The Governor has vetoed LD 1772, the bill rejecting the bad DEP mining rules. According to the Bangor Daily News,
– LD 1772, A Resolve Regarding Legislative Review of Chapter 200: Metallic Mineral Exploration, Advanced Exploration and Mining, would force the Department of Environmental Protection and citizen-led Board of Environmental Protection to start over on the development of statewide mining rules, which with the passage of this bill were rejected by the Legislature earlier this year. LePage vetoed the bill because he said it is an attempt to outlaw mining through rulemaking when the proper course for that would be to repeal a mining bill that was passed two years ago. LePage said he supports mining because of its potential economic benefits to the state, though large-scale mining’s opponents have contested that notion.
