An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Setbacks under the Natural Resource Protection Laws
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §480-BB, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 116, §5, is amended to read:
1. Definition of area. Include a definition of the buffer area to be regulated , except that the area to be regulated may not exceed 100 feet from the high water mark of a vernal pool depression; from the edge of an area used by shorebirds for nesting, feeding or staging; or from the edge of an inland wetland complex that has documented outstanding use by waterfowl or wading birds;
summary
This bill provides that criteria adopted by the Department of Environmental Protection to regulate significant vernal pools, waterfowl and wading bird habitat and shorebird nesting, feeding and staging areas may not regulate an area exceeding 100 feet from the edge of the protected feature. The intent of the bill is to reduce the area regulated from 250 feet to 100 feet.