Opinion ID: 1894754
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: withdrawal of water

Text: The final reason the Board gave for denying the Company's application for a building permit is because the Company refused to set a limit as to the amount of water it would withdraw from the pond. The Board concluded that if the Company withdraws too much water, the pollution problem in Quiggle Brook could be exacerbated. In addition, according to the Board, unlimited withdrawal of water could have an adverse effect on the fish, birds, aquatic and other wildlife in the pond and surrounding area. The Company contended and the Superior Court agreed that the Legislature's grant of the right to withdraw water from Fish Pond deprived the Town of Hope of authority to regulate that withdrawal. On appeal the Town relies on the exercise of its police powers to regulate the Company's withdrawal of water from Fish Pond. Although we recognize that a utility acting under the authority of a legislative charter is generally subject to a town's exercise of police powers, the exercise must be consistent with Maine's home rule law, 30 M.R.S. A. § 1917 (1978) (section 1917 was repealed and replaced by P.L.1987, ch. 583, §§ 9, 13; that measure was repealed and replaced by P.L.1987, ch. 737, §§ 1, 2, to be codified at 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3001). We conclude in the circumstances of this case, the Town exceeded its authority. Article VIII, part second, section 1 of the Maine Constitution, provides: The inhabitants of any municipality shall have the power to alter and amend their charters on all matters, not prohibited by the Constitution or general law, which are local and municipal in character. The Legislature shall prescribe the procedure by which the municipality may so act. Pursuant to section 1, the Legislature enacted the home rule law permitting municipalities to exercise only those powers or functions that the Legislature has the power to grant and has not denied either expressly or by clear implication. We have interpreted that limitation on municipal home rule as denying towns the authority to act in areas preempted by comprehensive, state-wide schemes. See Ullis v. Town of Boothbay Harbor, 459 A.2d 153 (Me. 1983); Schwanda v. Bonney, 418 A.2d 163 (Me. 1980). In the case at bar, the Town argues that the Company's charter is not a comprehensive and exclusive regulation scheme. The Town cites Tisei v. Town of Ogunquit, 491 A.2d 564 (Me. 1985) for the proposition that the charter of a local utility is not the type of enactment that would preclude a town's regulation of the utility. If the Company were relying only on a general grant of authority to operate a water company contained in its charter, we might agree that our decision in Tisei supports the town's position. The Company, however, relies on the express grant by the Legislature of the right to withdraw water from a state owned great pond. [1] Although that grant is unlike the general statutes at issue in Ullis and Schwanda, the clear implication of that specific grant is to preclude the exercise of regulatory control by the Town of the manner or extent water is withdrawn from Fish Pond. The Superior Court correctly concluded that the environmental impact of withdrawal of water pursuant to the legislative grant is subject only to control by the state. [2] Thus, we do not reach the question whether the record supports the Board's determination that the water company had not shown that the withdrawal of water would not adversely affect the environment. The entry is: Judgment affirmed. All concurring.