Maine property owners would benefit from state legislation that a key lawmaker says would bring the biggest change to eminent domain in 50 years by limiting forced land sales being used to make way for power lines and transmission towers.

The measure, which the House and Senate approved this week, came in response to concerns raised by property owners in northern and central Maine about a power line that would have cut through farmland to send wind-generated electricity from Aroostook County to the rest of New England.

The bill now heads to Gov. Janet Mills. If it becomes law, it would impact any part of the state where a transmission corridor is proposed.

“I think it’s the most comprehensive eminent domain reform that’s been done since the 1970s,” said Sen. Chip Curry, D-Waldo, who led the work drafting the measure.

The legislation, L.D. 2087, requires two purchase price estimates for parcels of 200 acres or less that are approved for a transmission line. One estimate would be for the portion of the property approved for a power line and the other for the entire property.

Tanya Blanchard, president of Preserve Rural Maine, said the provision gives some control to property owners who would otherwise be stuck with land abutting the transmission line while forcing utilities to “be a little bit more honest about the offers they are making” if they could potentially be required to buy the entire site.

Anthony Buxton, a lawyer who has represented utilities and transmission developers before the state Public Utilities Commission, but did not represent transmission builders in the legislative process, said the cost of land should not be “one of the bigger factors in the process.” Transmission projects typically cost more than $1 billion, with most of the cost for materials such as steel, copper and construction, he said.

Higher costs for land would likely boost the price of electricity paid by consumers, he said.

The legislation also prohibits the Department of Environmental Protection and Board of Environmental Protection from issuing an order without a hearing for a transmission line “of state or regional significance that may substantially affect the environment.” And it mandates the DEP to require an applicant to demonstrate it’s had one or more public meetings.

Buxton said the legislation puts transmission location jurisdiction issues with the DEP, “which is where they belong.” Siting issues are split between the PUC and DEP, hampering the regulatory process, he said.

Blanchard said the original bill would have banned eminent domain, the power of government to take private property, with compensation, and convert it to public use.

“It’s wonderful but unpassable, and we understood that,” she said.

Buxton said if eminent domain is eliminated “you can’t build transmission lines or anything else.” Utilities don’t often use the process to take land, “but you still have to have it or someone can buy a piece of land and block you completely.”

Curry worked with environmentalists who warned against the prospect of landowners who could thwart renewable energy projects and property owners who spoke out against “stringing industrial-scale systems” through Maine communities. Added to the mix were utilities, transmission power developers and the PUC.

The PUC in December rejected a project that would have connected the King Pine wind farm northwest of Houlton to the New England grid with up to 160 miles of overhead lines. Regulators scuttled the transmission line, called the Aroostook Renewable Gateway Project, saying developer LS Power informed regulators it could not hold to its price.

Environmentalists said developing the large, untapped wind resource in Aroostook County is urgent if Maine is to accelerate the transition to clean energy.

For months, residents voiced concerns about towering transmission lines that would have cut through farmland and forests, and several towns along the planned line have passed measures to temporarily block it. Several said they had insufficient notice about the project.

Buxton said the legislation will improve notification and provide “greater specificity.”

He compared siting transmission lines with threading a needle, with many sites barred, such as those near houses or over public reserved lands used for hiking, camping, bird watching, fishing and hunting.

The Maine Senate and House approved the legislation this week in a procedural move with other bills that passed unanimously without recorded votes. It now heads to Mills, and her office did not respond to an emailed request about whether the governor will sign or veto it or let it become law without her signature.

The legislation won’t change human nature, which resists change, Buxton said.

“The reality is we need to build more transmission lines if we are to deal with climate change,” he said. “There will always be people who will not be happy when we do that.”

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