Resolve, to Study and Oversee Water in the State of Maine
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0757
Committee: Environment and Natural Resources
Sponsors: BENNETT, SAYRE

Legislative Document
No. 757
S.P. 290
In Senate, February 25, 2025
Resolve, to Study and Oversee Water in the State of Maine
Reference to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources suggested and ordered 
printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BENNETT of Oxford.
Cosponsored by Representative SAYRE of Kennebunk.
Sec. 1. Commission to Study the Role of Water as a Resource in the State 
of Maine established. Resolved: That the Commission to Study the Role of Water as a 
Resource in the State of Maine, referred to in this section as "the commission," is 
established.
1. Commission membership.  Notwithstanding Joint Rule 353, the commission 
consists of 17 members as follows:
A. Seven members appointed by the President of the Senate as follows:  
(1) Two members of the Senate, including a member from each of the 2 parties 
holding the largest number of seats in the Legislature;
(2) One member of the public residing in northern Maine;
(3) One member representing the interests of persons who bottle or package water 
for commercial sale;
(4) One member representing the interests of municipal water utilities; and
(5) Two members who are members of a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe 
or band in the State based on the joint recommendations of the tribal governments 
of the Mi'kmaq Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Passamaquoddy 
Tribe at Motahkomikuk, the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik and the Penobscot 
Nation. If the tribal governments do not make unanimous joint recommendations, 
the President of the Senate shall appoint 2 members of a federally recognized 
Indian nation, tribe or band in the State;
B. Six members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives as follows:
(1) Two members of the House of Representatives, including a member from each 
of the 2 parties holding the largest number of seats in the Legislature;
(2) One member of the public residing in western Maine;
(3) One member representing the interests of businesses that use water to irrigate 
agricultural products;
(4) One member representing organizations involved in protection of the 
environment; and
(5) One member with general legal expertise in water rights and water ownership;
C. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection or the commissioner's designee;
D. The State Geologist or the State Geologist's designee;
E. The director of the drinking water program within the Department of Health and 
Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, division of 
environmental and community health or the director's designee; and
F. The chair of the Public Utilities Commission or the chair's designee.
2. Chairs.  The first-named Senate member is the Senate chair and the first-named 
House of Representatives member is the House chair of the commission. A quorum is 9 
members and a quorum must be present to start a meeting but is not required to continue a 
meeting.
3. Appointments; convening of commission.  All appointments must be made no later 
than 30 days following the effective date of this resolve. The appointing authorities shall 
notify the Executive Director of the Legislative Council once all appointments have been 
completed. After appointment of all members, the chairs shall call and convene the first 
meeting of the commission. If 30 days or more after the effective date of this resolve a 
majority of but not all appointments have been made, the chairs may request authority and 
the Legislative Council may grant authority for the commission to meet and conduct its 
business.  
4. Duties.  The commission shall review the report submitted to the Legislature by the 
Commission To Study the Role of Water as a Resource in the State of Maine pursuant to 
Resolve 2021, chapter 185.  The commission shall develop findings and recommendations, 
including any suggested legislation, to ensure that there is adequate clean, safe and 
accessible drinking water for the State's residents and to meet the needs of commercial and 
business interests now and in the future, which may include, but are not limited to, 
consideration of the following matters:
A. Promoting public access to information about the State's water resources, 
consolidating and centralizing access to existing water use and water resource data and 
enhancing or supplementing water use and water resource monitoring and data 
collection and the analysis of that data;
B. Enhancing drought preparedness and drought resilience by agricultural producers 
and others;
C. Reviewing the legal status of groundwater rights and ownership in Maine, including, 
but not limited to, further review of the Supreme Judicial Court's opinion in Maddocks 
v. Giles, 1999 ME 63, and the approaches to this issue taken by other states;
D. Protecting public and private drinking water sources from perfluoroalkyl and 
polyfluoroalkyl substances contamination and other contaminants;
E. Identifying any changes to state laws or rules regulating the large-scale extraction 
of groundwater for public or private use that may be necessary to ensure adequate 
supply for all users;
F. Reviewing the current structure of state agency oversight of water resources and 
developing options to consolidate that oversight into a single state agency; and
G. Reviewing a proposed major substantive rule of the Maine Public Drinking Water 
Commission, established under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 2660-C, 
in accordance with section 2 regarding the transfer of a permit or contract in a sale of 
assets of an entity engaged in the exporting from the State of water extracted in the 
State and making recommendations, if any, to the Maine Public Drinking Water 
Commission.
5. Staff assistance.  The Legislative Council shall provide necessary staffing services 
to the commission, except that Legislative Council staff support is not authorized when the 
Legislature is in regular or special session.
6. Report.  No later than December 3, 2025, the commission shall submit a report that 
includes its findings and recommendations, including any recommended legislation, to the 
Joint Standing Committee on Taxation. After reviewing the report, the joint standing 
committee may report out legislation to implement any of the recommendations included 
in the report to the Second Regular Session of the 132nd Legislature.
Sec. 2. Maine Public Drinking Water Commission to adopt major 
substantive rules. Resolved: That the Maine Public Drinking Water Commission 
established under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 2660-C shall adopt major 
substantive rules under Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A regarding the transfer of a 
permit or contract in a sale of assets of an entity engaged in the exporting from the State of 
water extracted in the State. Prior to legislative review of the rules under Title 5, section 
8072, and by November 1, 2025, the commission shall submit for review the proposed rules 
to the Commission to Study the Role of Water as a Resource in the State of Maine under 
section 1.
SUMMARY
This resolve does the following.
1. It establishes the Commission to Study the Role of Water as a Resource in the State 
of Maine to develop findings and recommendations, including any suggested legislation, 
to ensure that there is adequate clean, safe and accessible drinking water for the State's 
residents and to meet the needs of commercial and business interests now and in the future. 
This study is designed to build off the work of the Commission To Study the Role of Water 
as a Resource in the State of Maine that was established pursuant to Resolve 2021, chapter 
185. The commission is also required to review proposed major substantive rules of the 
Maine Public Drinking Water Commission regarding the transfer of a permit or contract in 
a sale of assets of an entity engaged in the exporting from the State of water extracted in 
the State and making recommendations, if any, to the Maine Public Drinking Water 
Commission.
2. It requires the Maine Public Drinking Water Commission to adopt major substantive 
rules regarding the transfer of a permit or contract in a sale of assets of an entity engaged 
in the exporting from the State of water extracted in the State and to submit the proposed 
rules to the Commission to Study the Role of Water as a Resource in the State of Maine 
established under this resolve for review before submitting the proposed rules for 
legislative review.