Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §420, sub-§2, ķI, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 444, §7, is amended by amending subparagraph (3) to read:

(3) After December 31, 2002, a mill may not discharge dioxin into its receiving waters. For purposes of this subparagraph, a mill is considered to have discharged dioxin into its receiving waters if 2, 3, 7, 8 - tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or 2, 3, 7, 8 - tetrachlorodibenzo-p-furan is detected in any of the mill's internal waste streams of its bleach plant and in a confirmatory sample at levels exceeding 10 picograms per liter, unless the department adopts a lower detection level by rule, which is a routine technical rule pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A 2-A, or a lower detection level by incorporation of a method in use by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or if levels of dioxin, as defined in section 420-A, subsection 1 detected in fish tissue sampled below the mill's wastewater outfall are higher than levels in fish tissue sampled at an upstream reference site not affected by the mill's discharge or on the basis of a comparable surrogate procedure acceptable to the commissioner. The commissioner shall consult with the technical advisory group established in section 420-B, subsection 1, paragraph B, subparagraph (5) in making this determination and in evaluating surrogate procedures. The fish-tissue sampling test must be performed with differences between the average concentrations of dioxin in the fish samples taken upstream and downstream from the mill measured with at least 95% statistical confidence. If the mill fails to meet the fish-tissue sampling-result requirements in this subparagraph and does not demonstrate by December 31, 2003 2004 and annually thereafter to the commissioner's satisfaction that its wastewater discharge is not the source of elevated dioxin concentrations in fish below the mill, then the commissioner may pursue any remedy authorized by law.

SUMMARY

This bill changes the date by which a bleach kraft pulp mill that fails to meet fish-tissue sampling-result requirements for dioxin must demonstrate that its waste discharge is not the source of elevated dioxin in fish or be subject to potential enforcement action by the Department of Environmental Protection