Under current law, the Board of Environmental Protection is directed in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 438- A, subsection 1 to adopt and update guidelines for municipal zoning and land use controls, including the establishment of resource protection zones. In department rules governing municipal shoreland zoning ordinances, "resource protection district" is defined as "areas within 250 feet of...wetlands...which are rated 'moderate' or 'high' value by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife as of January 1, 1973. (emphasis added)" This bill codifies language following that rule that suggests that, as significant wildlife habitat continues to be "mapped and development standards are established, municipalities should incorporate such areas and standards into their locally adopted ordinances."

This bill expands the definition of "significant wildlife habitat" to include the more than 100 candidates proposed by the staff of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for designation as high and moderate value waterfowl and wading bird habitats, including nesting and feeding areas, that have a completed Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife field survey under the ecoregional survey for water birds. The bill also excludes those habitats and areas from the requirement that maps of such areas be adopted by rule by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and instead deems those areas to be mapped by the department.