Maine DEP And LURC Propose MOU For Permitting Development Projects

As part of the reorganization of the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission into the newly-formed Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC), large development projects in the unorganized and deorganized territories in Maine will soon be required to undergo a two-step permitting process.  Under the terms of a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will be reviewed by the Commission at its meeting on Monday, August 20, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the LUPC will attempt to coordinate their reviews of development projects subject to the Site Location of Development Act, commonly known as the Site Law, as well as grid-scale wind energy developments under the Wind Energy Act.  The draft MOU, however, acknowledges the "complexity of potential jurisdictional questions" involved in the change, which are likely to cause uncertainty as projects are proposed in the near future.