An Act to Replace the Maine Waterway Development and
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 2174
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Sponsors: KESSLER
Amends: 38 MRSA §489-E, 38 MRSA §574, 38 MRSA §579-A

Legislative Document
No. 2174
H.P. 1462
House of Representatives, January 27, 2026
An Act to Replace the Maine Waterway Development and 
Conservation Act with the Maine Renewable Energy and Associated 
Transmission Development and Conservation Act
(EMERGENCY)
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Reference to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative KESSLER of South Portland.
Emergency preamble.  Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, electricity prices in Maine are increasing significantly and financial 
incentives for renewable energy deployment are decreasing, which is negatively impacting 
economic vitality throughout the State; and
Whereas, current permitting requirements are a significant impediment to renewable 
energy deployment, which requires expediency in order to be financially viable as well as 
competitive with neighboring states that have recently enacted permitting reform for 
renewable energy development and the needed supporting transmission; and
Whereas, Maine has long been a national leader in working to address the climate 
crisis, with both the Legislature and Governor having set ambitious decarbonization targets 
and comprehensive plans to achieve these targets; and
Whereas, to achieve its emissions targets and promote new economic development 
and long-term employment, the State must build more clean energy generation 
infrastructure and at a much quicker pace than it has been built to date, while also upgrading 
and building out its transmission and distribution grids to accommodate this generation and 
increased electricity demand; and
Whereas, the Maine Waterway Development and Conservation Act, a 1983 law, is 
out of date in that hydropower is no longer Maine's only major source of renewable energy, 
and permitting can be streamlined for more than just hydropower projects to save time and 
cost while increasing more consistent and certain regulatory review without risking harm 
to the natural environment; and
Whereas, unless obstacles to the use of the State's substantial renewable energy 
resources are removed, Maine will not be able to realize substantial direct and near-term 
benefits but instead will increasingly risk other states capitalizing on Maine's renewable 
resources; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore,
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  38 MRSA §489-E, first ¶, as repealed and replaced by PL 2011, c. 359, §4, 
is amended to read:
Rules adopted by the department pursuant to this article are routine technical rules as 
defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A, including rules to establish a permit-by-
rule process in accordance with section 344, subsection 7, except that rules adopted by the 
department after January 1, 2010 pursuant to section 484, subsections 1, 3, 4, 4‑A, 5, 6 and 
are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.
Sec. 2.  38 MRSA §574, sub-§3 is enacted to read:
3.  Beneficial electrification.  "Beneficial electrification" has the same meaning as in 
Title 35-A, section 10102, subsection 3-A.
Sec. 3.  38 MRSA §574, sub-§4 is enacted to read:
4.  Renewable or clean energy project.  "Renewable or clean energy project" means 
any development that uses a 5-megawatt or greater clean resource, as defined in Title 35-A, 
section 3210, subsection 2, paragraph A-4, for the purpose of generating electrical power. 
"Renewable or clean energy project" includes all energy storage systems, as defined in Title 
35-A, section 3481, subsection 6, powerhouses, dams, water conduits, turbines or other in-
stream power devices, generators, associated transmission lines, water impoundments, 
roads and other appurtenant works and structures that are part of the development. 
Sec. 4.  38 MRSA §579-A is enacted to read:
§579-A.  Renewable energy and associated transmission development and 
conservation
1.  Short title.  This section may be cited as "the Maine Renewable Energy and 
Associated Transmission Development and Conservation Act."
2.  Policy.  The Legislature declares that it is the policy of the State to support and 
encourage the development of hydropower, wind power, biomass, solar and other types of 
renewable or clean energy projects and the necessary transmission development activities 
needed to serve such projects by simplifying and clarifying requirements for permits, while 
ensuring reasonable protection of natural resources and the public interest. It is the purpose 
of this section to require a single application and permit for the construction of all such 
projects, with the permit application process administered by the department.
It further is the policy of the State to encourage the attraction of appropriately sited 
renewable or clean energy project development, including any additional transmission and 
other energy infrastructure needed to transport such energy to market, consistent with all 
state environmental standards; the permitting and siting of renewable or clean energy 
projects; and the permitting, siting, financing and construction of energy research and 
manufacturing facilities.
3.  Prohibition; permit required; exceptions.  Beginning March 1, 2027, a person 
may not initiate construction, reconstruction or expansion of a renewable or clean energy 
project without first obtaining a permit from the department in accordance with this section.
