Current through 2024-38, September 18, 2024
A.
Board. "Board" means the
Board of Environmental Protection.
B.
Borrow pit. "Borrow pit", as
used in 38 M.R.S.A. Section482(2), means an excavation for sand, fill or
gravel.
(1) Borrow pits in existence before
January 1, 1970, which are expanded or intended to be expanded by five acres or
more after that date, do not qualify for exemption under 38 M.R.S.A.
Section482(2), unless regulated by the Maine Department of
Transportation.
C.
Common Scheme of Development. "Common scheme of development" means
a plan or process of development which:
(1)
Takes place on contiguous or non-contiguous parcels or lots in the same
immediate vicinity; and
(2)
Exhibits characteristics of a unified approach, method, or effect such as:
(a) unified ownership, management, or
supervision;
(b) sharing of common
equipment or labor; or
(c) common
financing.
D.
Department. "Department" means the Department of Environmental
Protection.
E.
Developer. "Developer" means a person as defined in 38 M.R.S.A.
Section482(4):
(1) Constructing, causing to
be constructed or intending to construct a development;
(2) Operating, causing to be operated, or
intending to operate a development; or
(3) In the case of a subdivision, selling or
leasing, causing to be sold or leased, offering for sale or lease, or intending
to sell or lease lots in a development.
F.
Division. "Division", as used
in 38 M.R.S.A. Section482(5), means some overt act beyond drawing or marking
lots on a plot or plan in furtherance of an intent to offer for sale or lease
lots falling within the specifications of 38 M.R.S.A. Section482(5).
NOTE: The required overt act may include, but is not limited
to, beginning construction, advertising lots for sale, selling lots, or
recording a plot plan with the Registry of Deeds. Exploratory soil test pits
for the purpose of detailed soils mapping or for assessing adequacy for on-site
sewage disposal would not be considered an overt act under this
subsection.
G.
Excavating. "Excavating", as used in 38 M.R.S.A. Section482(2),
means the moving, removing or uncovering of natural resources, such as topsoil,
clay, peat, rock or other materials, but does not include:
(1) Borrow pit operations for sand, fill or
gravel of less than five acres, or when regulated by the Maine Department of
Transportation;
(2) Normal
agricultural practices, excluding the stripping of topsoil; or
(3) Digging pits or holes by manual labor for
activities such as the harvesting of clams or worms.
GG.
Hazardous activity
exemptions. In accordance with 38 M.R.S.A. Section482, Sub-section 2-C,
activities which consume, generate or handle any of the following substances
and/or are non-hazardous expansions to existing developments are exempt from
the requirements of 38 M.R.S.A. Section483, Sub-section 1:
(1) Non-Hazardous Waste
(a)
(i)
Domestic sewage; and
(ii) Any
mixture of domestic sewage and other wastes that passes through a sewage system
to a publicly-owned treatment works for treatment.
NOTE: "Domestic sewage" means untreated sanitary wastes that
pass through a sewer system.
(b) Industrial wastewater discharges that are
point source discharges subject to regulation under Section 402 of the Clean
Water Act, as amended.
NOTE: This exclusion applies only to the actual point source
discharge. It does not exclude industrial wastewaters while they are being
handled before discharge , nor does it exclude sludges that are generated by
industrial wastewater treatment.
(c) Irrigation return flows.
(d) Source, special nuclear or by-product
material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended,
42 U.S.C.
2011 et seq.
(e) Materials subjected to in-situ mining
techniques which are not removed from the ground as part of the extraction
process.
(f) Household waste,
including household waste that has been collected, transported, stored,
treated, disposed, recovered (e.g., refuse-derived fuel) or reused. "Household
waste" means any waste material (including garbage, trash and sanitary wastes
in septic tanks) derived from households (including single and multiple
residences, hotels and motels).
(g)
Wastes resulting from agricultural activities, as defined by 38 M.R.S.A.
Section1303, Sub-section 16.
(h)
Mining overburden returned to the mine site.
(i) Fly ash waste, bottom ash waste, slag
waste, and flue gas emission control waste generated primarily from the
combustion of coal or other fossil fuels.
