HP0118, LD 160, item 2, ‘An Act To Prohibit Metallic Mineral Mining in Maine’

Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:

‘An Act To Prohibit Metallic Mineral Mining in Maine’

Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary and inserting the following:

‘Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §685-B, sub-§1-A, ¶B-2, as reallocated by RR 2011, c. 2, §8 and affected by §10, is repealed.

Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §2866, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2011, c. 653, §6 and affected by §33, is repealed.

Sec. 3. 38 MRSA §351, 2nd ¶, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 653, §9 and affected by §33, is repealed.

Sec. 4. 38 MRSA §352, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2011, c. 653, §10 and affected by §33 and amended by c. 657, Pt. W, §5, is further amended to read:

3. Maximum fee. The commissioner shall set the actual fees and shall publish a schedule of all fees by November 1st of each year. If the commissioner determines that a particular application, by virtue of its size, uniqueness, complexity or other relevant factors, is likely to require significantly more costs than those listed on Table I, the commissioner may designate that application as subject to special fees. Such a designation must be made at, or prior to, the time the application is accepted as complete and may not be based solely on the likelihood of extensive public controversy. The maximum fee for processing an application may not exceed $250,000 , except that the maximum fee for processing an application under chapter 3, subchapter 1, article 9 is as provided for in subsection 4-A. All staff of the department, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the Department of Marine Resources who have worked on the review of the application, including, but not limited to, preapplication consultations, shall submit quarterly reports to the commissioner detailing the time spent on the application and all expenses attributable to the application, including the costs of any appeals filed by the applicant and, after taking into consideration the interest of fairness and equity, any other appeals if the commissioner finds it in the public interest to do so. Any appeal filed by the applicant of an application fee must be to the agency of jurisdiction of the application. The costs associated with assistance to the board on an appeal before the board may be separately charged. The processing fee for that application must be the actual cost to the department, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the Department of Marine Resources. The processing fee must be distributed to each department that incurs a cost to be deposited in the account in which the expenses were incurred in that department to reimburse the actual cost to that department. The applicant must be billed quarterly and all fees paid prior to receipt of the permit. At the time of the quarterly billing by the department, the commissioner shall review the ongoing work of the department to identify, prevent and mitigate undue delays or vague requirements of the application processing. Nothing in this section limits the commissioner's authority to enter into an agreement with an applicant for payment of costs in excess of the maximum fee established in this subsection.

Sec. 5. 38 MRSA §352, sub-§4-A, as repealed and replaced by PL 2011, c. 653, §11 and affected by §33, is repealed.

Sec. 6. 38 MRSA §353, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2011, c. 653, §13 and affected by §33, is further amended to read:

2. Processing fee. Except for annual air emission fees pursuant to section 353-A and annual waste discharge fees pursuant to section 353-B, a processing fee must be paid at the time of filing the application. Failure to pay the processing fee at the time of filing the application results in the application being returned to the applicant. One-half the processing fee assessed in section 352, subsection 5-A for licenses issued for a 10-year term must be paid at the time of filing the application. The remaining 1/2 of the processing fee for licenses issued for a 10-year term must be paid 5 years after issuance of the license. The commissioner may not refund the processing fee if the application is denied by the board or the commissioner. Except as provided in section 352, subsection 4-A, if If the application is withdrawn by the applicant within 30 days of the start of processing, the portion of the processing fee that was expended or committed by the department or the department's agents or contractors for the cost of processing the application prior to the withdrawal of the application must be calculated, and the remainder of the processing fee not expended or committed must be refunded.

Sec. 7. 38 MRSA §420-D, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2011, c. 653, §14 and affected by §33, is further amended to read:

5. Relationship to other laws. A storm water permit pursuant to this section is not required for a project requiring review by the department pursuant to any of the following provisions but the project may be required to meet standards for management of storm water adopted pursuant to this section: article 6, site location of development; article 7, performance standards for excavations for borrow, clay, topsoil or silt; article 8-A, performance standards for quarries; article 9, the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act; sections 631 to 636, permits for hydropower projects; and section 1310-N, 1319-R or 1319-X, waste facility licenses. When a project requires a storm water permit and requires review pursuant to article 5-A, the department shall issue a joint order unless the permit required pursuant to article 5-A is a permit-by-rule or general permit, or separate orders are requested by the applicant and approved by the department.

