Maine § 38 §420 Certain deposits and discharges prohibited

Maine Statutes

§ 38 §420 — Certain deposits and discharges prohibited

Maine § 38 §420

Title 38WATERS AND NAVIGATION

Ch. 3PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF WATERS

This text of Maine § 38 §420 (Certain deposits and discharges prohibited) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 38, § 38 §420 (2026).

Text

No person, firm, corporation or other legal entity shall place, deposit, discharge or spill, directly or indirectly, into the ground water, inland surface waters or tidal waters of this State, or on the ice thereof, or on the banks thereof so that the same may flow or be washed into such waters, or in such manner that the drainage therefrom may flow into such waters, any of the following substances:

1.Mercury. 1-A. Mercury. 1-B. Mercury. Facilities discharging mercury into the waters of the State shall make reasonable progress to develop, incorporate and continuously improve pollution prevention practices, and implement economically achievable future improvements in wastewater technology, in order to reduce their dependence upon mercury products, reduce or remove discharges of mercury ove

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No person, firm, corporation or other legal entity shall place, deposit, discharge or spill, directly or indirectly, into the ground water, inland surface waters or tidal waters of this State, or on the ice thereof, or on the banks thereof so that the same may flow or be washed into such waters, or in such manner that the drainage therefrom may flow into such waters, any of the following substances:
1.
Mercury.
1-A.
Mercury.
1-B.
Mercury.
Facilities discharging mercury into the waters of the State shall make reasonable progress to develop, incorporate and continuously improve pollution prevention practices, and implement economically achievable future improvements in wastewater technology, in order to reduce their dependence upon mercury products, reduce or remove discharges of mercury over time, and help in the restoration of the waters of the State. This subsection establishes ambient water quality criteria for mercury that identify that level of mercury considered safe for human health and the environment.
2.
Toxic or hazardous substances.
Any other toxic substance in any amount or concentration greater than that identified or regulated, including complete prohibition of such substance, by the department. In identifying and regulating such toxic substances, the department shall take into account the toxicity of the substance, its persistence and degradability, the usual or potential presence of any organism affected by such substance in any waters of the State, the importance of such organism and the nature and extent of the effect of such substance on such organisms, either alone or in combination with substances already in the receiving waters or the discharge. As used in this subsection, "toxic substance" means those substances or combination of substances, including disease-causing agents, that after discharge or upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation or assimilation into any organism, including humans either directly through the environment or indirectly through ingestion through food chains, will, on the basis of information available to the department either alone or in combination with other substances already in the receiving waters or the discharge, cause death, disease, abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions, including malfunctions in reproduction, or physical deformations in such organism or its offspring.
3.
Radiological, chemical or biological warfare agents.
Radiological, chemical or biological warfare agents or high level radioactive wastes.

Legislative History

PL 1971, c. 544, §130 (NEW). PL 1971, c. 618, §12 (AMD). PL 1973, c. 450, §18 (AMD). PL 1979, c. 127, §210 (AMD). PL 1979, c. 472, §14 (AMD). PL 1983, c. 566, §23 (AMD). PL 1989, c. 856, §§2,7 (AMD). PL 1989, c. 890, §§A40,B37,38 (AMD). RR 1991, c. 2, §141 (COR). PL 1993, c. 240, §1 (AMD). PL 1997, c. 444, §7 (AMD). PL 1997, c. 722, §§1,2 (AMD). PL 1999, c. 500, §§1,2 (AMD). PL 2001, c. 418, §§2,3 (AMD). PL 2003, c. 165, §1 (AMD). PL 2003, c. 689, §B6 (REV). PL 2007, c. 565, §1 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 194, §§1, 2 (AMD). PL 2017, c. 137, Pt. A, §§9, 10 (AMD). PL 2019, c. 463, §1 (AMD).