(j) Drilling fluids, produced waters, and
other wastes associated with the exploration, development, or production of
crude oil, natural gas or geothermal energy.
(2) Non-Hazardous Matter
(a) Substances which are designated as
hazardous matter by the Legislature and the Board under Chapter 800, the
consumption, generation or handling of which in the following quantities for
the specified categories is considered to be non-hazardous for purposes of this
regulation:
Category X - 1 pound (0.454 kg) or less per month
Category A - 10 pound (4.54 kg) or less per month
Category B - 100 pounds (45.4 kg) or less per month
Category-C - 1000 pounds (454 kg) or less per month
Category D - 5000 pounds (2270 kg) or less per month
The above categories are those into which substances are
placed according to the EPA regulations promulgated under Section 311 of the
Clean Water Act and published in 40 CFR 117 (revised as of July 1,
1980).
(b) A substance
which is being or has been used in the normal household activity in a quantity
which is reasonable for that activity.
(3) Oil. Any storage of oil, as defined in 38
M.R.S.A. Section542, in any combination of above ground containers or tanks
capable of holding 21,000 gallons (500 barrels) or less, or in any combination
of underground containers or tanks capable of holding 21,000 gallons (500
barrels) or less.
(4) Road Salt.
Any handling of road salt (sodium chloride or calcium chloride) of one ton or
less at a municipal, county, state, or private facility.
(5) Expansion of an Existing Development. An
enlargement of, or addition to an existing development is a non-hazardous
expansion for purposes of this regulation if it consumes, generates or handles
non-hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste matter, oil or road salt, as defined
by this chapter of the regulations, or if it meets all of the following
conditions:
(a) The enlargement or addition
must be physically attached to a primary building within the
development;
(b) The enlargement or
addition cannot extend across a ground water divide into another primary sand
and gravel recharge area;
(c) The
enlargement or addition must be less than one-fourth the size of the primary
building to which it is physically attached;
(d) Any hazardous substance consumed,
generated or handled within the enlargement or addition must be a substance
which is currently being utilized in the operation of the existing
development;
(e) Any hazardous
substance consumed, generated or handled within the enlargement or addition
must be utilized in a manner that does not constitute a significant change in
the operation of the existing development.
NOTE: "Primary building" refers to a building which houses
all, or part of the manufacturing process associated with the development. For
example, in a pulp and paper facility, one "primary building" may exist which
houses both the pulp and paper manufacturing process. However, it is more
likely that the pulp making facilities and the paper making facilities will be
located in two separate buildings. If this is the case, both buildings are
considered to be "primary".
H.
In existence. "In existence",
as used in 38 M.R.S.A. Section488, means utilizing a parcel of land so that the
parcel is known in the neighborhood as being used for a given purpose. Mere
contemplated or intended use, standing alone, is not sufficient to establish
the "existence" of a development.
1. If plans
for a development in existence are changed substantially by a developer after
January l, 1970, the development no longer qualifies for the exemption in 38
M.R.S.A. Section488, and the entire development must be approved by the Board
before further construction or operation is undertaken.
I.
Lot. "Lot", as used in 38
M.R.S.A. Section482(5), means a portion of a parcel of land measured and marked
out by metes and bounds or by some other approved surveying
technique.
J.
Natural buffer
strip. "Natural buffer strip" means an area or belt of land which:
(1) Is covered with trees or other
vegetation;
(2) Runs along the
border between a development site and an adjacent piece of land, body of water,
or other specified area; and
(3)
Serves to protect the piece of land or body of water from adverse effects of
the development or preserves same existing quality or use in the area of the
development.
K.
Offered for sale or lease to the general public. "Offered for sale or
lease to the general public", as used in 38 M.R.S.A. Section482(5), means
communicated as available for sale or lease and does not include consideration
of who initiated the offer.
(1) Any transfer
of title, right or interest, except those described in Paragraph 2, shall be
considered a sale or lease.
(2)
Unless intended to circumvent the Site Location Law, the following transactions
shall not be considered offers for sale or lease:
(a) Bona fide private transactions such as
the offering of lots for sale or lease to an abutting owner or to a spouse,
child, parent, grandparent, or sibling of the developer;
(b) Bona fide personal, non-profit
transactions such as the transfer of lots by gift or devise.
