Maine § 38 §480-BB Significant wildlife habitat; major substantive rules

Maine Statutes

§ 38 §480-BB — Significant wildlife habitat; major substantive rules

Maine § 38 §480-BB

Title 38WATERS AND NAVIGATION

Ch. 3PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF WATERS

This text of Maine § 38 §480-BB (Significant wildlife habitat; major substantive rules) 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 §480-BB (2026).

Text

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall adopt rules that define "significant vernal pool habitat," "high and moderate value waterfowl and wading bird habitat," "shorebird nesting, feeding and staging areas" and "habitat for state endangered and state threatened species listed under Title 12, section 12803, subsection 3" under section 480‑B, subsection 10, paragraph B. The Department of Environmental Protection shall adopt rules regarding the criteria used to determine whether an area is significant vernal pool habitat, high and moderate value waterfowl and wading bird habitat, shorebird nesting, feeding and staging areas or habitat for state endangered and state threatened species listed under Title 12, section 12803, subsection 3 under section 480‑B, subsection 10, paragraph

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The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall adopt rules that define "significant vernal pool habitat," "high and moderate value waterfowl and wading bird habitat," "shorebird nesting, feeding and staging areas" and "habitat for state endangered and state threatened species listed under Title 12, section 12803, subsection 3" under section 480‑B, subsection 10, paragraph B. The Department of Environmental Protection shall adopt rules regarding the criteria used to determine whether an area is significant vernal pool habitat, high and moderate value waterfowl and wading bird habitat, shorebird nesting, feeding and staging areas or habitat for state endangered and state threatened species listed under Title 12, section 12803, subsection 3 under section 480‑B, subsection 10, paragraph B. The rules, as applicable, must:
1.
Definition of buffer area.
Include a definition of the buffer area to be regulated;
1-A.
Significant vernal pool habitat; definitions.
With respect to significant vernal pool habitat, define:
2.
Certain landowners not subject to regulation.
Provide the following exemptions to regulation.
3.
Department of Environmental Protection must provide written field determination.
Require that the Department of Environmental Protection provide a written field determination upon the request of a landowner whose land may be affected by the definitions and criteria adopted in a rule;
4.
Department of Environmental Protection may not assess fine in certain cases.
Provide that the Department of Environmental Protection may not assess a fine against a landowner who acted in accordance with a written field determination if the fine would be based solely on information in the written field determination;
4-A.
Identification of significant vernal pools; drying.
Provide that, when a vernal pool habitat has not previously been determined to be significant and the department or the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife makes a determination concerning whether the vernal pool habitat is significant, either department may determine that the vernal pool habitat is not significant if:
5.
Process for voluntary identification.
Include a process for a landowner to voluntarily identify the landowner's land as a significant vernal pool habitat and to provide the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife the authority to map the significant vernal pool habitat; and
6.
Artificial vernal pool.
Explicitly provide that an artificial vernal pool is exempt from regulation as long as the vernal pool was not created in connection with a compensation project pursuant to section 480‑Z.
Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.