It has certainly been a hectic few weeks in Augusta with bills being printed and scheduled for hearings at an ever-increasing speed. We won’t go into all of the bills we’ve engaged on in great detail today, but if you’re interested, our website is up to date with our policy positions identified and our testimony linked here.
Last week, the Council held its third breakfast in a series to help members engage with Legislators on issues that are important to the industry. Formatted as a forest industry expo, our Timber Talk event was a great success. Our members certainly appreciated the opportunity to showcase forest-based products being manufactured right here in Maine for a number of legislators and Governor Mills.
Thanks again to our members that participated, to Pleasant River Lumber and LP for sponsoring the event, and to all of the policy makers who attended.
Last week we also banded together with several county commissioners and members to deliver testimony before the ACF Committee in strong opposition to LD 870, “An Act Regarding the Membership of the Maine Land Use Planning Commission.”
As drafted, this bill would bring us back to the regulation without representation days of LURC by diluting the voice of local residents and businesses within the Unorganized Territories (UT) by eliminating requirements for the governor’s appointee(s) to have a connection to the jurisdiction. The proposal also increases the number of appointees by the governor from one to five, implements a limit of two terms, restricting the flexibility that is rightfully granted to each UT county to appoint representatives of their choosing, and reduces the time that counties have to fill vacancies from 90 days to just 30. If counties are unable to fill a vacancy within the new unrealistic timeframe, they would lose the opportunity to appoint a designee of their choosing and the governor would fill the vacancy instead.
This bill is an aggressive attempt to restrict the opportunity of the residents and businesses in and around the UT to determine their own destiny, and it flies in the face of recommendations made by the Commission on Reform of the Governance of Land Use Planning in the Unorganized Territories in December of 2011. It is all around a bad idea, and it is unclear what problem this bill is trying to solve.
While the public hearing has passed, the ACF Committee has not yet scheduled a work session on this bill, so we urge our members who have not yet weighed in to submit submit testimony online here, and to also register your concerns with members of the ACF Committee using the email addresses listed here.
Our testimony against LD 870 can be found here.
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This week, the Council testified before the Labor Committee on Tuesday in opposition to LD 941, “An Act Requiring Employers to Disclose Wage Ranges in Job Postings.” Our testimony can be found here.
On Wednesday, we partnered with the American Forest and Paper Association in opposition of a bill to double the from 5-10 cents the fee that retail establishments must charge for each recycled paper carry-out bag or reusable plastic carry-out bag, LD 1122. Our joint testimony can be found here.
Wednesday evening, we provided a venue for a dinner hosted by management of Woodland Pulp, St. Croix Tissue and St. Croix Chipping with the Washington County delegation. It was great to have the opportunity to catch up outside of the State House, and to learn about the future of the Woodland mill – Washington County’s largest employer!
On Thursday, we submitted testimony to the Transportation Committee in opposition to LD 557, “An Act to Allow All-terrain Vehicles to be Used on a Public Way. Our testimony can be found here.
We also worked with the ACF Committee to help provide feedback on LD 402, a bill to move the Natural Areas Program from DACF to IFW.
Next week, the Council will engage on a number of bills, and we will continue to work with various departments and stakeholders on the subdivision bill (LD 161), the oversize ATV bills (LDs 19 and 341) and others as they proceed through the process.
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That is all for now for legislative matters, however, there is one more important matter that we would like to bring your attention to. This week, the Department of Environmental Protections released a draft initial packaging material types list as part of the Extended Producer Responsibility program. In preparation for the formal rulemaking, the DEP will provide stakeholders the opportunity to participate in a meeting on April 16 at the Ray Building in Augusta from 9-11 am, and it will accept comments through April 30. While we have not yet analyzed the list in depth, there are some glaring issues that will need to be addressed.
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions about our policy positions, or if you need help submitting testimony.
Patrick Strauch and Krysta West
Maine Forest Products Council