Opinion ID: 1905655
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The State's Intervention

Text: [¶ 11] The Owners contend that the court erred in granting the State's motion to intervene in this action, arguing that, contrary to the State's (and Trust's) contention, 33 M.R.S. § 478(1)(D) (2008) and 5 M.R.S. § 194 (2008) do not authorize the State's intervention. The Owners also argue that, because 33 M.R.S. § 478(1)(D) was enacted in 2007, four years after the Conservation Easement was created, it does not apply and that its application in this case is fundamentally unfair and alters the rights of the parties to the Conservation Easement in violation of the Contract Clauses in the Maine and United States Constitutions. [¶ 12] We review statutory interpretation de novo as a question of law. Costain v. Sunbury Primary Care, P.A., 2008 ME 142, ¶ 5, 954 A.2d 1051, 1052. We do not look to legislative history or other extraneous aids to interpret a statute when the plain language of the statute is unambiguous, see Liberty Ins. Underwriters, Inc. v. Estate of Faulkner, 2008 ME 149, ¶ 15, 957 A.2d 94, 99, and we interpret a statute to avoid absurd, illogical, or inconsistent results, Costain, 2008 ME 142, ¶ 5, 954 A.2d at 1053 (quotation marks omitted). [¶ 13] M.R. Civ. P. 24(a) permits a party to intervene as of right when a statute confers an unconditional right to intervene. The State moved to intervene pursuant to 33 M.R.S. § 478 and 5 M.R.S. § 194. [¶ 14] Title 33 M.R.S. § 478(1)(D) provides: 1. Action or intervention. An action affecting a conservation easement may be brought or intervened in by: .... D. The Attorney General; except that the Attorney General may initiate action seeking enforcement of a conservation easement only when the parties designated as having the right to do so under the terms of the conservation easement: (1) Are no longer in legal existence; (2) Are bankrupt or insolvent; (3) Cannot be contacted after reasonable diligence to do so; or (4) After 90 days' prior written notice by the Attorney General of the nature of the asserted failure, have failed to take reasonable actions to bring about compliance with the conservation easement. [¶ 15] The plain language of section 478(1)(D) authorizes the State to intervene in an action that was initiated by another party, as the State did in this case, and that affects a conservation easement, without showing the existence of any of the conditions precedent described in section 478(1)(D)(1)-(4). Paragraphs (1) through (4) apply only when the State initiates an action. Section 478(1)(D) confers upon the Attorney General an unconditional right to intervene in this action; accordingly, the State properly moved to intervene pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 24(a) and filed a pleading, albeit belatedly, setting forth its claim for which intervention was sought, as is required by Rule 24(c). [2] Because the State properly intervened pursuant to 33 M.R.S. § 478 and Rule 24, we do not address whether the Attorney General also had a right to intervene in the dispute pursuant to 5 M.R.S. § 194. [¶ 16] Additionally, we conclude that the application of section 478(1)(D), enacted in 2007, see P.L. 2007, ch. 412, § 5 (effective Sept. 20, 2007), authorizing the State to intervene in this case, is not fundamentally unfair, nor does it violate the Contract Clauses of the Maine and United States Constitutions. The threshold inquiry when analyzing a Contract Clause claim is whether the legislation resulted in a substantial impairment of a contractual relationship. Kittery Retail Ventures, LLC v. Town of Kittery, 2004 ME 65, ¶ 38, 856 A.2d 1183, 1194-95 (quotation marks omitted). Substantial impairment does not occur when a change in law does not affect the express terms of the contract or the obligations of the parties, but only affects the underlying subject matter of the contract. Id. ¶ 41, 856 A.2d at 1196. The enactment of section 478(1)(D) did not substantially impair the contractual relationship between the Owners, as successors-in-interest of the Freeman Farm, and the Trust; the 2007 enactment of section 478(1)(D) did not affect the express terms of the 2003 Conservation Easement deed, the obligations of the Owners under that agreement, or the underlying subject matter of the deed. [¶ 17] Accordingly, the court properly granted the State's motion to intervene.