by Pete Didisheim, NRCM Advocacy Director We are deeply concerned about the Administration’s announcement to pursue a massive restructuring of Maine’s DEP, and we urge the Legislature to put the brakes on this bad idea. We are aware of no evidence that this proposal will be good for Maine — not for taxpayers, Maine businesses, Read More
Maine Legislature
The Natural Resources Council of Maine reviews every bill being considered by the Maine Legislature to determine which ones deserve support and which ones should be opposed based on their potential impact on Maine’s environment. Read more about the bills we are following and taking action on.
Poll Shows Maine Voters Oppose Environmental Rollbacks
A poll conducted two weeks ago by Portland-based Critical Insights shows that Maine voters overwhelming oppose specific environmental rollback proposals now before the Maine Legislature, including efforts to weaken shoreland zoning, the bottle bill, and Maine’s energy building code. The survey finds that Maine voters place a high priority on protecting our land, water and air; Read More
Anti-Environment Agenda Largely Defeated at State House
Majority of Rollbacks Rejected in Response to Overwhelming Opposition NRCM news release As the Legislature adjourned this week, it left behind a pile of defeated environmental rollback bills that were deemed too extreme and too strongly opposed by Maine people to be enacted into law. “More bills were introduced this session to weaken or repeal Read More
Legislature Rolls Back Maine’s Statewide Building Code Despite Strong Opposition from Building Trades, Businesses, and Others
News Release The House voted today (76-71) to give final passage to a bill, LD 1416, that would exempt more than 400 cities and towns, with 40% of Maine’s population, from the Maine Uniform Building & Energy Code. The code provides consumer protection, increases energy efficiency and reduces heating oil costs for Maine people by Read More
House Endorses Flawed Study Process for LURC
Pete Didisheim, NRCM Advocacy Director “Maine people were poorly served today when the House of Representatives voted 75-65 to establish a flawed study commission on the future of the Land Use Regulation Commission. Lawmakers had two options before them – a Majority Report that we believe is rigged to reach a predetermined outcome of abolishing Read More
Seeking to Cut Vernal Pool Buffer, LePage Spurns Warning of Federal Scrutiny, Lawmaker Compromise
By Steve Mistler, Staff Writer Sun Journal news story AUGUSTA — The LePage administration is continuing its push to reduce the state’s buffer zone for vernal pools, despite warnings that the temporary wetlands could suffer irreparable harm. The Maine House of Representatives on Friday unanimously killed a bill that would slice the current 250-foot buffer Read More
At Issue: Are Billboards an Unmet Need, or ‘Visual Litter’?
Pro-business and environmental views collide at a hearing on bills that would loosen the 34-year-old ban in Maine. by Rebekah Metzler Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA – Two daughters of the woman who led the effort to enact Maine’s 34-year-old ban on billboards testified Tuesday against proposals that they said would erode her legacy. Read More
Proposal to Lift Maine’s Billboard Ban Sparks Opposition
by A.J. Higgins Maine Public news story A pair of bills has surfaced in the Legislature’s Transportation Committee that would try to help the cash-strapped state DOT find new ways to build and maintain roads. But a provision for billboards in one bill, and the option for business signs in another, created an uproar during public Read More
Chemical Industry Drafted Bill to Modify Maine’s Kids Safe Act
by Susan Sharon MPBN radio news story The sponsor of a bill that environmentalists say would dramatically weaken Maine’s Kid Safe Products Act acknowledged today that the chemical industry drafted the language. Republican Rep. Jim Hamper says the proposed reforms are necessary to improve the act, which he thinks is overly broad and creates uncertainty Read More
