LD 1647, An Act To Define “Person Aggrieved” in Proceedings before the Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission, is coming out of the Judiciary Committee with a split vote – 7 ‘Ought Not to Pass’ and 6 ‘Ought to Pass as Amended.’ Soon, this bill will face a vote in the House and Senate.
We need your help! Please contact your legislators today and urge them to support the Majority ‘Ought Not to Pass’ Report!
If LD 1647 were to pass, it would create high hurdles for citizens and citizen groups who wish to appeal decisions made by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) to their respective citizen boards. This bill will narrow the range of members of the public who are eligible to appeal and will require LURC and the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) to conduct lengthy and technical legal investigations into whether citizens and citizen groups meet legalistic standing tests, slowing down the permitting process.
In many cases, citizens and citizen groups will have to hire lawyers to represent them, just to get the opportunity to participate in the process. This bill will result in shutting many citizens and groups out of Maine’s decision-making process, despite the public interest in the outcome.
LD 1647 would make it easier for well-financed parties and their lawyers to use procedural challenges to prevent stakeholders from raising concerns about their proposed projects, limiting the ability of average Mainers to be heard by the Board or Commission. This bill, ultimately, makes the appeals process for Maine citizens like you and me much more expensive, time consuming and discriminatory. LD 1647 is bad for Maine and its people!
Please call your legislators today and urge them to support the Majority ‘Ought Not to Pass’ Report!
Thank you for your continued support!