L.
Parcel of
land. ''Parcel of land" means the block or piece of land a developer
owns or has sufficient title, right or interest in regardless of size,
regardless of whether the block of land is divided into lots, and regardless of
whether individual lots within the block are contiguous, as long as the lots
treated together are all part of a common scheme of development.
(1) In calculating the aggregate land area of
a parcel of land, the following shall be considered:
(a) The acreage of the parcel of land
proposed for development;
(b) The
acreage of all lots within the parcel already offered for sale or lease by the
developer within the preceding five years; and
(c) The acreage within the parcel which the
developer intends to develop within the next five years.
(2) In determining the area of a parcel of
land, property in the intertidal zone shall be included as part of the property
of the adjoining shoreland owner, unless specifically excluded by deed.
(a) An owner of property located on tidewater
owns on all land down to the ordinary low water mark or 1650 feet (100 rods)
below the high water mark, whichever is less, unless specifically excluded by
deed.
(b) The side lines on flats
adjoining property located on the tidewater shall be determined as follows:
(i) draw a base line between the points where
the property lines touch the high water mark.
(ii) project lines out from those points at a
90 degree angle from the base line and extend the lines to the ordinary low
water mark or for 1650 feet (100 rods), whichever is less.
(iii) where lines of adjacent owners
intersect, as in coves, or do not touch, as on points, split the difference
between adjacent owners.
(3) In determining the area of a parcel of
land, the following considerations shall be taken into account:
(a) Riparian owners of property on non-tidal
streams own the bed of the stream to the thread of the stream; or to the
mid-point of the stream, if no thread is determinable;
(b) Owners of property located adjacent to a
great pond own all the land down to the natural low water mark;
(c) Ownership of roads, ways, or highways, or
portions of roads, ways, or highways, by adjacent landowners, should be
determined in. accordance with 33 M.R.S.A., Section465.
M.
Person
(1) Each "person", as defined in 38 M.R.S.A.,
Section482(4), shall be regarded as a separate and distinct entity, except that
at combination of persons shall be treated as a single person for the purpose
of the Site Location Law if:
(a) Together
they- pursue a common scheme of development which is subject to the Site
Location Law even though Individual person in the combination own separate
parcels which may not be- subject to the Site Location Law if the parcels were,
developed separately; or
(b) One
person engages in. a transaction, with another person with the intent to evade
the intent and purpose of the Site Location Law.
N.
Possession of applicable
state or local licenses. "Possession of applicable state and local
licenses", as used in 38 M.R.S.A. Section488, means actual possession by the
developer of licenses or written evidence of approval which would have
permitted construction or operation of the development to begin lawfully. Mere
preliminary conditional approval of a license application, a mere right to
approval of a license application, or any other interest short of actual
possession of a license or other written evidence of approval are insufficient
to satisfy the possession requirement.
O.
Road.
"Road", as used in 38 M.R.S.A. Section482(6)(B), means a way
or course which is:
(1) Constructed or
formed by substantial recontouring of land;
(2) Designed to permit passage by most
wheeled vehicles;
(3) Not intended
to be abandoned and revegetated within a short period of time; and
(4) Designed to be permanent or intended to
be used for a significant period of time.
NOTE: For example, a passage bulldozed through a stand of
trees to permit the movement of a skidder or tracked vehicle, that does not
result in substantial recontouring of the land, and that is intended to be
abandoned and naturally revegetated within a year or less, is not a road within
the meaning of Section 482(6)(B).
P.
Site Location Law. "Site
Location Law" means the Site Location of Development Law, 38 M.R.S.A.
Section481 et. seq..
Q.
Staff. "Staff" means the staff of the Department of Environmental
Protection.
R.
Transmission
line. "Transmission line", as used in 38 M.R.S.A. Sections484 and 488,
means electrical transmission line and does not include a natural gas pipeline,
an oil pipeline, a highway, or any other means of conveyance.
S.
Under construction. "Under
construction", as used in 38 M.R.S.A. Section488, means the developer's having
expended a substantial amount of money or effort towards the completion of a
development. The test of the substantiality involves an assessment of the
amount of money or effort expended in relation to the amount required to
complete the development.
