LD 1302 died in nonconcurrence. The House passed the bill as amended by the majority report and the Senate passed the bill as amended by the minority report as amended. The bodies didn’t agree so the bill died. We felt that this was a better outcome than agreeing to a watered down bill. The House has certainly sent a strong message to the Department of Environmental Protection that the rules it’s writing should be strong or they won’t get the needed support next year. Next year, as a result of last year’s mining bill, the DEP is required to bring mining rules back to the Legislature for approval. If these rules aren’t passed, the old rules that are considered to ban mining in Maine, remain in place. Please stay tuned as there will be a public hearing on the DEP rules this summer or fall.
