An Act to Clarify Activities Allowed Under the Natural Resources
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 2063
Sponsors: TEPLER
Amends: 38 MRSA §480-Q, 38 MRSA §480-X, 38 MRSA §480-Z

Legislative Document
No. 2063
S.P. 851
In Senate, December 17, 2025
An Act to Clarify Activities Allowed Under the Natural Resources 
Protection Act
Submitted by the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to Joint Rule 203.
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 15, 2025.  Referred to the Committee 
on Environment and Natural Resources pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator TEPLER of Sagadahoc.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  38 MRSA §480-Q, sub-§33, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 531, §6, is amended 
to read:
33.  Emergency flood alleviation.  An emergency activity conducted or overseen by 
the State or a local government in, on, over or adjacent to a river, stream or brook when the 
emergency activity is necessary to alleviate an immediate threat to public health or safety 
caused by a flood event occurring at the time the emergency activity is conducted, as long 
as any alteration to the river, stream or brook necessary to conduct the emergency activity 
is restored following the flood event to the conditions that existed prior to the flood event 
to the greatest extent practicable, as determined by the department.
The department may adopt routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A to govern the restoration of a river, stream or brook under this subsection 
and define "greatest extent practicable."
A local government conducting or overseeing an emergency activity pursuant to this 
subsection shall notify the department prior to its conducting or overseeing the emergency 
activity and shall maintain communication with the department for the duration of the 
emergency activity as directed by the department; and
Sec. 2.  38 MRSA §480-Q, sub-§34, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 531, §7, is amended 
by amending the last blocked paragraph to read:
For the purposes of this subsection, "pier, wharf or dock" does not include a seawall, jetty, 
breakwater or similar structure designed to dissipate wave action.;
Sec. 3.  38 MRSA §480-Q, sub-§35 is enacted to read:
35.  Hand planting of native vegetation.  Hand planting of native vegetation adjacent 
to a coastal wetland, freshwater wetland, great pond or river, stream or brook, as long as:
A.  Only native plants are planted;
B.  Machinery is not used;
C.  Only potted plants, bare root plants or live stakes are planted;
D.  Removal of existing vegetation does not occur, except for removal of ground cover 
incidental to the planting and the removal by hand of invasive species;
E.  No more than one cubic yard of soil is overturned annually;
F.  The addition of soil or soil amendments does not result in a change to the original 
ground topography;
G.  Individual planting holes do not exceed 2 feet in diameter;
H.  All areas that have been hand-planted are mulched immediately after planting; and
I.  The hand planting activity conforms with the requirements of the relevant municipal 
shoreland zoning ordinance adopted pursuant to article 2-B;
Sec. 4.  38 MRSA §480-Q, sub-§36 is enacted to read:
36.  Hand planting of native dune vegetation.  Hand planting of native dune 
vegetation in a coastal sand dune system, as long as:
A.  The area planted does not exceed 2,000 square feet;
B.  Existing dune vegetation is not disturbed; and
C.  The planting occurs between October 1st and March 15th, unless written approval 
from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been obtained and provided 
to the department; and
Sec. 5.  38 MRSA §480-Q, sub-§37 is enacted to read:
37.  Corrective actions.  Corrective actions to resolve a violation under this article, as 
long as written approval for the corrective action has been provided by the department.
Sec. 6.  38 MRSA §480-X, sub-§6, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 460, §7 and 
affected by §12, is amended to read:
A.  The application must be sent by certified mail or hand-delivered submitted to the 
department.  The application must include and include the following:
(1)  The application fee;
(2)  The project location on a United States Geological Survey map;
(3)  A description of the project, including a drawing showing the area of 
freshwater wetland to be filled or otherwise altered and areas of any marsh or open 
water within the freshwater wetland; and
(4)  A signed statement averring that all of the requirements of subsection 3 will 
be met, that the activity will not occur in a wetland area described in subsection 4 
and that a copy of the application has been submitted by the applicant for public 
display to the municipal office of the municipality in which the project will be 
located.
Sec. 7.  38 MRSA §480-Z, sub-§7, ¶E, as amended by PL 2019, c. 581, §3, is 
further amended to read:
E.  Shorebird nesting, feeding and staging areas; and
Sec. 8.  38 MRSA §480-Z, sub-§7, ¶F, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 581, §4, is 
amended to read:
F.  Rivers, streams and brooks.;
Sec. 9.  38 MRSA §480-Z, sub-§7, ¶G is enacted to read:
G.  Great ponds; and
Sec. 10.  38 MRSA §480-Z, sub-§7, ¶H is enacted to read:
H.  Habitat for state endangered and state threatened species that is significant wildlife 
habitat as defined in section 480-B, subsection 10, paragraph B, subparagraph (4).
Sec. 11.  38 MRSA §480-Z, sub-§8 is enacted to read:
8.  Deed restrictions and conservation easements.  The department has 3rd-party 
enforcement rights to enforce any deed restriction or conservation easement executed to 
meet a compensation requirement under this section.
SUMMARY
This bill amends several provisions in the Natural Resources Protection Act.  
1.  It adds the hand planting of native vegetation, the hand planting of native dune 
vegetation and certain corrective actions to the list of activities for which a permit is not 
required.  
2.  It clarifies the provisions regarding the circumstances under which a permit is not 
required when an emergency activity is conducted to alleviate a threat caused by a flood 
event. 
3.  It adds great ponds and habitat for state endangered and state threatened species that 
is significant wildlife habitat to the list of areas under the department's compensation 
program and provides the department with 3rd-party enforcement rights to enforce deed 
restrictions or conservation easements executed to meet a requirement under its 
compensation program.