This week was a busy one for MFPC with two events with legislators early in the week. On Tuesday Maine Forest Products Council held the final Timber Talk breakfast of the 132nd Legislature focused on the state of the forest economy in Maine. Thanks to Alexander Ingraham, Patrick Strauch, Joel Slate, Shane O’Neill and Dr. Andrew Crawley for lending their expertise to the discussion, and thanks to Sappi and Robbins Lumber Company for sponsoring this event.
With barely a chance to catch our breath on Tuesday MFPC partnered with the Legislature’s Innovation and Growth Caucus to host a Lunch and Learn event for legislators titled “Planning for the Future of the Forest Industry.”
This discussion featured Stephen Jones of Biofine, Matt Tonello of Consigli, John Steward of Acadian Timber and Krysta West of MFPC. Panelists discussed MFPC’s priority legislation this session – bills aimed at expanding and diversifying markets for wood (LDs 798, 2044) and support for our loggers (LD 1313).
Thanks to Innovation and Growth Caucus Co-chairs Senator Teresa S. Pierce, Senator Trey Stewart, Representative Dan Sayre and Representative Jack Ducharme for this important opportunity, and to all who attended.
On Tuesday, we also attended a work session in the Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry (ACF) Committee on LD 2118 “An Act To Eliminate The Natural Areas Program And Reassign Certain Responsibilities Under The Program To The Department Of Inland Fisheries And Wildlife And To Amend The Law Governing Administration Of The Department Of Inland Fisheries And Wildlife, Bureau Of Resource Management.” This bill, a repeat to one that failed last year, moves the Maine Natural Areas Program to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The Committee voted unanimously in support of an amendment that places an automatic sunset of the provision that prevents the Department from regulating plants and plant communities under the MNAP program. In 2029, the Department would be required by the amendment to report back to the ACF Committee regarding program implementation and to assess any need for regulatory authority in the program.
On Wednesday, we testified in support of LD 2187 ” An Act To Update Certain Water Quality Standards And To Reclassify Certain Waters Of The State” as presented. This bill reflects the Triennial Water Quality review recommendations made by DEP and approved by the Board of Environmental Protection.
The bill as drafted, which is based off of data from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, recommends that the Lower Androscoggin and a portion of the Presumpscot remain Class C due to the lack of consistent data that the river meets Class B requirements.
The amendment presented at the hearing would upgrade the Lower Androscoggin from Gulf Island Pond to Worumbo Dam despite the fact that they do not meet the requirements of the classification. Scott Reed of ND Paper also testified in support of the bill as written without the amendment.
This reclassification would have major impacts on dischargers – including mills and wastewater districts, without a robust and comprehensive dataset supporting such a change.
For the Androscoggin, modeling suggests BOD reductions of roughly 50% would be needed for the dischargers above Gulf Island Pond and about 33% below Gulf Island Pond.
Reclassification carries significant consequences, including more stringent permit limits, dam water quality certifications, additional monitoring obligations, and in many cases costly treatment upgrades that may not be feasible. For the pulp and paper mills and other large employers that anchor Maine’s rural economies, such outcomes would have ripple effects well beyond facility operations — jeopardizing jobs, tax revenues, and the economic stability of communities that depend on these facilities.
It is therefore essential that classification decisions be grounded in conclusive data and a clear demonstration that the receiving waters can sustain higher standards under natural conditions.
The work session for the bill is scheduled for Tuesday at 1:30pm in the Environment and Natural Resources Committee. Please consider reaching out to the members of the committee, especially if you are their constituent.
Also on Wednesday MFPC testified in strong opposition to LD 276 “An Act Regarding Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.” This bill, which began as a concept draft, would replace the weight and width allowance for ATVs that can be registered in Maine with three classifications of manufacturers specifications based solely on width and configurations.
Last session, our members, which include 8 million acres of forestland owners, were encouraged by the Legislature’s unanimous support of LD 1308, a bill introduced by SAM to pull together a working group to look at issues related to public access of both public and private lands. This group, which included a thorough stakeholder engagement process with three state departments and representatives of all types of landowners and recreational user groups, worked diligently to tackle access issues through a collaborative consensus process. The final report, which directly speaks to the issue of oversize ATVs, includes “a comprehensive set of recommendations to strengthen the access tradition.”
While this report was received by the IFW committee less than a month ago, LD 276 fails to implement any of the recommendations outlined in the report, and it ignores the finding that “Any efforts to increase the current weight restrictions for UTVs would likely result in significant closures of hundreds of miles of trail, fragmenting the connected trail system that recreators enjoy today.”
We were pleased to be joined by a number of opponents to the bill including ATV clubs and trail masters, Maine Woodland Owners, the Maine ATV Coalition (MAC) and the Departments of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Huber, Irving, and Robbins Lumber also submitted testimony in opposition to the bill. MFPC member and Co-Chair of the 2020 ATV Task Force, John Bryant, also made the trip to Augusta to oppose the bill as well. Our testimony in opposition to this bill was comprehensive and can be found here.
There was no testimony in support of the bill besides that of the sponsor. We are hopeful that the Committee will vote ONTP at the work session scheduled for Wednesday at 1:00PM.
On Thursday, we attended a work session in the Taxation Committee on Part O of the budget. This section would eliminate the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement (BETR) program. This change would increase the personal property taxes paid in 2025 by 50% and would double the personal property taxes paid on eligible equipment for 2026.
As presented, Part O would immediately (and retroactively) increase taxes on approximately 60 forest products industry businesses, resulting in a $4.7 million tax increase over this biennium alone. The proposed tax increase is equivalent to roughly 52 good-paying forest sector jobs per year; jobs that the BETR program has helped our members retain. Maine’s $8.3 billion forest products industry supports approximately 29,000 jobs across all 16 counties. Undercutting this sector through retroactive tax increases not only harms manufacturers, but it also harms workers, contractors, loggers, truckers, landowners and entire communities that depend on these wages and markets.
Our members came out in strong opposition to this elimination last week, but the outcome remains uncertain. Our full testimony is available here. We will continue to monitor this throughout the budget process.
At this point in the legislative session, the one-weekend public notice requirement for public hearings has been waived. This means that the committees may take up bills whenever they wish without warning. In addition, committees may take up bills on work session at any time. Committees are also permitted to meet whenever they wish without notice. Keep an eye on your inbox for updates as they come up. The list of meetings below will expand in the days to come.