Land Use Planning Commission – Rule Revision

The Maine Land Use Planning Commission has adopted two sets of rule revisions, affecting Chapter 10 – Land Use Districts and Standards, and Chapter 13 – Metallic Mineral Exploration, Advanced Exploration and Mining.
1. Metallic Mineral Exploration, Advanced Exploration and Mining Rule Revisions (regarding Chapters 10 and 13)
These revisions respond to Public Law 2017 Ch. 142 of the 128th Legislature, which in-part required the Commission to “adopt rules related to commission certification of metallic mineral mining permit applications in accordance with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 38, section 490-NN, subsection 2.” Also, the section requires that, “Rules adopted pursuant to this section must include any additional provisions necessary to ensure consistency with the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act and rules related to the Maine Metallic Mineral Mining Act adopted by the Department of Environmental Protection.”
The adopted changes represented a repeal and replacement of the Commission’s Chapter 13 rule, renaming Chapter 13 to Metallic Mineral Exploration and Mining Certifications, updating provisions for metallic mineral exploration, adding provisions for mining certifications, and amending the Commission’s Chapter 10 rule to ensure consistency with Chapter 13 and clarify the relationship between the two chapters.
2. Miscellaneous Rule Revisions (regarding Chapter 10)
For organizational purposes, these revisions were organized into three parts:
Part 1 includes responses to two laws in 2017 that affect the Commission, as well
as other revisions that cover general housekeeping matters, update references, and clarify existing provisions.
Part 2 of this rulemaking updates the Commission’s standards relating to protected natural resources to ensure consistency, as required in statute, with the goals of the Natural Resources Protection Act (NRPA). The NRPA-related updates clarify the existing practice for rezoning areas that include wetlands, ensure consistent application of existing standards to wetland alterations in all zoning subdistricts, establish that filling and grading an acre or more in the General Management Subdistrict (M-GN) requires a permit, and contain other miscellaneous revisions to improve clarity and consistency with other related statutes and rules.
Part 3 includes revisions that correct errors and update references in Appendix C – Alphabetical List of Lakes Showing Wildlands Lake Assessment Findings. Revisions include updating minor civil division and waterbody names, as well as correcting certain management classifications and resource values for some waterbodies.
A redlined document (i.e., illustrating each change) for each of these rulemakings are available on the Commission’s website at:
These rule revisions will become effective on September 20, 2018. You may view and print this most recent version of Chapter 10 from the Commission’s website by following this link: www.maine.gov/dacf/lupc/laws_rules/ch10.html.
If you wish to obtain a paper copy of Chapter 10 as amended, please contact the Commission by email at LUPC@maine.gov or by telephone at (207) 287-2631.