Bill > LD1848

Introduced Session

This bill is designed to implement the following recommendations for the improvement of dam safety in the State as identified in the report required pursuant to Resolve 2021, chapter 176 and submitted to the 131st Legislature in February 2024. 1. It amends the Natural Resources Protection Act to require that, if a proposed activity subject to that Act involves the construction or reconstruction of a nonhydropower dam, prior to granting a permit, the Department of Environmental Protection shall notify the director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency within the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management regarding the application. The director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency is required to provide the department with an assessment of the design and construction or reconstruction of the proposed dam and any recommendations regarding terms or conditions necessary to minimize the risk of dam failure and to protect public safety and property downstream from the dam that may result from the failure or operation of the dam. For maintenance and repair activities on an existing dam for which a permit is not required under that Act, the bill provides that a long-term maintenance and repair plan for the dam, which is required to be submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection prior to the commencement of any maintenance or repair activities, must also be submitted to the Maine Emergency Management Agency. 2. It modifies the duties of the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management under the State's dam safety program under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 37-B, chapter 24, by providing for coordination with the Department of Environmental Protection in its administration of the program, clarifying the policies and procedures to be adopted for the administration and enforcement of the program, requiring the development and implementation of a comprehensive database management system, specifying staffing responsibilities, providing for stakeholder engagement and imposing an annual legislative reporting requirement. 3. It clarifies that, for the purposes of the dam safety program under Title 37-B, chapter 24, a state dam inspector appointed or hired by the Commissioner of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management is the legal representative of the commissioner. 4. It requires the Commissioner of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management to evaluate the downstream hazard potential of each dam to determine the potential risk to public safety and property downstream from the dam that may result from the failure or operation of the dam. 5. It requires the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management to adopt by rule policies and guidelines for owners of dams assigned a high hazard potential to conduct potential failure mode analyses of dams, based on the potential failure mode process developed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 6. It requires inspection by a state dam inspector of all significant hazard potential dams and all high hazard potential dams at least once every 5 years. 7. It authorizes the Commissioner of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management to adopt major substantive rules establishing a schedule for the required payment of monetary penalties by a dam owner, lessee or other person in control of a dam that fails to implement remedial measures directed in a dam safety order issued by the commissioner. 8. It requires the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management to establish by rule requirements and procedures for periodic comprehensive review and inspection of all high hazard potential dams at least once every 12 years, to be conducted by and at the expense of the owner of the dam. 9. It requires an owner, lessee or person in control of a dam to provide to the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management a copy of any engineering study, inspection, comprehensive review or report regarding the dam that was commissioned or otherwise facilitated by the owner, lessee or person. 10. It repeals and replaces the law regarding dam emergency action plans to provide that, prior to the construction or reconstruction of any dam, the owner must prepare an emergency action plan for the dam and submit the plan to the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management for review. The department is also required to establish guidelines and procedures for the testing of emergency action plans for high hazard potential and significant hazard potential dams. 11. It directs the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management to take all necessary steps to ensure that, within 6 months of the effective date of this legislation, it has appointed or hired in a permanent capacity one or more state dam inspectors. To attract qualified candidates for the state dam inspector position, the department is authorized to offer a salary package for that position that is competitive and aligns with pay standards for professional engineers in the State. 12. It directs the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, as soon as practicable, to identify all dams in the State that are under its jurisdiction and are not in compliance with applicable dam safety standards and, in accordance with the compliance and enforcement policies and procedures adopted under the dam safety program, take all actions necessary to ensure that those dams achieve compliance, prioritizing its actions based on the hazard potential of each identified dam as assigned pursuant to law. 13. It requires the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management to assess staffing and operational needs for the administration and enforcement of the dam safety program. By January 1, 2026, the department must submit to the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety a report identifying the funding amounts necessary to ensure the effective administration and enforcement of the dam safety program. After reviewing the report, the committee may report out related legislation.

Committee Categories

Nina Milliken (D)*,  Art Bell (D),  Steven Bishop (R),  Nicole Grohoski (D),  David Haggan (R), 

CARRIED OVER, in the same posture, to any special or regular session of the 132nd Legislature, pursuant to Joint Order SP 800. (on 06/25/2025)

Official Document