Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §840, sub-§1, ķA, as amended by PL 1995, c. 630, §2, is further amended to read:

A. Operating with a license or exemption issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or determined by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to be subject to the jurisdiction of that commission licensing by the commission;

Sec. 2. 38 MRSA c. 5, sub-c. I, art. VII is enacted to read:

Article VII

PUBLIC PROCESS FOR DAM ABANDONMENT OR REMOVAL

§921.__Notice and public hearing

1.__Notice and public hearing.__When a dam in this State is proposed to be abandoned or removed, the dam owner shall file a notice with the commissioner and the commissioner shall hold a public hearing on the proposed abandonment or removal.__To the extent the commissioner has authority under this Title or under other law to take action on the proposed abandonment or removal, the commissioner may take action in accordance with that authority.

FISCAL NOTE

Requiring that the Commissioner of Environmental Protection must hold certain public hearings on proposed dam abandonments or removals may result in increased costs for the Department of Environmental Protection. Any increased costs will depend on the number of abandonment or removal notices that the commissioner gets and can not be determined at this time.

SUMMARY

This bill is the minority report of the Joint Standing Committee on Natural Resources.

The bill amends existing authority of the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to hold water level hearings and establish water levels by extending that authority to approximately 2 dozen dams in the State that are operating with a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission exemption. The bill also requires the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to hold a public hearing when a dam is proposed to be abandoned or removed.