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Maine Governor Issues Environmental Regulatory Reform Agenda
01.27.2011
Portland, ME
On Monday, January 24, 2011, Maine Governor Paul LePage released the initial phase of his administration's regulatory reform initiatives. The document, "Phase I of Governor's Regulatory Reform Proposals," identifies 64 different initiatives in the areas of land use and the environment that the Lepage Administration plans to pursue. The proposals, developed from a series of so-called "Red Tape Workshops" carried out across the state in conjunction with the state and regional Chambers of Commerce, were sent to the Legislature's newly-created Joint Select Committee on Regulatory Fairness and Reform.
The proposals include both statutory changes and regulatory reforms, and cover six broad categories: Administrative Procedures Act, Municipalities, Regulatory Ombudsman, Department of Environmental Protection, Land Use Regulation Commission, and Other Natural Resource Agencies. The bulk of the proposals focus on specific statutory and regulatory changes in the environmental and land use areas, although there are significant structural changes also proposed, including replacing the 10 member citizen Board of Environmental Protection with a system of administrative law judges.
The proposals will be considered, in part, when they are reduced to legislative language as part of LD 1 – An Act to Ensure Regulatory Fairness and Reform, one of the bills to be considered by the new regulatory reform committee. Other initiatives in the proposal will be addressed through structural modifications to existing organizations or through rulemaking. The Committee is holding so-called "listening sessions" throughout the state before considering any of the proposals. Text of LD 1 is expected to be presented to the committee in mid-February.
Questions on the Governor's Phase I Regulatory Reform Proposals can be directed to David Van Slyke (dvanslyke@preti.com or 207-791-3221).