An Act to Require the State to Purchase Farms Contaminated with Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0289
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: PARRY, INGWERSEN, PLUECKER, RUDNICKI, WILLIAMS
Amends: 7 MRSA §320-K

Legislative Document
No. 289
H.P. 187
House of Representatives, January 27, 2023
An Act to Require the State to Purchase Farms Contaminated with 
Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative PARRY of Arundel.
Cosponsored by Senator INGWERSEN of York and
Representatives: PLUECKER of Warren, RUDNICKI of Fairfield, WILLIAMS of Bar Harbor.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  7 MRSA §320-K, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 635, Pt. XX, §2, is 
amended to read:
4.  Purposes.  Allocations  Except as provided in subsection 4-A, allocations from the 
fund may be made as determined by the department upon recommendation of the advisory 
committee and for the following purposes:
A.  Monitoring the health of a person, and members of that person's household, whose 
agricultural land is found to be contaminated by PFAS;
B.  Providing medical care to a person found to have blood levels of PFAS greater than 
the general population or health effects associated with exposure to PFAS;
C.  Relocating a commercial farm when the agricultural land of the farm is found to be 
contaminated by PFAS;
D.  Buying and selling agricultural land found to be contaminated by PFAS;
E.  Investing in equipment, facilities and infrastructure to ensure that a commercial 
farm with land found to be contaminated by PFAS maintains profitability while the 
commercial farm transitions to an alternative cropping system or implements 
remediation strategies, technological adaptations, solar development or other 
modifications to its operations in response to PFAS contamination;
F.  Assisting a commercial farm with land found to be contaminated by PFAS with 
developing enterprise budgets for alternative cropping systems, remediation strategies 
or technological adaptations or transitioning to alternative revenue streams, including 
but not limited to land use systems combining agricultural use of the land with solar 
energy production;
G.  Providing short-term assistance to a person whose commercial farm is found to be 
contaminated by PFAS, including but not limited to income replacement and mortgage 
payments;
H.  Evaluating the capacity of PFAS testing and data management in the State;
I.  Conducting research that supports short-term farm management decisions and 
assesses future options for viable uses of agricultural land that has been contaminated 
with PFAS;
J.  Conducting research that quantifies the impact of PFAS on commercial farms and 
agricultural communities in the State;
K.  Conducting research on soil and water remediation systems and the viability of 
those systems for commercial farms;
L.  Conducting research on alternative cropping systems, PFAS uptake of different 
crops, the use of livestock systems to mitigate exposure to and for remediation of PFAS 
and food safety criteria for food products;
M.  Developing and implementing educational programs for landowners, including but 
not limited to determining best practices for informing residents about the potential of 
being near or on a site on which sludge or septage application was licensed or permitted 
by the State prior to 2019, and providing information and guidance on buying or selling 
agricultural lands that have had sludge or septage applied;
N.  Long-term monitoring of PFAS contaminated sites and establishing a 
corresponding centralized data repository;
O.  Establishing food safety criteria and guidance for farm products;
P.  Assisting commercial farms and others in the agricultural sector not directly affected 
by PFAS contamination with marketing efforts whose branding and marketing may be 
affected by public perception of PFAS contamination in the State; and
Q.  Regional planning with other states and the Federal Government to protect food 
supply and farmers in the State from out-of-state PFAS contamination.
Sec. 2.  7 MRSA §320-K, sub-§4-A is enacted to read:
4-A.  Commercial farm with land found to be contaminated with PFAS prior to 
January 1, 2023.  Within 9 months of the effective date of this subsection, the 
commissioner shall offer to purchase the real estate of a commercial farm with land found 
to be contaminated by PFAS prior to January 1, 2023. The purchase price must be the 
assessed fair market value of the real estate but no less than $20,000 per acre. The 
commissioner shall prescribe appropriate documentation that PFAS contamination of land 
of a commercial farm occurred prior to January 1, 2023. For purposes of this subsection, 
"real estate" has the same meaning as in Title 32, section 14002, subsection 11.
The owner of a commercial farm may decline an offer by the State under this subsection. 
If the owner of a commercial farm is willing to sell only a portion of the real estate, the fair 
market value of the real estate that the owner retains must be subtracted from the per acre 
purchase price. The assessment of the fair market value of the property under this 
subsection may not take into consideration PFAS contamination of the land.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to 
purchase the real estate of a commercial farm found to be contaminated by perfluoroalkyl 
and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, prior to January 1, 2023 at a purchase price of 
the assessed fair market value of the real estate but no less than $20,000 per acre. The 
commissioner is also required to prescribe appropriate documentation that PFAS 
contamination of land of a commercial farm occurred prior to January 1, 2023. The bill 
also provides that the owner of a commercial farm may decline an offer by the State. If the 
owner is willing to sell only a portion of the real estate, the fair market value of the real 
estate that the owner retains must be subtracted from the per acre purchase price. The 
assessment of the fair market value of the property may not take into consideration PFAS 
contamination of the land.