An Act To Implement Recommendations Resulting from a State Government Evaluation Act Review of the Department of Environmental Protection by the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §349, sub-§2-A, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 570, §1, is amended to read:
(1) Pollution prevention projects that eliminate all or a significant portion of pollutants at the point of generation;
(2) Pollution reduction projects that significantly decrease the release of pollutants into a waste stream at the point of discharge to a point significantly beyond levels required for compliance;
(3) Environmental enhancement projects in the same ecosystem or geographic area of the violation that significantly improve an area beyond what is required to remediate any damage caused by the violation that is the subject of the enforcement action;
(4) Environmental awareness projects substantially related to the violation that provide training, publications or technical support to members of the public regulated by the department;
(5) Scientific research and data collection projects that advance the scientific basis on which regulatory decisions are made;
(6) Emergency planning and preparedness projects that assist state or local emergency response and planning entities in preparing or responding to emergencies; and
(7) Public health projects that provide a direct and measurable benefit to public health.
(1) Repeat violations of the same or a substantially similar law administered by the department by the same person;
(2) When a project is required by law;
(3) If the violator had previously planned and budgeted for the project;
(4) To offset any calculable economic benefit of noncompliance;
(5) If the violation is the result of reckless or intentional conduct; or
(6) If the project primarily benefits the violator.
Any settlement that includes a supplemental environmental project must provide that expenditures are not tax deductible and are ineligible for certification as tax exempt pollution control facilities pursuant to Title 36, chapters 105 and 211.
Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §589, sub-§3, as amended by PL 1993, c. 464, §1, is further amended to read:
Sec. 3. 38 MRSA §2124-A, first ¶, as amended by PL 2011, c. 655, Pt. GG, §31 and affected by §70, is further amended to read:
By January 1, 2013 2020 and annually biennially thereafter, the department shall submit a report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over environmental and natural resources matters and the Governor setting forth information on statewide generation of solid waste, statewide recycling rates and available disposal capacity for solid waste.
SUMMARY
This bill, which is reported out by the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 3, section 955, subsection 4, implements the recommendations resulting from the committee's State Government Evaluation Act review of the Department of Environmental Protection as follows:
1. It removes a statutory provision prohibiting a repeat violator of the same environmental law from taking advantage of a supplemental environmental project to mitigate an assessed civil penalty;
2. It allows a violator of an environmental law to offset up to 100% of an assessed civil penalty by conducting a supplemental environmental project. Under current law, such a violator may offset no more than 80% of an assessed civil penalty by conducting a supplemental environmental project;
3. It clarifies 2 statutory exemptions from the requirement that air contamination sources maintain continuous emission monitoring systems to mitigate a conflict between the current statutory provisions on continuous emission monitoring and existing applicable federal regulations; and
4. It provides that the solid waste generation and disposal capacity report the department currently must submit annually to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over environmental and natural resources matters must be submitted only biennially.