Committee splits on NERPA change after debate over including great ponds in compensation program

The committee considered LD 2063, a department bill to clarify activities under the Natural Resources Protection Act. Key changes include exempting hand-planting of native dune vegetation, clarifying emergency activity exemptions for flood events, and (originally) adding great ponds to the department’s compensation fee program and granting third-party enforcement rights.

Following testimony and stakeholder concerns about costs and dredging, DEP staff (Rob Wood) told the committee the department would be comfortable striking the great-ponds section if it would reduce opposition and facilitate a unanimous report. Maine Audubon and other witnesses pushed back, arguing great ponds and inland dredging can have outsized ecological and recreational impacts and said inclusion in the compensation program is a useful tool to require mitigation and long-term protection.

A motion to strike the great-ponds provision passed on the floor (4 in favor, 8 opposed) and the committee recorded both a majority report (with the deletion) and a minority report (ought to pass in original form with a cross reference to the dune-vegetation definition). Members also directed committee staff to include the cross-reference to the existing statutory definition of 'native dune vegetation' in the committee report.

Next steps: the analyst will prepare final report language reflecting the majority and minority reports and the cross-reference to the dune-vegetation definition for the committee’s review.