An Act Regarding the Authority of Municipalities to Regulate
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0261
Sponsors: BUNKER
Amends: 12 MRSA §8868, 12 MRSA §8869

Legislative Document
No. 261
H.P. 164
House of Representatives, January 28, 2025
An Act Regarding the Authority of Municipalities to Regulate 
Timber Harvesting
Received by the Clerk of the House on January 23, 2025.  Referred to the Committee on 
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative BUNKER of Farmington.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §8868, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2011, c. 599, §8, is further 
amended to read:
5.  Timber harvesting activities.  "Timber harvesting activities" means timber 
harvesting, the construction and maintenance of roads used primarily for timber harvesting, 
the mining of gravel used for the construction and maintenance of roads used primarily for 
timber harvesting and other activities conducted to facilitate timber harvesting.  "Timber 
harvesting activities" does not include activities that result, within 5 years of the completion 
of such activities, in a change of land use as defined by the bureau by rule.
Sec. 2.  12 MRSA §8869, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2003, c. 335, §3, is further 
amended to read:
8.  Relationship to municipal rules and regulations.  Nothing in this subchapter may 
be construed to preempt or otherwise limit the existing authority of municipalities to 
regulate timber harvesting activities, except that municipalities regulating timber 
harvesting activities shall adopt definitions for forestry terms used in their ordinances that 
are consistent with definitions in section 8868 and with forestry terms adopted by the 
commissioner pursuant to this subchapter.  Municipal timber harvesting ordinances 
adopted before September 1, 1990 must meet this standard of compliance with definitions 
no later than January 1, 2001 2028.
A municipality may not adopt an ordinance that is less stringent than the minimum 
standards established in this section and in rules adopted by the commissioner to implement 
this section and section 8867-B.  A municipality may not adopt or amend an ordinance that 
regulates timber harvesting activities unless the process set out in this subsection is 
followed in the development and review of the ordinance.  Municipal ordinances subject 
to review by the bureau are limited to ordinances that regulate timber harvesting activities.
A municipal timber harvesting ordinance adopted on or after September 1, 1990 and before 
January 1, 2026 must meet the process requirements of this subsection by June 30, 2029.
A municipal timber harvesting ordinance adopted on or after January 1, 2026 must meet 
the process requirements of this subsection.
A.  A licensed professional forester must participate in the development or amendment 
of the ordinance.
B.  A meeting must take place in the municipality during the development or 
amendment of the ordinance between representatives of the department and municipal 
officers and officials involved in developing the ordinance.  Discussion at the meeting 
must include, but is not limited to, the forest practices goals of the municipality.  At 
this meeting and subsequently, the department shall provide guidance to the 
municipality on how the municipality may use sound forestry practices to achieve the 
municipality's forest practices goals.
C.  The municipality shall hold a public hearing to review a proposed ordinance or 
ordinance amendment at least 45 days before a vote is held on the ordinance.  The 
municipality shall post and publish public notice of the public hearing according to the 
same general requirements of posted and published notice for zoning ordinance public 
hearings as provided by Title 30‑A, section 4352, subsection 9.
In addition, when a municipality proposes to adopt or amend a timber harvesting 
ordinance pursuant to its home rule authority as provided by Title 30‑A, section 3001, 
the municipality shall mail notice of the hearing by first-class mail at least 14 days 
before the hearing to all landowners in the municipality at the last known address of 
the person on whom a property tax on each parcel is assessed.  In the case of a timber 
harvesting ordinance or amendment that applies only to certain zones or land use 
districts in the municipality, the municipality may meet the requirements of this 
paragraph by mailing notice only to those landowners whose land is in a zone or land 
use district or immediately abutting the affected zone or land use district.
Mailed notice to individual landowners is not required under this subsection for any 
type of amendment to an existing local land use ordinance merely to conform that 
ordinance to the minimum timber harvesting guidelines required by Title 38, section 
439‑A, as those guidelines may be subsequently amended, or to conform any timber 
harvesting ordinance to the requirements of this section for conformity of definitions 
when the proposed amendments do not substantially change any previously established 
timber harvesting standards adopted pursuant to home rule authority.
The municipal officers shall prepare and file with the municipal clerk a written 
certificate indicating those landowners to whom the notice was mailed and at what 
addresses, when it was mailed, by whom it was mailed and from what location it was 
mailed.  The certificate constitutes prima facie evidence that notice was sent to those 
landowners named in the certificate.