A storm water permit pursuant to this section is not required for a project receiving review by a registered municipality pursuant to section 489-A if the storm water ordinances under which the project is reviewed are at least as stringent as the storm water standards adopted pursuant to section 484 or if the municipality meets the requirements of section 489-A, subsection 2-A, paragraph B.

Sec. 8. 38 MRSA §480-D, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2011, c. 653, §15 and affected by §33, is further amended to read:

3. Harm to habitats; fisheries. The activity will not unreasonably harm any significant wildlife habitat, freshwater wetland plant habitat, threatened or endangered plant habitat, aquatic or adjacent upland habitat, travel corridor, freshwater, estuarine or marine fisheries or other aquatic life.

In determining whether mining, as defined in section 490-MM, subsection 11, will comply with this subsection, the department shall review an analysis of alternatives submitted by the applicant. For purposes of this subsection, a practicable alternative to mining, as defined in section 490-MM, subsection 11, that is less damaging to the environment is not considered to exist. The department may consider alternatives associated with the activity, including alternative design and operational measures, in its evaluation of whether the activity avoided and minimized impacts to the maximum extent practicable.

In determining whether there is unreasonable harm to significant wildlife habitat, the department may consider proposed mitigation if that mitigation does not diminish in the vicinity of the proposed activity the overall value of significant wildlife habitat and species utilization of the habitat and if there is no specific biological or physical feature unique to the habitat that would be adversely affected by the proposed activity. For purposes of this subsection, "mitigation" means any action taken or not taken to avoid, minimize, rectify, reduce, eliminate or compensate for any actual or potential adverse impact on the significant wildlife habitat, including the following:

A. Avoiding an impact altogether by not taking a certain action or parts of an action;

B. Minimizing an impact by limiting the magnitude, duration or location of an activity or by controlling the timing of an activity;

C. Rectifying an impact by repairing, rehabilitating or restoring the affected environment;

D. Reducing or eliminating an impact over time through preservation and maintenance operations during the life of the project; or

E. Compensating for an impact by replacing the affected significant wildlife habitat.

Sec. 9. 38 MRSA c. 3, sub-c. 1, art. 9, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 653, §23, is repealed.

Sec. 10. 38 MRSA c. 3, sub-c. 1, art. 9-A is enacted to read:

ARTICLE 9-A

PROHIBITION OF METALLIC MINERAL MINING

§ 490-UU. Definitions

As used in this article, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.

1. Metallic mineral. "Metallic mineral" means any ore or material to be excavated from the natural deposits on or in the earth for its metallic mineral content to be used for commercial or industrial purposes.

2. Mining. "Mining" means the activities, facilities or processes necessary for the extraction or removal of metallic minerals or overburden or for the preparation, washing, cleaning or other treatment of metallic minerals and includes the bulk sampling, exploration, advanced exploration, extraction or beneficiation of metallic minerals as well as waste storage and other stockpiles and reclamation activities, but does not include exploration.

§ 490-VV. Prohibition of metallic mineral mining

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an agency of the State may not issue a permit, lease or license for or otherwise approve or authorize the mining of metallic minerals in the State for commercial or industrial purposes.’

SUMMARY

This amendment, which is the minority report of the committee, changes the title of the bill and replaces the bill. It repeals the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act and enacts a prohibition on the issuance of a permit, lease or license for or other approval or authorization of the mining of metallic minerals in the State for commercial or industrial purposes.

HP0118 LD 160	Session - 128th Maine Legislature C "A", Filing Number H-158, Sponsored by		LR 1069 Item 2
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