This section does not apply to activities for which, prior to the effective date of this Act, a 
permit or permits have been issued.
4.  Permit requirements; coordinated review; applications.  An application for a 
permit for a renewable or clean energy project under this section is governed by this 
subsection. 
A.  An application for a permit for a renewable or clean energy project required by 
subsection 3 must be made on forms provided by the commissioner and filed with the 
commissioner. Public notice of the filing must be made as required by the board. 
B.  Within 10 working days of receiving the completed application for a permit for a 
renewable or clean energy project, the commissioner shall notify the applicant of the 
official date on which the application was accepted. The commissioner shall also notify 
the applicant that the department needs to retain one or more expert consultants 
necessary to assist in the review of the project’s compliance with the governing 
standards and, following that notice, the department shall employ a consultant or 
consultants at the expense of the applicant. 
C.  The commissioner shall circulate the application for a permit among the department, 
the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, the Department of Inland 
Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of Marine Resources, the Department of 
Transportation, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, the Department of 
Energy Resources, the Public Utilities Commission and the municipal officials of each 
municipality in which the renewable or clean energy project is located, inviting timely 
submission of any comments for consideration by the department, as the sole 
coordinating permitting state agency, in its review of the project’s compliance with the 
relevant provisions of the Natural Resources Protection Act, the site location of 
development laws, chapter 3, subchapter 1, article 6, the protection of agricultural soils 
from solar energy development laws, chapter 35, the land use regulation laws in Title 
12, chapter 206-A and any of the provisions set forth in subsection 7. 
(1)  The Department of Energy Resources and the Public Utilities Commission 
shall submit written comments to the department under subsection 7, paragraph D.
(2)  Each municipality in which the renewable or clean energy project is located 
shall file comments regarding the environmental and economic impacts of the 
proposed renewable or clean energy project on that municipality within time limits 
set by the department so as not to delay the department’s timely issuance of a 
decision.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a municipality 
may not enact a moratorium that delays local review of the renewable or clean 
energy project, enact or enforce a land use ordinance that prohibits siting of the 
proposed development or enact a land use ordinance or ordinance provision that 
includes standards or criteria more strict than those of state law or that would 
frustrate the purpose of any state law. 
D.  A person intending to file an application for a permit for a renewable or clean 
energy project to remove an existing dam or decommission a renewable or clean energy 
project shall attend a preapplication meeting with the department and hold a public 
informational meeting prior to filing the application. The preapplication meeting and 
the public informational meeting must be held in accordance with the department's 
rules on the processing of applications.
5.  Department decision.  Upon receipt of a properly completed application for a 
permit for a renewable or clean energy project, the department shall:
A.  Approve the permit for the proposed renewable or clean energy project in writing 
upon such terms and conditions as are appropriate and reasonable to protect and 
preserve the environment and the public's health, safety and general welfare, including 
the public interest in replacing fossil fuels, particularly oil, with renewable or clean 
energy and cost-effectively achieving the State's emissions reduction goals under 
section 576-A through beneficial electrification;
B.  Disapprove the permit for the proposed renewable or clean energy project in writing 
setting forth the reasons for the disapproval; or
C.  Schedule a hearing on the proposed renewable or clean energy project. The hearing 
must follow the notice requirements and procedures for an adjudicatory hearing under 
Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 4. Within 45 days after the hearing is held, the 
department shall make findings of facts and issue an order approving or disapproving 
the permit for the proposed renewable or clean energy project as provided in paragraphs 
A and B.
6.  Time limits for processing applications.  Whenever the commissioner receives a 
properly completed application for a permit for a proposed renewable or clean energy 
project under subsection 5, the department shall make a decision within 105 working days, 
except that decisions delegated to the commissioner by the board must be made within 60 
working days. Following one extension of up to 25 working days, the commissioner may 
waive the time limit requirements of this subsection only at the request of the applicant. 
The permit for a proposed renewable or clean energy project is deemed approved if the 
department does not notify the applicant of a decision within the applicable review period.
