Bill > LD1985

This bill, implementing recommendations from the Maine Abandoned and Discontinued Roads Commission, establishes limited liability for property owners, lessees, or occupants adjacent to "public easements" – which are defined as rights-of-way for public access, similar to those described in existing state law – when they perform repairs and maintenance on these easements to access their own property, or when the public uses these easements. This protection does not apply if a dangerous condition is willfully or maliciously created or not warned about, and it does not create a duty for landowners to keep easements safe. The bill also clarifies that these landowners are not liable for environmental damage caused by others on the easement and may be reimbursed for legal costs if found not liable. Additionally, it allows towns and village corporations to use their highway equipment on public easements for plowing, maintaining, or repairing them, and enables them to vote to provide a minimum level of year-round repairs and maintenance for public easements, requiring specific signage and granting immunity from liability under the Maine Tort Claims Act for such maintenance. Finally, the bill permits counties and municipalities to designate public easements for certain restrictions, similar to those on public ways, and allows vehicles with specific permits for delivering home heating fuel or organic animal bedding material to use public easements without additional local permits. The bill also includes a small appropriation to support the work of the commission.

https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?LD=1985&snum=132