Any action challenging the validity of the adoption or amendment of a municipal 
timber harvesting ordinance based on the municipality's alleged failure to comply with 
the landowner notice requirement must be brought in Superior Court within 90 days 
after the adoption of the ordinance or amendment.  The Superior Court may invalidate 
an ordinance or amendment only if the landowner demonstrates that the landowner was 
entitled to receive a notice under this section, that the municipality failed to send the 
notice as required, that the landowner had no knowledge of the proposed ordinance or 
amendment and that the landowner was materially harmed by that lack of knowledge.
D.  The municipal clerk shall notify the department of the time, place and date of the 
public hearing and provide the department with a copy of the proposed ordinance that 
will be reviewed at the hearing at least 30 days before the date of the hearing.
E.  At the public hearing, representatives of the department must be provided an 
opportunity to present and discuss for the municipality's information any reports, 
articles, treatises or similar materials published by acknowledged experts in the field 
of sound forestry or silvicultural management to the extent such information is relevant 
to the proposed ordinance or ordinance amendment.
The proposed ordinance or ordinance amendment may be revised after the public 
hearing.  The ordinance or amendment must be submitted to the legislative body of the 
municipality in accordance with the procedures the municipality uses for adopting 
ordinances.
E-1.  A municipal timber harvesting ordinance may be adopted only after certification 
by the bureau that the municipality adopted the timber harvesting ordinance in 
accordance with this subsection.
E-2.  A municipal timber harvesting ordinance must be pursuant to and consistent with 
a comprehensive plan adopted by the legislative body of the municipality.
F.  Municipal timber harvesting ordinances may not be unreasonable, arbitrary or 
capricious and must employ means appropriate to the protection of public health, safety 
and welfare.
G.  All direct costs incurred by a municipality associated with landowner notification 
requirements and other required public notice must be paid to the municipality in 
accordance with a distribution schedule established under Title 30‑A, section 5685, 
subsection 5.  All direct costs incurred by a municipality in order to comply with this 
subsection for the amendment of ordinances adopted before September 1, 1990 must 
be paid to the municipality in accordance with a distribution schedule established under 
Title 30‑A, section 5685, subsection 5.
Sec. 3.  12 MRSA §8869, sub-§9, as repealed and replaced by PL 1999, c. 263, §2 
and amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §7 and PL 2013, c. 405, Pt. A, §23, is further 
amended to read:
9.  Centralized listing of municipal ordinances.  The bureau shall maintain for 
informational purposes a statewide centralized listing of municipal ordinances that 
specifically apply to forest practices timber harvesting activities.
A.  Within 30 days after the legislative body of the municipality votes on a timber 
harvesting ordinance developed according to the procedures of subsection 8, the clerk 
shall notify the bureau of the outcome and shall file a copy of the ordinance with the 
bureau.
C.  The clerk of a municipality that has a timber harvesting ordinance on January 1, 
2026 shall provide the bureau with notice and a copy of the ordinance by April 30, 
2026.
D.  The clerk of a municipality that is developing a timber harvesting ordinance after 
January 1, 2026 shall provide the bureau with notice and a copy of the ordinance at 
least 7 days prior to the meeting of the legislative body of the municipality or the public 
hearing at which adoption of the ordinance will be considered.  The clerk shall notify 
the bureau within 30 days after adoption of the ordinance.
E.  A provision of an ordinance that specifically applies to timber harvesting activities 
does not take effect unless properly adopted in accordance with subsection 8 and filed 
with the bureau in accordance with this subsection.
SUMMARY
This bill clarifies that the definition of "timber harvesting activities" under the forest 
practices laws does not include activities that result, within 5 years of the completion of 
such activities, in a change of land use.
The bill provides that a municipal timber harvesting ordinance must adopt definitions 
for forestry terms that are consistent with definitions in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 
12, section 8868 and with forestry terms adopted by the Commissioner of Agriculture, 
Conservation and Forestry pursuant to Title 12, chapter 805, subchapter 3-A.
The bill provides that municipal ordinances subject to review by the Department of 
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Forestry are limited to ordinances that 
regulate timber harvesting activities.  The bill provides that a timber harvesting ordinance 
adopted on or after September 1, 1990 and prior to January 1, 2026 must meet the 
requirements of Title 12, section 8869, subsection 8 by June 30, 2029.
The bill provides that a municipal timber harvesting ordinance may be adopted only 
after certification by the bureau that the municipality adopted the timber harvesting 
ordinance in accordance with Title 12, section 8869, subsection 8.  The bill also requires a 
municipal timber harvesting ordinance to be pursuant to and consistent with a 
comprehensive plan adopted by the municipal legislative body.
The bill clarifies that the centralized listing of municipal ordinances maintained by the 
bureau applies to ordinances that specifically apply to timber harvesting activities and 
updates certain requirements of the clerk of a municipality to report timber harvesting 
ordinances to the bureau.