7.  Approval criteria.  The department shall approve a permit for a proposed 
renewable or clean energy project under subsection 5 when it finds that the applicant has 
demonstrated that in addition to meeting the criteria in chapter 3, subchapter 1, articles 5-A 
and 6, the following criteria have been met:
A.  The renewable or clean energy project will result in significant economic benefits 
to the public, including, but not limited to, creation of employment opportunities for 
workers in the State;
B.  For a renewable or clean energy project within the jurisdiction of the Maine Land 
Use Planning Commission, the renewable or clean energy project is consistent with 
zoning adopted by the commission;
C.  The applicant has made reasonable provisions to realize the environmental benefits 
of the renewable or clean energy project, if any, and to mitigate its adverse 
environmental impacts;
D.  The renewable or clean energy project will result in significant renewable or clean 
resource energy benefits, including the increase in generating capacity and annual 
energy output resulting from the renewable or clean energy project or indirectly from 
the associated transmission of the renewable or clean energy project, the amount of 
nonrenewable fuels the renewable or clean energy project would wholly or partly 
replace and the provision of material benefits to ratepayers in the State, whether in 
lower electricity costs, increases in sustainable employment or enhanced reliability of 
noncarbon energy generation;
E.  For a proposed electricity transmission project, the project will enable the increase 
of significant renewable or clean resource energy benefits under paragraph D while 
also meeting the other criteria in this subsection; and
F.  For a proposed new or reconstructed renewable or clean energy project, there is 
reasonable assurance that the renewable or clean energy project will not violate 
applicable state water quality standards, including the provisions of section 464, 
subsection 4, paragraph F as required for water quality certification under the United 
States Water Pollution Control Act, Section 401. This finding is required for any 
proposed impoundment and any affected classified water bodies downstream of the 
proposed impoundment.
The department shall make written findings of facts with respect to the nature and 
magnitude of the impact of the renewable or clean energy project on the criteria under 
paragraphs D and E and a written explanation of the department's use of these criteria in 
reaching its decision.
8.  Rescission of approved permit.  After a permit for a renewable or clean energy 
project has been approved by the department, absent a court ruling vacating that approval 
or the department determining that the applicant has violated one or more permit conditions 
warranting rescission of the permit, the approved permit may not be revoked.
9.  Appeal of approved project.  A final decision by the commissioner approving a 
permit for a proposed renewable or clean energy project may be appealed to the board or 
to the Superior Court only by an abutter or an intervenor in the underlying department 
proceeding. If the appeal is to the board, the board shall expedite its review of the appeal 
and render a final decision on the appeal within 60 working days of the filing of the appeal.  
If the appeal is to the Superior Court, the appeal must be advanced on the docket and receive 
priority over other cases.
Sec. 5.  38 MRSA c. 5, sub-c. 1, art. 1, sub-art. 1-B, as amended, is repealed.
Sec. 6.  Rulemaking to establish permit-by-rule process for renewable or 
clean energy projects. Within 60 days after the effective date of this Act, the Department 
of Environmental Protection shall initiate rulemaking to establish, under the site location 
of development laws, the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, chapter 3, subchapter 1, article 
6, a permit-by-rule process in accordance with Title 38, section 344, subsection 7 for 
renewable or clean energy projects. Such rulemaking by the department is routine technical 
rulemaking, as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 7.  Revisor's review; cross-references.  The Revisor of Statutes shall review 
the Maine Revised Statutes and include in the inconsistencies, conflicts and errors bill 
submitted to the First Regular Session of the 133rd Legislature pursuant to Title 1, section 
any sections necessary to correct and update any cross-references in the statutes to 
provisions of law repealed in this Act.
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation 
takes effect when approved.
SUMMARY
This bill repeals the Maine Waterway Development and Conservation Act, which 
governs permits and certifications for hydropower projects. The bill enacts the Maine 
Renewable Energy and Associated Transmission Development and Conservation Act, 
which prohibits the construction, reconstruction or expansion of a renewable or clean 
energy project without first obtaining a permit from the Department of Environmental 
Protection. It defines "renewable or clean energy project" as any development that uses a 
5-megawatt or greater clean resource for the purpose of generating electrical power.  The 
bill directs the department to, within 60 days after the effective date of this legislation, 
initiate rulemaking to establish, under the site location of development laws, a permit-by-
rule process for renewable or clean energy projects.
The bill also specifies that rules adopted by the Department of Environmental 
Protection to establish permit-by-rule processes under the site location of development laws 
are routine technical rules.
Other than the repeal of the Maine Waterway Development and Conservation Act, this 
bill does not include amendments to or repeal of sections of the Maine Revised Statutes 
that may be necessary to administer and implement the Maine Renewable Energy and 
Associated Transmission Development and Conservation Act. It also does not include 
amendments to or repeal of sections of the Maine Revised Statutes necessary to correct and 
update any cross-references in the statutes to provisions of law repealed in this bill.