27-01-2025
Questions about how updated definition of ‘coastal wetland' would impact landowners, developers
Wells Beach, Maine. (Photo by AnnMarie Hilton/ Maine Morning Star)
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is looking to update the definition of coastal wetlands in some areas of statute, but lawmakers have questions about how much it could affect landowners and developers along the state's 3,500 miles of shoreline.
Rep. Vicki Doudera (D-Camden) presented a bill (LD 65) on behalf of the department to the Legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee Monday with the proposed definition change in the Natural Resources Protection Act. Rather than reference the highest annual tide to define the area of a coastal wetland, the department is proposing a switch to the highest astronomical tide.
As its name suggests, the highest annual tide is the highest predicted tide in a given calendar year. Whereas the highest astronomical tide predicts the highest tide for a 40 year period, but is updated every 20 years, explained Naomi Kirk-Lawlor, who represented the DEP.
Because it is stable over a 20-year period, Kirk-Lawlor said the highest astronomical tide would be a 'more consistent delineator.'
She pointed out that the Maine Geological Survey has an interactive graphic that the public can access online to see the highest astronomical tide line along the state's coast.
Development projects along Maine's coast have been top of mind recently as many communities have had to rebuild after a series of severe storms and flooding events last winter. While Gov. Janet Mills earmarked more than $21 million in her supplemental budget last year to rebuild working waterfronts, there have also been multi-million dollar federal investments to make Maine's infrastructure more resilient to the effects of climate change, especially along the coast.
As it reads, the bill only proposes the language change for the Natural Resources Protection Act, but Kirk-Lawlor said the department would like to see the same definition change in the Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act. This would align those statutes with the Land Use Planning Commission, which made this proposed change in 2018.
Although the department told the committee in written testimony that this change would provide more consistency and stability for long-term planning, members of the committee raised questions about how the change would affect landowners and any pending coastal development projects.
Kirk-Lawlor said the difference between the highest annual and the highest astronomical tides is normally no greater than six inches, so it would not be a significant change.
Even with that, multiple committee members asked to see maps and other details outlining how the change may impact people living and working on the coast. Sen. Joseph Martin (R-Oxford) also questioned whether coastal landowners have been notified of this potential change and if it would cause any loss of property value.
Denise Tepler (D-Sagadahoc), Senate co-chair of the committee, said she doesn't see potential property value loss from this bill, but asked for more information about what happened after the Land Use Planning Commission made this definition change and how it affected planning for development.
Rep. Laurie Osher (D-Orono), who has a PhD in soil science and currently works for Eastern Maine Development Corporation assisting communities to be more resilient to climate change, said she believes the new definition would benefit businesses, homeowners and the department by creating more consistency — 'even with the concern that some people will be unnerved or caught feeling like they didn't have all the information they needed.'
'Instead of having to worry about whether the calendar year changes and the definition of where something is a wetland changes, it would be much more stable,' Osher said. 'For future planning and permit pulling, you would know what area of the land that you're looking at is a wetland.'
Environmental organizations including Maine Audubon and Sierra Club Maine also testified in support of the bill, again emphasizing the stability an updated definition could provide, especially as more extreme weather patterns have shaped Maine's coast in recent years.
Bill Ferdinand, an attorney with Eaton Peabody in Augusta who spoke on behalf of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Maine, said the organization had similar questions as some of the legislators regarding impact. While he didn't speak for or against the bill, Ferdinand suggested there could be alternatives that may have less of an impact such as using the average tide.
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