improve the 
regulatory system in this State.
The bill also seeks to examine the resources available to the Department of Marine 
Resources for regulatory oversight of aquaculture leases, including the review of 
aquaculture lease applications and the number of staff available to provide regulatory 
oversight and environmental monitoring throughout the terms of aquaculture leases.  The 
examination will include a review of statutory caps on the amounts charged for aquaculture 
lease rents and aquaculture lease application fees.
The bill requires that all rights conveyed to a lessee under an aquaculture lease revert 
back to the State at the expiration of the lease term and that transfers or renewals of 
aquaculture leases must demonstrate compliance with all currently applicable standards at 
the time of transfer or renewal. Further, for leases greater than 5 acres in size, the bill 
removes the current exemption from compliance with Title 38, chapter 3, including the 
Natural Resources Protection Act and the site location of development laws.
The bill amends the laws governing the lease size requirements to provide that each 
lease may not exceed 50 acres in area and that a person may not have an ownership interest 
in more than 10 leases nor total lease areas in excess of 100 acres.
Finally, the bill requires the Department of Marine Resources to convene stakeholder 
meetings to develop a strategic aquaculture plan with input from leaders in the aquaculture, 
lobster, fishing, tourism and recreation industries, as well as experts from the 
environmental and water quality regulatory community. The plan must be designed to 
support robust regulatory oversight, protect the marine environment, reduce conflicts with 
aquaculture sites and public trust users of the marine and coastal waters, improve the lease 
application and review process, support the long-term health of the aquaculture industry 
and advance the interests of the people of the State. The plan must identify whether certain 
areas of waters of the State can be designated as expedited permitting areas for aquaculture 
leases in excess of 5 acres.