WOOLWICH

The Natural Resources Council of Maine held a constituent meeting on Wednesday with Rep. Jeffrey Pierce, R-Dresden, to discuss environmental legislation being considered this session.

NRCM has held several such constituent meetings with legislators in their districts over the years, said NRCM Rising Director and Grassroots Outreach Coordinator Todd Martin. The group hosted Pierce in Woolwich in 2015 as well.

Pierce sits on the Environment and Natural Resources Committee in the legislature, which considers many bills affecting the state’s environment. The meeting, which was open to the public, drew about 50 people to the crowded upper floor of the Woolwich Town Office.

Of particular interest on Wednesday was LD 820, “An Act to Protect Maine’s Clean Water and Taxpayers from Mining Pollution,” which was sponsored by District 24’s Democrat Sen. Everett “Brownie” Carson, former head of NRCM.

In 2012, the state legislature passed a bill to help facilitate mining by a company at Bald Mountain in Aroostook County, replacing the stricter rules governing mining that had been in place since 1991. The Department of Environmental Protection was tasked under the new law to create rules for mining in the state, but so far the legislature has rejected the department’s proposed rules multiple times since then. In 2016, the department offered a revised proposal, which is before the legislature now.

“It is a little better than the rules in 2014 and 2015, but not that much better,” said Staff Scientist and Healthy Waters Project Director Nick Bennett.

Environmental activists are trying to work around the DEP by actually changing the 2012 law with Carson’s bill and implementing stricter requirements for certain mining operations.

“I think we have a good opportunity, and we have good supporters of the bill that Sen. Carson is backing,” said Bennett. “Maybe we have an opportunity to get something positive passed and put this issue to rest for a while.”

Some of the major features of Carson’s bill include limitations on groundwater pollution from mines and would prohibit mining under bodies of water such as lakes and rivers or on conservation lands. It would also require that mining companies provide financial assurance in the case of accidents or disasters, so that Maine taxpayers are not stuck with the bill for cleaning up.

Pierce is a cosponsor of the bill.

“We’re taking a long, comprehensive view of this,” said Pierce. “It’s really important that we get this right this time so that we’re not back in 2019.”

Pierce is hopeful that it will come out of committee unanimously, which could preclude a possible veto from the governor.

“This is what we’ve been told: if it comes out of committee unanimously the governor will not be vetoing stuff this year,” said Pierce.

NRCM representatives also talked about legislation concerning solar power that will be brought before the legislature later this year; specifically Rep. Seth Berry’s bill: “An Act to Protect and Expand Access to Solar Power in Maine.” The proposal would do a number of things, most importantly it would keep net metering in place indefinitely.

Because language on the bill has not been issued from the reviser’s office yet, Pierce said that he would not commit to supporting any specific legislation.

“It’s hard to give an opinion when you haven’t seen any of the language,” said Pierce.

“I think net metering is an important piece,” he added.

However, he said that he had spoken with Berry about the bill. If the final language reflects what Berry told him would be in the bill, said Pierce, he would support it.