An Act To Allow Municipalities To Enforce New Noise Ordinances on Existing Shooting Ranges
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §3011, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2015, c. 433, §3, is further amended to read:
2. Limitation. A Except as authorized under subsection 5, a municipal noise control or other ordinance may not require or be applied so as to require a sport shooting range to limit or eliminate shooting activities that have occurred on a regular basis at the range prior to the enactment date of the ordinance, as long as the range conforms to generally accepted gun safety and shooting range operation practices or is constructed in a manner not reasonably expected to allow a projectile to cross the boundary of the range.
Sec. 2. 30-A MRSA §3011, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
5. Noise control ordinance exception; authorization. A municipality may adopt a noise control or other ordinance that applies to an existing sport shooting range if the Commissioner of Public Safety approves the ordinance prior to adoption. The commissioner shall establish the authorization process, including criteria to allow enforcement of an ordinance to a sport shooting range, through rulemaking. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
SUMMARY
Current law prohibits the application of a municipal noise control or other ordinance to an existing sport shooting range. This bill gives the Commissioner of Public Safety the power to authorize the application of a municipal noise ordinance to a sport shooting range that existed prior to the adoption of the ordinance. The Commissioner of Public Safety is required to adopt major substantive rules to establish the criteria and the process for the authorization process.